Miami coach Mario Cristobal updates QB situation ahead of Clemson game
The Miami football team has closely guarded its week-to-week plans at the quarterback position ever since starter Tyler Van Dyke hurt his shoulder.
Based on coach Mario Cristobal’s comments Monday, expect that gamesmanship to continue as the Hurricanes prepare for their ACC finale at No. 10 Clemson.
Cristobal said that Van Dyke, the 2021 ACC Rookie of the Year, remains “day to day” with a right shoulder injury entering Saturday afternoon’s Clemson game.
“Anybody that does have an injury, unless it’s one that is definitely season-ending, we work our tails off — medical does — to get them where they can play safely,” Cristobal said Monday on local radio, per the Miami Herald. “They are always going to do everything humanly possible to get a guy ready to play without putting him at risk … and (Van Dyke) is one of those guys, and he wants to play and he’s working his butt off to try to get there. So, day to day, man. We’ll see.”
Van Dyke initially hurt his shoulder on Oct. 22 against Duke and missed Miami’s next game against Virginia. He returned the following week against Florida State but re-aggravated his shoulder injury and left the game early in the second quarter.
Miami kept Van Dyke’s injury status under wraps until minutes before kickoff against Georgia Tech last Saturday. The Hurricanes ultimately held Van Dyke out for the second time this season and started true freshman backup Jacurri Brown.
Brown completed 14 of 19 passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns and also ran 19 times for 87 rushing yards in a 35-14 win against the Yellow Jackets.
The first true freshman quarterback to start a game for Miami since 2014, Brown projects as Miami’s likely starter against Clemson if Van Dyke can’t go. Brown also had 13 carries for 64 yards against Florida State two weeks ago and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry this season.
“He’s a tremendous athlete,” Clemson defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin said of Brown. “They talk like he’s maybe one of the better athletes on the team down there. So, a huge challenge from a quarterback run game standpoint and containing him in the pocket.”
Van Dyke took the ACC by storm last season after starting the year as the top backup to Miami quarterback D’Eriq King. After King suffered a season-ending injury, Van Dyke started Miami’s last nine games and threw for 2,931 yards, 25 touchdowns and six interceptions.
He ended the season with six straight games of at least 300 passing yards and at least three passing touchdowns – becoming the first Power Five quarterback to do that since LSU’s Joe Burrow in 2019 – and entered this season as a top ACC Player of the Year candidate.
But he hasn’t been able to capture that magic in 2022. Neither has Miami, which started as the preseason No. 16 team in the country and rose as high to No. 13 before losing to Middle Tennessee State in a Week 4 “buy game.” The Hurricanes haven’t been ranked since.
Clemson’s defense has been steady but not otherworldly in 2022, limiting opponents to 21 points per game (No. 28 nationally) and 5.1 yards per play (No. 32 nationally) while forcing 14 turnovers (No. 65 nationally) in 10 games.
Goodwin said Monday that Miami “kind of found a new identity” playing Brown, who offers more dual-threat ability than Van Dyke, against Georgia Tech.
“They (also) didn’t turn the ball over, which has kind of been an Achilles’ heel for them recently,” Goodwin said. “Huge challenge for us to stay hungry. We handled the adversity last week. Now let’s handle the success this week.”
Next Clemson game
Who: Miami (5-5, 3-3 ACC) at No. 10 Clemson (9-1, 8-0 ACC)
When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Memorial Stadium, Clemson
TV: ESPN
Line: Clemson by 19
This story was originally published November 14, 2022 at 7:40 PM.
