MIAMI GARDENS – The Miami Hurricanes can breath a sigh of relief and enjoy this moment in the sun.
In what was a dominating 69-0 home win over the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils on Saturday (Sept. 25), we got to see two young quarterbacks in action for the first time at Hard Rock Stadium. The future is right now, as both Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia oozed a high level of moxie and confidence that permeated through the team from start to finish.
Van Dyke completed 10 of his 11 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. And in the first half alone, all six of his passes were completed for a total of 236 yards and the three scores.
Miami (2-2) gained 488 total yards in the first half – 284 passing and 204 rushing.
“It was good to get some in game reps in front of the atmosphere because I haven’t really experienced it,” Van Dyke said. “I’ve gotten some reps last year and then a couple this year until [I got a lot] today. It was good to get out there and get some reps against another team. It’s a lot faster out there than it is in practice. I’m prepared, so I’m ready.”
Garcia gave a memorable first impression as well, going 11-for-14 in pass attempts with 147 yards and two touchdowns.
“The biggest joy was obviously celebrating a win with my team,” Garcia said. “I feel like we got our swagger back and I feel like we are who we should be. I feel like we are going to carry this into the next week and throughout the rest of the season. That was a great part of today, just being able to have that energy and I feel like a big thing for our team that we need is energy…We were celebrating as a team and that’s a great thing for us.”
Garcia also had a 45-yard run, which came in the first half.
“We do a whole lot of running, but I don’t run with my knee brace on, so when I put it on my left leg got a little tired,” Garcia said. “You probably saw it in the video, my leg got tired. I pulled the ball outside and while I was running, I was in my head like, ‘I pulled the ball. I’m in college and I’m running. I didn’t get hit and I didn’t have to slide and wow I’m going to score.’ I ended up feeling the guy on my left side switch the ball, so I’m like, ‘Ok, I’m going to run it back and coach is going to be happy’ and I looked over my shoulder and he ended up diving right before I was going to stick my arm out to stiff arm him a little bit and went down, unfortunately. And I know I’m not going to hear the end of that.”
Van Dyke spoke on how both of the young quarterbacks fared in their respective debuts.
“First, the line did a great job today protecting me and Jake [Garcia],” Van Dyke said. “We did a good job in the run game. We rushed for 200 and something yards so that was pretty good. I think I gained a lot of confidence. Even though it was an overmatched opponent, I gained a lot of confidence this week. So, I’m very happy with that. So, we just have to come out and do the same thing against Virginia.”
Hurricanes striker Gilbert Frierson (team-high four tackles) spoke on how well both quarterbacks performed against the Blue Devils (1-3).
“It was exciting seeing how far they came, all the accomplishments they made, all the sacrifices they made throughout spring and now,” Frierson said. “They have been preparing, never knowing when their time was going to come and have just been ready for when their time was called.”
Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz spoke on how his team performed with the two young quarterbacks in action.
“I thought they were both poised,” Diaz said. “They handled themselves very well and they knew what was going on. Both guys can obviously throw the ball. There were a couple of decisions that both guys need to be corrected on, but that is to be expected. I thought the thing that was really exciting was that they made plays down the field.”
Diaz touched on the plays that stood out to him.
“I know Tyler [Van Dyke] hit the one to [Charleston] Rambo down the field, which was a really nice throw and catch,” Diaz said. “Jake [Garcia] had a couple down the field, I think he had the one to Jacolby [George]. What we have been talking about all year is being more explosive on the outside lanes. They did that. I think Tyler had two one-play drives, one he flipped to Brashard [Smith] and another on the screen to Cam’Ron Harris. I’m really proud of both guys but more importantly, I’m proud of the team for the confidence they put in the two quarterbacks.”
And then Diaz spoke on the role that D’Eriq King played in this one.
“Taking over for D’Eriq King on a Saturday is no small thing,” Diaz said. “D’Eriq has such a huge presence on our football team and for our guys to rally behind Tyler and Jake shows how highly they think of those two guys. That is based off the evidence of what we saw in the spring and in training camp.”
And with that, Miami has only a few days to prepare for Virginia (2-2; 0-2 in ACC). The Hurricanes ACC opener at home is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
“Normally, we’d have a Monday off, but Monday is now a practice day for us,” Diaz said. “Monday is a Tuesday and that is kind of how your week goes. Monday is a Tuesday, Tuesday is a Wednesday, Wednesday is a Thursday into a Friday because it all happens fast. Everything gets condensed and packaged in tight. That is a very challenging thing against a team like Virginia. Year in and year out, Bronco Mendenhall and his staff are one of the harder to scheme against teams out there. It’s going to be a lot to digest for our players…It’s highly urgent right off the jump.”
SIDE NOTES: Harris helped both Van Dyke and Garcia by having himself a big game as well. He rushed for 100 yards and added 83 receiving yards for two total touchdowns.
As a team, the Hurricanes gained 739 total yards against the Blue Devils, which is now a team record.
PHOTO CREDITS: Keith Forde and Miami Athletics
