After a tough road defeat at #1 Clemson this Saturday, Miami Hurricanes QB D’Eriq King has been encouraged by the way his teammates have responded in preparing for their matchup vs. Pitt this weekend.
“Honestly, it was a tough loss, but we came in on Sunday and watched the game, forgot about it,” King said. “Tuesday’s practice and today’s were our best back-to-back practices all year. It was important to me to get this nasty taste out of our mouth. We’ve had a great week of practice so far, have to keep going.”
King and the UM offense will be going up against a stout Panthers’ defense on Saturday that is ranked 12th in the country allowing 18.2 points per game, while their run defense is ranked 2nd nationally in giving up just 52 ypg through 5 contests.
“Pittsburgh has a great defense, they do a great job stopping the run,” King said. “There’s going to be an opportunity to make plays on the outside at the receiver position. I’ll take a lot of the blame (at Clemson), but we have to get on the same page. This whole week, I’ve encouraged those guys. As far as going in the right direction, we have to keep going, keep taking our shots.”
The Miami receivers’ season-long struggle bottomed out last week against Clemson when they combined for just 5 catches in the game, and King has continued to focus on building a better connection with his wideouts during the week.
“There are things me and the receivers can do better,” King said. “We came this weekend, we were all honest with each other. We have to get better throwing and catching one-on-one balls… I have to focus on doing my job, throwing better balls, give them chances. I have to keep doing that and I think we’ll get there.”
King’s final numbers vs. the Tigers last weekend weren’t pretty, as he went 12-28 (42.9%) for 121 passing yards and 2 INT’s through the air, plus 84 rushing yards and a TD on the ground.
“Honestly, I think it was one of my worst games I’ve played in my career,” King said. “I didn’t sleep much, came into the building Sunday, learned through coach. I’m hardest on myself, just wanted to come out and have a good week of practice. I was real big on myself to take every period, drill, drive, everything we did seriously. I don’t think I’ve done that well enough in the past, taking it day-by-day. You have to do that to be successful in college football.”
Head coach Manny Diaz expressed earlier in the week that he wanted to make sure his team respected every opponent and took every week of game prep seriously, something King doesn’t feel will be an issue.
“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that the team will take it super seriously,” King said. “As far as we can beat anybody - you have to respect everybody you play. That won’t be an issue at all. I don’t think this team is even thinking about that. Pitt has a great defense, one of the best defenses in the country. Those guys will play super, super hard and we’re expecting a four-quarter game.”
King also mentioned he’s been taking advice from both Bubba Bolden and Ed Reed.
“It’s a bunch of things - the most important is when I talk to Bubba, he talks about my eyes a lot,” King said. “All camp, he was real good at reading my eyes, he got me a few times.”
“Honestly, it was a tough loss, but we came in on Sunday and watched the game, forgot about it,” King said. “Tuesday’s practice and today’s were our best back-to-back practices all year. It was important to me to get this nasty taste out of our mouth. We’ve had a great week of practice so far, have to keep going.”
King and the UM offense will be going up against a stout Panthers’ defense on Saturday that is ranked 12th in the country allowing 18.2 points per game, while their run defense is ranked 2nd nationally in giving up just 52 ypg through 5 contests.
“Pittsburgh has a great defense, they do a great job stopping the run,” King said. “There’s going to be an opportunity to make plays on the outside at the receiver position. I’ll take a lot of the blame (at Clemson), but we have to get on the same page. This whole week, I’ve encouraged those guys. As far as going in the right direction, we have to keep going, keep taking our shots.”
The Miami receivers’ season-long struggle bottomed out last week against Clemson when they combined for just 5 catches in the game, and King has continued to focus on building a better connection with his wideouts during the week.
“There are things me and the receivers can do better,” King said. “We came this weekend, we were all honest with each other. We have to get better throwing and catching one-on-one balls… I have to focus on doing my job, throwing better balls, give them chances. I have to keep doing that and I think we’ll get there.”
King’s final numbers vs. the Tigers last weekend weren’t pretty, as he went 12-28 (42.9%) for 121 passing yards and 2 INT’s through the air, plus 84 rushing yards and a TD on the ground.
“Honestly, I think it was one of my worst games I’ve played in my career,” King said. “I didn’t sleep much, came into the building Sunday, learned through coach. I’m hardest on myself, just wanted to come out and have a good week of practice. I was real big on myself to take every period, drill, drive, everything we did seriously. I don’t think I’ve done that well enough in the past, taking it day-by-day. You have to do that to be successful in college football.”
Head coach Manny Diaz expressed earlier in the week that he wanted to make sure his team respected every opponent and took every week of game prep seriously, something King doesn’t feel will be an issue.
“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that the team will take it super seriously,” King said. “As far as we can beat anybody - you have to respect everybody you play. That won’t be an issue at all. I don’t think this team is even thinking about that. Pitt has a great defense, one of the best defenses in the country. Those guys will play super, super hard and we’re expecting a four-quarter game.”
King also mentioned he’s been taking advice from both Bubba Bolden and Ed Reed.
“It’s a bunch of things - the most important is when I talk to Bubba, he talks about my eyes a lot,” King said. “All camp, he was real good at reading my eyes, he got me a few times.”
