Film Review: Miami Hurricanes' Win Over Bethune-Cookman
While the Miami Hurricanes gave up six penalties, they played a solid game overall in Saturday's 70-13 win over Bethune-Cookman, as they understood assignments and adapted to the flow of the game. The Canes only gave up 13 points, including two stops near the red zone that turned into field goals. They also had no drops offensively, which was a concern heading into the year.
Below is our film review of the Canes' triumph over BCU.
Offense
Quarterback play was excellent from both Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia. Van Dyke was one touchdown away from a perfect passer rating and he played an extremely clean game aside from a fumbled snap. Garcia completed all seven of his passes for 88 yards. The offensive line did not allow a sack on either quarterback.
The running backs and offensive line should earn co-MVPs for their performance. Seven Hurricanes touched the ball out of the backfield and accumulated 42 carries for 305 yards and seven touchdowns as a group. A big portion of the carries were outside zone runs, which is something relatively new to Cane fans. It was clear in this ball game as well, Miami is done using its smaller backs to gain short yardage.
The receivers and tight ends played a clean game, as alluded to earlier. Xavier Restrepo made his presence known with his route running ability out of the slot. It was surprising to see Michael Redding get the reps he did, but there was good gossip coming out of fall camp about his understanding of the playbook. Newcomers Frank Ladson and Jaleel Skinner made big plays in their Miami debuts as well, each pass-catcher posting making an explosive gain.
Defense
Miami struggled more defensively than they did offensively. Defensively, when plays broke down, old habits came back. Some linebackers and defensive ends found themselves out of position at times. Bad angles and a lack of generating pressure contributed to Miami’s defensive woes.
It would’ve been a good day for the Turnover Chain, that’s for sure. Miami forced three interceptions, including one that was returned for six points. It was almost a bit weird not seeing the Turnover Chain, but that’s due to the new culture Mario Cristobal has instilled with this team. Kam Kinchens, James Williams and Gilbert Frierson all had interceptions.
Miami mostly went with four-down linemen and still struggled to contain the mobile quarterbacks BCU had in the game. If there’s one area to improve, it’s the edge rushing.
The Canes didn’t play up to Cristobal’s standards defensively. The defense played well enough to get off the field on multiple occasions, but they gave up far too many yards throughout the game. BCU had receptions of 28, 44, 48 and 34 yards throughout the contest.
Miami will need to be more technically sound and generate pressure going forward, or else, pass defense will be a tough task that the back end will have to make up for.
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