After an embarrassing end to last season, Miami is finally set to unveil their new offense to college football. What seemed like a no brainer is officially reality and the Hurricanes are now a spread offense team. While the scheme and tempo obviously needed an upgrade, so did the quarterback position. Enter D’Eriq King, a 2018 Maxwell award semifinalist and undisputed leader of this team. Today, we take a look at Miami’s offense as they entertain UAB tonight.
The Hurricanes struggles offensively in recent years have hampered the defensive effort and in large part held the team back. Head coach Manny Diaz made the necessary changes this off-season and has added a wealth of offensive personnel.
Need For Speed
It seems for quite a while, the question has been why does Miami’s offense look so antiquated? The lack of spacing and predictable play calling didn’t do the Hurricanes quarterbacks any favors the past two seasons. Neither did starting a redshirt freshman at quarterback last season with a young offensive line. Fast forward to today and now the offensive line unit has a combined 49 games of starter experience.
That group will benefit from a system change where the ball will be released quickly rather than having to hold blocks for long developing plays. The dual-threat ability of King adds another component. That will make the offense more dangerous. Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee will also have an experienced running back in Cam’Ron Harris to lead the rushing attack.
The passing attack will see a major boost. Playing with more space on the field as well as identifying coverage will be a bonus. Senior wideout Mike Harley is expected to lead the receivers as he’s been the most consistent option thus far. The passing attack will also receive help from the tight end group in Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory. The duo ranks as one of the best tandem’s returning to college football and will look to showcase why against UAB.
Mended Issues(?)
The Hurricanes have addressed the majority of the things that were holding the offense back from last season. Clearly the scheme fit for the Hurricanes players was an issue. And now, they’ll be playing in a simpler system. The youth was also an issue. Miami added transfers to arguably the most important areas in offensive line and quarterback. The stage is now set for the players to live up to their highly touted billings as blue-chip prospects. Realistically in the first game against real competition, Miami will see some growing pains. Especially considering the lack of practice time in the spring. However, the Hurricanes should still win convincingly against UAB. However, they aren’t pushovers.
Defensively, Miami has shown that they’re an elite group. But, they just need some relief from the offense. In game one, the Hurricanes do not have to be juggernauts. But, they just need to show ample progress being made from recent years.
