By Scott Salomon
Tyler Van Dyke proved Saturday night that he is not a very good quarterback. He is not the same quarterback who was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2021. He is the same quarterback that he was in 2022 when he lost six starts and was a turnover machine.
It only cements what Miami fans have been thinking for the last five weeks. The redshirt signal-caller threw three interceptions in a 20-6 loss to NC State Saturday night, and the fans were clamoring for freshman Emory Williams, who defeated Clemson two weeks ago in his first collegiate start.
Part of the loss falls squarely on the shoulders of Miami head coach Mario Cristobal, who refused to pull Van Dyke after the second interception or at halftime when Miami’s vertical passing game was on life support, but it was a close game that Miami could have won.
Miami travels to Tallahassee next week to play the undefeated and fourth-ranked Florida State Seminoles. It’s time to turn the reigns over to Williams, who has experience in big games and needs to learn more about playing quarterback in the ACC.
Do you hear that, Mario? Time to bench Van Dyke and let Williams play since you have nothing left to play for. An appearance in the ACC Championship Game is out of the picture, and so is a decent bowl game.
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It does not appear that Cristobal is thinking that he has a quarterback controversy. He addressed that immediately after the game.
“We have full confidence in Tyler, he’s progressing well, feeling good. Thought he saw the field well tonight and we fully expect him to be out there leading the guys on Saturday. Next question”
— Mario Cristobal on the Hurricanes’ QB Issues
Mario, did you not see the same game that the rest of the United States saw? Van Dyke looked like he was sleepwalking down the field. It’s time to make a change. Show that you have the guts. Make the change. Get the hook.
Miami finishes down the stretch with games against FSU, Louisville, and Boston College. If the season is going to go from bad to worse, I would rather lose with Williams and let him get experience to start next season, as opposed to letting a washed-up Van Dyke run the offense.
Watching Van Dyke execute the passing game is like giving grandma the keys to the Ferrari. She is not going to go faster than 25 miles per hour, and Van Dyke is not going to be able to rev the engine with enough gusto to move his team down the field.
Van Dyke’s continued struggle in ACC play is no secret. In his last four conference games, Van Dyke has completed a very mediocre 51 percent of his passes for 1,015 yards. He has five touchdown passes and a whopping 10 interceptions.
Cristobal defended his quarterback after the game and would not place the blame entirely on Van Dyke’s shoulders.
Tyler Van Dyke's last 2 INT were irrelevant — on 4th and 18 in final minutes and on last play. But 5 TD and 10 INT overall last 4 games, no TD for #UM tonight. Tough spot for Emory Williams to start at #FSU, but you have to give it serious consideration. TVD confidence is gone.
— Steve Gorten (@sgorten) November 5, 2023
“I think it’s not just pointing a finger at Tyler,” Cristobal said. “I think, offensively, there’s things that we need to do better. The passing game certainly hasn’t been what it needs to be, especially when we started the season in such a strong manner. But it’s tied into us being able to put it all together and synchronize it.”
That translates to horse hockey. The defense played lights out despite yielding a 97-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter after Van Dyke failed to direct a touchdown when Miami had the ball at the NC State two-yard line. Miami only surrendered 251 total yards, including the long touchdown drive.
“We limited them to under 50 plays, under 50 snaps,” Cristobal said. “When you do that, you should walk away with a favorable result. Put pressure on the quarterbacks, stopped the run, contained some of their explosive players for the most part. They made a couple plays, too. They played their hearts out. They gave us every chance to win the game.”
Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said on Monday after Van Dyke had a horrible game against Virginia, which Miami won in overtime, that he is not quick with the hook and that he refused to take Van Dyke out of that game, despite the fact that he was a low-energy turnover machine.
“The one thing about me is I’m a ride-or-die dude,” Dawson said. “I’m going to let you work through your problems. I’m not a big fan of pulling people early. I like to see you work through your issues and that’s just how I am. In the Clemson game, I never felt like we were in a situation where Emory (Williams) was out of control. And I felt the same this week (against Virginia). I know what Tyler can do so I trust that he’s going to work himself out of it.”
