Communication key between Miami Hurricanes QB and WRs

The communication between quarterback Jarren Williams and the Miami Hurricanes wide receiver corps will evolve as they learn each other’s traits.

Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Dan Enos expects Jarren Williams to look downfield more and throw the ball away more often instead of taking sacks. The communication between Williams and his wide receivers will evolve and help mitigate the problems Miami had in the season-opening loss to Florida.

Enos received criticism for his assessment of Williams’ play against Florida. There were, however,  several plays that the wide receivers could have made on excellent throws by Williams that if caught could have resulted in big plays. Graduate transfer wide receiver K.J. Osborn took responsibility on behalf of the WR corps.

Osborn quickly took leadership of the Miami Hurricanes WRs since arrived in Coral Gables in January from Buffalo. The Michigan native had four receptions for 41 yards in the opener against Florida. Williams needs to get Osborn and the Hurricanes receivers more involved against North Carolina on Saturday.

Osborn took a lot of that responsibility on himself and the Miami WRs. Communication with Enos and Williams on the sideline and making tough catches were the primary things that Osborn states they have to do to help Williams. Miami should evolve together as an offense in Enos’ first season in Coral Gables.

"“The only thing we can do is make tough catches for him…Obviously, we can come back and communicate with [Williams and Enos].We can talk on the sideline with him about different coverages and things like that, but I mean, the only thing we can do is keep running routes, keep getting open, communicating with him and making tough catches for him to make his job easier.”"

One play, in particular, would have extended Miami’s lead to 27-20 in the fourth quarter. Thomas threw a good ball near the pylon of the end zone to

Jeff Thomas.

It would have been a difficult catch, but one that many observers thought Thomas should have made. Osborn agreed.

"“It was a tough catch. We talked about it in our receiver room. It’s high expectations. Obviously, we want to come down with those catches. Not just Jeff, like anybody. If we get a tough catch — in our room, our motto is ‘By any means necessary.’ So obviously, he wanted to make the catch. He wasn’t able to.We got to move on to the next play. I said, ‘When you get in, make the best of those opportunities’…I say that because that’s all I know. Because when I got in, like when I was a freshman and started to play, you get in, maybe it’s a play you’re not supposed to be in on and — boom — you score a touchdown.‘Oh yeah, he can do that. Oh, (Dee) Wiggins can do that.’ They start putting him in and start trusting him more. I told them guys, ‘When they make plays, they make me want to make plays,’ and that’s the beauty of being at a school like this with so much competition.”"

The elephant in the room has been Tate Martell‘s apparent switch from QB to WR. The move has been polarizing among the Miami Hurricanes fanbase and media. Some speculation has centered on how do the WRs behind Osborn and Thomas feel about being passed by Martell. Martell played 15 snaps against Florida.

That was more than sophomores Mark Pope, Brian Hightower and Dee Wiggins and freshman Jeremiah Payton. All but Wiggins were four-star signees with Miami. Wiggins received the most playing time as a freshman last season, finishing with seven receptions for 73 yards. Osborn discussed Martell’s progress.

"“He looks good…He’s starting to get those wide receiver pains, though, from running so much. We try to tell people on the team it’s different at receiver. You run all day. He’ll be like, ‘My hamstring, my groin.’ Something is bothering him, it’s like, ‘Welcome to the room,’ but I think he’s done well.He’s learned more techniques from [wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield], and he’s filling in well.”"

The Miami passing game will face a good challenge against North Carolina. The Tar Heels limited South Carolina to 142 passing yards in their season-opening win last weekend. That ranks 30th nationally after week one. The Gamecocks 90.76 QB rating was the 25th worst by a passing offense through the first week.

Spreading the ball around and using more of the offense will help Miami keep North Carolina off balance. Osborn’s expectations of the Hurricanes WR corps helping Williams will also improve the success of the Miami passing game.