The Miami Hurricanes football team conducted its second scrimmage of training camp on Friday. All the major media outlets covering Miami had their own reports on the scrimmage. David Lake of Inside the U examined “A look at why run defense is the key to Miami being much improved on defense in 2023.”
MiamiHurricanes.Com summarized the comments from Mario Cristobal following the scrimmage. Cristobal discussed consistency during the scrimmage, competition in training camp, what comes next and if he is happy with the conditioning and physicality of his players.
Lake reported that Tyler Van Dyke was 13-of-23 for 194 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the scrimmage on Friday. Colbie Young, Jacolby George, and Xavier Restrepo all had what Lake referred to as explosive plays. Lake summarized the scrimmage and transcribed the commitments from Cristobal.
Zach Barnett of Football Scoop named Miami Hurricanes defensive coordinator Lance Guidry as the ninth most important assistant coaching hire of 2023. Barnett stated that “Marshall’s defense was the best in college football in 2023.” Guidry was the defensive coordinator at Marshall from 2021-22.
Jamie Shaw of On3 named Miami guard Wooga Poplar as one of his “Ten potential college basketball breakout stars.” That’s consistent with head coach Jim Larranaga who has stated he expects a breakout season from Poplar with Jordan Miller and Isaiah Wong now in the NBA.
Lake did an extensive examination of the Miami run defense in 2022 and how it impacted the pass rush. Miami had the 10th-best pass rush as graded by Pro Football Focus. The newcomers and the returnees have Lake confident Miami will improve stopping the run. Stop the run and rush the passer is the successful formula per Lake.
John Garcia of Rivals stated that although five-star defensive lineman David Stone is trending to Oklahoma, the buzz for Miami and Michigan State is real. Stone told Garcia he isn’t settled on one program yet. A commitment from Stone would likely give Miami the best 2024 DL class.