Miami Hurricanes quarterbacks efficient in spring game
The Miami Hurricanes offensive is expected to be more methodical and physical under new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis. During the spring game on Saturday, starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke and primary backups Jake Garcia and Jacurri Brown showed impressive efficiency passing.
Van Dyke completed 21 passes in 32 attempts for 177 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt freshman Jake Garcia was 14 of 23 for 147 yards and Brown finished three of six for 15 yards. Van Dyke continued to show why he is projected to be a candidate for the 2022 Heisman Trophy. Van Dyke should have had better numbers on Saturday.
If not for drops by running back Henry Parrish and projected starting wide receivers Xavier Restrepo and Key’shawn Smith, Van Dyke would have completed 75 percent of his pass attempts. Restrepo led the Miami Hurricanes with six catches for 61 yards in the spring game on Saturday.
The completion percentages for Garcia and Van Dyke were impressive. Miami needs more production in yards per attempt. Garcia and Van Dyke combined to average 5.89 yards per attempt. That would have ranked 121st last season. Garcia summarized the afternoon to MiamiHurricanes.Com.
Outstanding group of young men! @CanesFootball #QBLIFE #GOCANES pic.twitter.com/KLyQpKIJRJ
— FRANK PONCE 🇺🇸🇳🇮 (@CoachFrankPonce) April 16, 2022
"“The quarterback room in general had a pretty good day…and collectively as a team. But this is not where we want to be yet. So we gotta keep going hard, and like coach said, close the gap. Our goals for the summer are to clean everything up.My personal goal is keep putting on weight and know the playbook inside and out so that I’m ready to go and ready to rock when we get to fall camp and then the season.’’"
Brown has plenty of time to improve his numbers. The 17th ranked QB in the 2022 class needs to clean up his turnovers but showed his ability as a dual-threat QB on Saturday. USC transfer defensive lineman Jacob Lichtenstein deflected a pass that safety James Williams intercepted and Brown lost a fumble.
Miami Hurricanes OC surprised with Broyles Award. dark. Next
The future for Miami at QB should be strong for the next four to five years. With another season like he had in 2021, Van Dyke is a strong candidate to leave for the 2023 NFL Draft. Garcia would enter 2023 spring football as the favorite to succeed Van Dyke as the starter. Brown will likely redshirt in 2022.