Film Review: Miami vs. Southern Mississippi
The Miami Hurricanes' 30-7 victory over the Golden Eagles was somewhat of a sloppy game. Beating any team by 23 is impressive, but what’s not is how they did it.
The Canes are more than capable of scoring more points than they did. The defense held USM to one score, a touchdown, but drives were extended and kept alive primarily due to the lack of aggressiveness by the secondary.
Here’s a film review of Miami’s week two win against the Golden Eagles.
Quarterback
Tyler Van Dyke didn’t have his best game but it also wasn’t his worst. Van Dyke completed 69% of his passes while tossing a touchdown and an interception. The interception he threw was probably the most uncharacteristic play he’s made through two weeks.
Van Dyke looked somewhat hesitant against Southern Miss, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. Van Dyke was pressured more than expected in the game and the receivers didn’t do the best job of creating separation. He will need to be more accurate going forward as there were a few balls thrown that were quite inaccurate.
Running back
Henry Parrish Jr. had his second week straight as Miami’s leading rusher. The tailback from Columbus (Fla.) has 217 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 5.9 yards per carry in his first two games. Parrish was good on Saturday, following the right blocks and hitting the right holes in addition to some decent pass protection.
Parrish has been used primarily as the starter as Miami nurses injuries to Jaylan Knighton, Don Chaney Jr. and TreVonte’ Citizen. Parrish’s vision could already be the best in the running back room. Knighton logged five carries while Thad Franklin Jr. was second on the team with 13 carries for 66 yards.
Wide Reciever
The wideouts had a solid day. Once again, no drops by the team. Xavier Restrepo and Brashard Smith both had great days operating in the slot. Van Dyke seems most comfortable throwing inside and outside to the slot receivers. Michael Redding saw the field more than anticipated and impressed, reeling in three catches. Key’shawn Smith caught the lone receiving touchdown for the Hurricanes and made his first impact on the season.
The receivers, as a whole, need to be better at creating separation and finding windows in the defenses. The production from the receivers is very well spread out. It seems as if the offense is still figuring out who the main guys will be.
Tight End
Not much action from the tight ends on Saturday. Will Mallory had an underwhelming performance. Mallory was targeted four times in the game and he was unable to come down with anything all afternoon. He simply didn’t put himself in the best position to make plays on the ball.
Elijah Arroyo continues to look like Miami’s best run-blocker at tight end. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Arroyo starts taking reps from Mallory because of his blocking prowess.
Offensive Line
The offensive line probably had the worst day of the entire offense. In run blocking, they did a good job from an average standpoint. However, the push against the defensive line was absent on some plays and as a result, minuscule yardage was gained.
The line was simply not good in pass protection. The stat sheet reads two QB hurries for the Golden Eagles, but Van Dyke was on the move far more than that. The Golden Eagle defense had four sacks to Miami’s three. If the offensive line plays the same way against Texas A&M, the game could get out of Miami’s hands fast.
Defensive Line
The same can be said about Miami’s defensive line: The unit needs to be better going forward. The defensive line had a stellar game in run defense. Generating pressure and getting to the quarterback is a different story.
The defense has been somewhat bland for the past two games. Not many stunts and blitzes, and just not many wrinkles that are seen defensively.
They’re playing good defense so far, allowing an average of ten points a game, which ranks No. 16 in the country. Jacob Lichtenstein and Nyjalik Kelly made their first big plays of the season with a sack each.
Linebacker
This group had the best day among the defense and it started with Corey Flagg. Fans can say what they want about Flagg, but he’s done nothing but bring high-IQ football to Miami’s defense. Flagg is far from the most athletic linebacker on the team but he does all the little things correctly and that much is obvious on film.
Waynmon Steed, Chase Smith and Wesley Bissainthe all had solid outings. Steed is one guy at linebacker who’s got to make more plays and make his mark on the game. Bissainthe had a dropped interception that would’ve put Miami in great field position.
Secondary
Miami’s cornerbacks have not had great outings in the last two games. Bethune-Cookman and Southern Mississippi do not possess power five talent at wideout. Yet, the Miami cornerbacks were constantly finding themselves on the wrong side of a big play. Jason Brownlee had Miami’s number all day, totaling five receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Miami has to do a better job of not leaving cornerbacks on islands, which they did numerous times. DJ Ivey had a rough game as did Malik Curtis, mostly because they were left on said island. Ivey was the leading tackler for Miami, partly because he would make a tackle following the catch.
The safeties, Kam Kinchens and James Williams, continue to impress. Williams has lined up in the secondary but has been getting his feet wet again at outside linebacker. Avantae Williams has been relatively unseen for the last two weeks, which has led to a lot of speculation about his future at Miami. Al Blades Jr. could have had an interception last game but didn’t make an aggressive play on the ball, which coaches were clearly talking to him about once he went to the sideline.
Special Teams
Both Lou Hedley and Andres Borregales saw the field quite a bit Saturday and they performed as expected. Borregales had his number called three times and answered all three calls. Hedley made a few big punts that flipped the field position and kept the USM offense at bay. There wasn’t much action in the return game for Miami.
Overall Thoughts
There are a lot of areas to improve for Miami before the Canes wrap up their non-conference schedule and move onto their grueling ACC slate. Many of the issues Miami has had will be on the forefront of the minds of its next opponent, the Texas A&M Aggies.
The offensive line issues, in particular, A&M could absolutely take advantage of. The defensive backs not making plays is another overlooked factor. A&M has a lot of youth and talent in the room and Miami will need to improve mostly on the offensive line and in the secondary if they wish to keep it close.
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