Miami Hurricanes OC Rhett Lashlee would use Wildcat without QBs

Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said during a press conference on Monday he would use the Wildcat if they were forced to play without a quarterback.

During his press conference on Monday, Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee was asked about the situation the Denver Broncos had on Sunday being forced to play without a quarterback. Denver was missing the three QBs on its active roster and one on their practice squad due to COVID-19 protocols.

Practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton who caught 70 passes last season for Wake Forest and played quarterback early in his college career was the Broncos sole passer on Sunday. Running back Philip Lindsay technically started for Denver at QB and took the first three snaps for the Broncos out of the Wildcat.

Lindsay ran for 18 yards on the first three plays. Backup RB Royce Freeman took the fourth snap for Denver out of the Wildcat before Hinton threw an incomplete pass on third down. Hinton is officially listed as the starting QB in the 31-3 loss by Denver to New Orleans Sunday. Hinton finished 1-9 for 13 yards.

What would happen if the Miami Hurricanes had to go without a QB in a game? Miami has four QBs on the roster just like Denver. Graduate transfer D’Eriq King, redshirt junior N’Kosi Perry, redshirt freshman Peyton Matocha and true freshman Tyler VanDyke make up the Miami QB unit. Lashlee explained his potential strategy.

"“I don’t want to think about it…What the Broncos had to deal with [Sunday] was unique. I know the ACC has put together a protocol for a limited number of players in positions to be able to play the game, and I don’t foresee anybody in our league being forced to play without a healthy quarterback.But if that happened, we’d do what they did. We’d get the dry erase board out, draw up the best we could cook up. Go back to the old…wildcat days when I was at Arkansas and see what we could cook up.”"

In the previous three seasons, RB DeeJay Dallas would have been the player most likely to take snaps in the Wildcat. Who would take the snaps for Miami at QB in 2020 is less certain. Starting RB Cam’Ron Harris has taken two snaps at QB in the Wildcat. Lashlee would likely be creative.

Freshmen Don Chaney Jr. and Jaylan Knighton both have attributes that would fit well in the Wildcat. Throwing the football would be more questionable. Dallas played QB in high school completing 54.9 percent of his passes. We are not likely to see this come to fruition. The ACC has position unit protocols for playing games.