Can The Miami Hurricanes Get the Passing Game Going? Donno's Top Week 4 Storylines!
Mario Cristobal's team could really use a solid, bounce back performance when they face the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State. The 2022 Hurricanes are facing adversity for the first time after falling 17-9 at Texas A&M. How will they respond? Here are my top storylines for Week 4!
1- Can we inject some mojo into the Hurricanes passing attack? The Hurricanes had 7 drops at A&M. Top receivers Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George are both out for several weeks with injury. No one else at receiver or tight end has shown they can create consistent separation to make quarterback Tyler Van Dyke's job easier.
Coach Cristobal said they'd like to emphasize tight ends Will Mallory and Elijah Arroyo more than they have to this point. He also said they want to get true freshman TE Jaleel Skinner more catches. Skinner is 6-5 with tremendous athleticism and the type of slim build and speed to play jumbo receiver. He can be a weapon. Miami also needs to see more from regular receivers like Brashard Smith, Key'Shawn Smith, Romello Brinson and Frank Ladson.
Miami intends on playing freshman TE Jaleel Skinner more often moving forward.
— All Hurricanes (@AllHurricanes) September 21, 2022
"You see that this dude's freakishly talented and the best thing is that he's taken to coaching." https://t.co/4pWPZT0NmO via @luke_chaney4
I would like to see Van Dyke get his weapons involved early in the game with some short passes to build their confidence.
2- Did Van Dyke insult the Hurricanes fanbase? "We don't really have much of a college atmosphere because we play at Hard Rock," he said in a recent interview.
Miami staring QB Tyler Van Dyke saying he likes road games more than home games is why people laugh at the Miami Football program.
— TND (@TNDTweets) September 21, 2022
He says “we don’t really have a college atmosphere” pic.twitter.com/PkJIuZr8GX
I've heard from a handful of season ticket holders who felt insulted by his remarks. I didn't have much of a reaction to it, personally. He's not wrong, for one thing. The stadium only gets packed and loud for big games. I also think his greater point was that he likes going on the road and shutting up the road fans. Unfortunately, his wording caused that part of his point to get lost in the reaction.
If Tyler can start slinging the football around the way he did in 2021, the anger will subside. If Miami becomes a national powerhouse again, the fans will show up. I've seen it before. Just win, baby!
3- Can the Hurricanes show mental strength after a loss? In the past, tough losses would turn into losing streaks. We saw this too many times in the Al Golden and Manny Diaz years.
Middle Tennessee really has no business beating Miami (the Hurricanes are 25 point favorites,) but will this be the type of game where the Canes limp into an underwhelming victory, or will they come out looking angry and motivated after Texas A&M?
The Blue Raiders won't have the athletes or the size to truly contend with Miami at the line of scrimmage. They gave up 261 yards in their Week 1 loss to James Madison. Miami should be able to establish their physical running game. Henry Parrish and Jaylan Knighton were both effective running the football against the Aggies and I would like to see Thad Franklin more involved this week, too.
As stated earlier, I would like to see Van Dyke spread the football around to give his unproven receivers more experience, but you can expect Miami to emphasize the running game like usual.
Miami's defense needs to bring the same intensity they brought with them to College Station. The pass rush is picking up steam and the defensive backs had their best game of 2022 to date.
Play angry but play smart. Miami will have to show the emotional maturity to stick to their assignments and trust their coaching.
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