Postgame Review: Miami Loses to MTSU 45-31
It’s hard to tell where this loss ranks among Miami’s 96-year history as a football program. One thing is for certain, it’s one of those losses that calls for immediate changes and adjustments, but not an administrative or coaching change. The 45-31 loss put a plethora of issues at the forefront of the program, many of which will be discussed in this review of Saturday’s game.
Offense
The sputtering offense truly started and ended with Tyler Van Dyke. Van Dyke’s performance against the Blue Raiders was his second straight underwhelming performance, debatably his third if you count the Southern Mississippi game.
Van Dyke’s reads were easy to key in on as a defender in the game and as a result, two interceptions and a 50% completion rating. Despite his bad performance, it wasn’t all his own fault.
Jake Garcia came in and changed the trajectory of the offense for a moment. It would be unwise to expect a young quarterback to bring the team back to victory in that situation, but there’s no doubt he was thrown out there because a change of pace was needed and he brought it for a quarter and a half. Garcia played loose, similar to how Van Dyke looked at points last year.
The offensive line and running backs did not have a great game either, which was another big reason the offense sputtered. Miami averaged 1.6 yards per carry on the ground despite Henry Parrish Jr’s 4.1 average. In pass protection, the Canes’ offensive line gave up four sacks for the second time this season. Despite their run-blocking prowess, which took a hit following Saturday’s contest, the Canes' offensive line simply was outplayed.
The receivers had a better game than they did last week in College Station (Tx.). There were fewer drops and slightly better separation, which Van Dyke struggled to take advantage of which led to his eventual pulling from the game. Two players with high expectations, Key’Shawn Smith and Frank Ladson Jr. both stepped up and had their best games of the season. They were also found numerous times for first downs
The tight ends were also semi-productive. It was obvious Josh Gattis has been trying to implement the tight ends more in the offense. Now, the next step is getting them more involved. Between the receivers and tight ends, a true No. 1 target has yet to emerge in this offense, which is something the quarterbacks could benefit from.
Defense
There’s nowhere else to start besides the secondary. MTSU quarterback Chase Cunningham threw for 408 yards while completing 16 passes of 25 attempts. MTSU had plays of 71, 89, 69 and 98.
So, 327 of Cunningham’s 408 total passing yards came from four plays. What those four plays boil down to is this: beat clean in man coverage (twice), beat clean in zone coverage and bad tackling.
Two plays that went for touchdowns could have been prevented if the tackling angles were better. The secondary had about as bad of a game as one can imagine and the scoreboard reflected that winning football was not displayed defensively.
Miami’s front seven did well in some ways and in some ways not so much. Some way they did good was keeping the run game in check for the most part. Where they didn’t do so well was containing the quarterback scramble and getting him tackled to begin with. The front seven has continued to fail at generating pressure and that issue came to a head against MTSU, notching only seven sacks and six tackles for loss.
Corey Flagg was one of the top players defensively, but he was subject to two regretful plays on his end. One, was the poor tackling angle he took on Elijah Metcalf en route to his 69-yard touchdown reception.
The second one came on a blitz in which a clear path to the quarterback is presented, yet he chips the right tackle. Now, in Flagg’s defense, he was likely doing what he was coached to do on a play design. Still, the play does raise questions as it’s one of many questionable plays and calls by the Miami Hurricanes in the contest.
Special Teams
Did Miami find its new punter once Lou Hedley graduates? Will Hutchinson punted three times for an average of 47.3, including two downed inside the 20-yard-line. The third-year redshirt freshman also had a long of 57 in the game.
Andres Borregales went one-of-one on Saturday with a 39-yard field goal. The kicking wasn’t the main part of Miami’s special teams though. The kick return game by Miami was arguably the most impressive part of its game on Saturday. Smith had 217 kick return yards including a 91-yard return for a touchdown.
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