The fans took to the platform formerly known as Twitter beginning in the second quarter to petition for the coach to insert Williams into the game in place of Van Dyke.
So y’all gonna tell me Emory Williams not able to put up this same performance.
TVD gotta tighten up
— S.DOT (@KingLew_88) November 5, 2023
Through 2 quarters of footballs
Tyler Van Dyke:
9/20 / 68 yards /0 TD/1 INT/ I fumble lost
Miami has only SIX points through two quarters.
If @coach_cristobal wants to win this game, he gives Emory Williams a chance.
— Rollo (@SportsRollo) November 5, 2023
The second quarter featured key turnovers for both teams. Hurricanes cornerback Jaden Davis, who would leave the game with a leg injury, forced a fumble when he sacked the NC State quarterback, and defensive lineman Jared Harrison-Hunte recovered.
Miami set up shop and took over at the N.C. State 29-yard line, but Van Dyke threw an interception in the end zone, thus wasting a prime scoring opportunity.
UM Safety Kamren Kinchens ended the following N.C. State drive with his fourth interception of the year. However, Van Dyke fumbled on a sack by Red Hibbler.
Cristobal saw his quarterback self-destruct and play with low energy the entire game.
There was not one thing that Van Dyke did well other than hand the ball off to freshman Mark Fletcher, who rushed for a career-high 118 yards on 22 carries, but never found the end zone. Fletcher was stopped on fourth and goal from the two-yard line in the fourth quarter that could have given Miami the lead and was a real momentum killer. N.C. State then marched down the field 97 yards to put the game away.
“I thought he was really good. Really good. Really tough,” Cristobal said of Fletcher. “Saw things really well against a defense that’s really good. They don’t allow much on the ground or in the air. Really good in protection, also. He’s a really good player. He’s really going to be a great one.”
Van Dyke was proud of his running back as well.
“He’s a stud,” Van Dyke said. “He did a great job tonight running hard, being physical, making some tough runs.”
Fletcher was proud of his effort, but he wanted the W.
“I feel like I played great,” Fletcher said. “The O-line made a lot of openings for me. We didn’t get the result we wanted, and we just gotta go back to work.”
On the play, Van Dyke should have pulled it out of Fletcher’s gut and tossed it to a wide-open Colbie Young in the end zone. He was literally standing by himself.
Um…it's a running play. We handed it off already. He should have been blocking someone. https://t.co/eLM2TgBFV7
— Vishnu Parasuraman (@vrp2003) November 5, 2023
For those keeping score at home, this is the second game that Cristobal directly blew for Miami this season. If you recall the October game against Georgia Tech, Miami had the lead, at home, with 26 seconds remaining, and he refused to have Van Dyke take a knee to end the game, despite Miami bumbling and stumbling the whole game. This was also a game where Van Dyke threw three interceptions.
Miami fumbled on what should have been the last play of the game, and Tech won on a last-second heave to send Miami fans home reeling.
The Canes stand at 6-3 right now and should be 8-1. But for the Blunder from Down Under against Georgia Tech and Cristobal not inserting Williams into the game Saturday night to give Miami a chance at life, Miami would be in the thick of things in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Instead, they will go to a meaningless December Bowl game that no one will watch, and the ‘Canes will have to wait until next year to have a chance to prove that they are on the way back. Hopefully, Miami will get some new toys in the transfer portal and in recruiting, where they currently have the 15th-ranked class in the country.
Cristobal will definitely be back next season as his contract is too costly for Miami to eat, and the administration loves him, but he better have a new quarterback, like Williams, who has moxie and spunk and can energize his teammates.
Van Dyke, on the other hand, played like he was going to the electric chair or get a lethal injection after the game.
TVD: “the sun rises tomorrow.” Says UM just have to keep going pic.twitter.com/KFYD1CTXth
— Susan Miller Degnan (@smillerdegnan) November 5, 2023
“I’ve just got to be better, honestly,” Van Dyke said. “It is frustrating. Felt like I put a lot of work into watching film this week and did a great job preparing. Just got to put that work in on the field, as well. Had a great week of practice. Just got to be better on game day.”
