Takeaways from Miami’s 45-21 Loss to Duke
There’s just something about Miami and blue. Blue Raiders, Blue Devils, Tar Heels, all teams have had success against Miami, but what Duke did to Miami was pure dominance.
In Miami’s loss to Duke in basketball back in March, Miami committed six turnovers. Against Duke on Saturday afternoon, the Canes committed eight turnovers in a football game.
A very real debate could be made that this was Miami’s worst loss on the year and not just because of the scoreboard. Despite the loss for head coach Mario Cristobal and the Canes, there were some bright spots, which will be talked about. Without further ado, here are the main takeaways from Miami's loss to Duke.
It’s unclear what Tyler Van Dyke’s injury is, but it is a concern
Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke went down with what was certainly an upper-body injury, possibly a shoulder or collarbone, early in the second quarter. The injury came on a sack by Blue Devil defensive lineman Cam Dillon which also resulted in a fumble. Van Dyke finished the game by completing 11 of his 16 attempts for 81 yards and a touchdown.
Not to say that starting Jake Garcia is bad, but seeing how he played against Duke, he will need to work on several aspects of his game if Van Dyke is out for the foreseeable future. Garcia had five turnovers by himself in relief of Van Dyke (three interceptions, two fumbles).
Colbie Young is emerging as Miami’s best receiver
It may have taken a quarter of the season for Colbie Young to get fully implemented into the system, but now that he’s getting the reps, he’s becoming a star for Miami. Young helped the Hurricanes get on the board first with a touchdown from Van Dyke. Later in the game, he would have Miami’s most explosive play on the day with a 71-yard receiving touchdown from Garcia.
Back to the first takeaway, if Garcia ends up as QB1 due to Van Dyke being out for an extended time, Young could really make the transition smoother for Garcia. Think how Charleston Rambo bailed out Van Dyke last season.
It’s a similar situation, obviously, it’s still unknown the duration of which Van Dyke will be out, but the Garcia-to-Young connection could be one to be on the lookout for.
There is no doubt—turnovers cost Miami the game
Duke’s average starting field position was their own 46. The starting field position following turnovers was the Miami 43-yard line (excluding the 29-yard pick-six). Duke started inside the Miami 30-yard line four times. Duke had 24 points off of Miami turnovers.
Even with Miami holding Duke to 336 total yards, those turnovers allowed the Blue Devils to dominate the game.
It’s obvious, so it seems ignorant to even say so, but committing basketball-level amounts of turnovers in football—is not winning football. Truth be told, the five fumbles are more concerning than the interceptions.
Two of the fumbles were simple mistakes like not holding onto the ball. Three of them were when the quarterback was getting sacked. All in all, there are clearly issues Miami needs to shore up before going on the road to play Virginia (Oct. 29).
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