After Tyler Van Dyke became the starting quarterback for the Miami Football Team in 2021, the Hurricanes became one of the top big-play offenses in college football under former coordinator Rhett Lashlee. Miami regressed as a major offense under new coordinator Josh Gattis in 2022.
The Miami football team was in the top 20 by most metrics producing big plays in 2021. The Hurricanes are 99th nationally with 15 plays of 20 yards or more in 2022. There’s a lot of speculation as to why Miami didn’t produce big plays in 2022. Lashlee preferred an offense that pushed the ball down.
Against Texas A&M, Miami had six passes of 15 or more yards and three of 20 or more yards. Miami produced six rushing plays of 10 or more yards against Texas A&M. Miami’s defense was shredded by Middle Tennessee State’s offense for four plays of 69 or more yards on Saturday. Miami’s biggest play was for 39 yards.
Miami had two plays for 23 yards as the second-biggest play against Middle Tennessee State. Van Dyke wasn’t as aggressive pushing the ball down under Gattis as he was under Lashlee. Gattis had a reputation for wanting his quarterbacks to take what the defense gives to the offense.
Saturday Van Dyke hasn’t completed a pass in five attempts for 15 yards or more. Replacement QB Jake Garcia replaced Van Dyke in the third quarter on Saturday. Garcia completed three passes on eight attempts of 15 or more yards for 78 yards. Garcia completed three of five attempts from 15 yards or more to the right for 78 yards.
The loss of Mike Harley and Charleston Rambo as the top two receivers of 2021 hampered Miami’s ability to have a significant passing offense. Rambo finished eighth nationally in 2021 with 13 receptions of 30 or more yards. Van Dyke has 20 passes of 15 or more yards and four of 25 in four games of 2022.
Garcia has seven completions of 15 yards or more and two of 25 more in 90 fewer attempts. Mario Cristobal and Gattis will have a decision to make in the bye week before playing in North Carolina on Oct. 8 on whether Garcia or Van Dyke give Miami the best chance of winning. Part of that will be knowing which QB will best push the ball down.
