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The Miami Hurricanes held their first scrimmage of fall camp on Sunday night, and head coach Manny Diaz spoke afterwards on what he was seeing from his team.
“I was very pleased with the way that our guys got after it,” Diaz said. “The tempo of the offense was telling. We were able to run a lot of plays, got a lot of action and I thought was highly competitive. I thought both sides made a lot of things happen.”
Considering Miami was breaking in a new offensive system, plus many new starters on defense, Diaz was pleased by the lack of penalties on both sides of the ball.
“With ACC officials here, our pre-snap penalties were minimal, our during-the-play penalties were almost nonexistent,” Diaz said. “We did have some selfishness after the play, there were two or three occasions, one that gave the offense a first down. Those have to be dealt with harshly, that’s when someone puts their emotion in front of the team.
“What I was pleased with was the operation for the first time out as a scrimmage. Your pre-snap penalties, guys lining up the wrong way, just not knowing what to do, I thought we were outstanding in that. I thought coach (Rhett) Lashlee and the staff did a great job and getting his guys prepared. I'm sure they'll watch the film and realize they can be so much better, but again, just in terms of functioning in a scrimmage setting for the first time out and not having a spring, I was very impressed.”
Redshirt senior QB D’Eriq King led the way on offense for UM, completing 15 of 26 pass attempts for 178 yards and 4 TD’s.
“D'Eriq King, his ability to make plays -- four touchdown passes, plays with his feet -- really, really ignited our offense and really got them going,” Diaz said.
While King made plays through the air, it was a pair of freshmen RB’s that took control on the ground. Jaylan Knighton (10 carries, 126 yards, TD) and Don Chaney (11 carries, 57 yards, TD) both showed that they felt right at home in Lashlee’s offense.
“They both have had a great camp, so it just made sense they'd have a great night tonight,” Diaz said. “Both guys had explosive runs, Chaney had some good, hard runs on some short-yardage stuff and both of them had the ability when they got out in the open field to make things happen. Once they got comfortable, you could really see their explosion.”
With star DE Gregory Rousseau opting out of the 2020 season, the Canes are looking for the rest of their defensive ends to step up, and Diaz was encouraged by what he saw in the scrimmage from the position.
“Jaelan Phillips, we probably played him for maybe a little bit over a quarter, he's relentless off the edge,” Diaz said. “You like to see guys who've had a great week of practice come out on scrimmage day and put it together and Jaelan did. Then you mention Cam Williams, he really took advantage of his time tonight and I thought was very impressive. Chantz Williams did some good things on defense. He had five tackles and two sacks in his first-ever college scrimmage. That idea of getting guys off the edge creating havoc is a big part of our defense and they really did step up and played their part.”
At linebacker, UM is attempting to replace two veteran, four-year starters, and Diaz liked what he was seeing out of redshirt juniors Waynmon Steed (5 tackles) and Bradley Jennings, who both sat out the 2019 season due to injury.
“I first have to point out Bradley Jennings and Waynmon Steed, both coming off injuries, I thought both made a lot of good things happen,” Diaz said. “But then when you mention (Sam) Brooks, (Avery) Huff and Corey Flagg and Tirek Austin-Cave. Flagg and Cave, they left their mark a few times on some big hits. It's fun and we've got a great competition at linebacker, and not even to mention Zach McCloud. We've got a lot of guys have been getting in play and in that competition is far from over.”
Other stats released by UM after the scrimmage:
-TE Will Mallory led the team with 4 catches for 71 yards and a TD.
-WR Mike Harley had 2 TD catches.
-WR Xavier Restrepo had 2 catches for 54 yards, plus a 70-yard rushing TD.
-WR Michael Redding III had 3 catches for 41 yards.
-S Gurvan Hall led all defenders with 7 tackles.
-LB Sam Brooks had 5 tackles.
-LB Corey Flagg had a sack.
-CB Marcus Clarke recorded an interception.
“I was very pleased with the way that our guys got after it,” Diaz said. “The tempo of the offense was telling. We were able to run a lot of plays, got a lot of action and I thought was highly competitive. I thought both sides made a lot of things happen.”
Considering Miami was breaking in a new offensive system, plus many new starters on defense, Diaz was pleased by the lack of penalties on both sides of the ball.
“With ACC officials here, our pre-snap penalties were minimal, our during-the-play penalties were almost nonexistent,” Diaz said. “We did have some selfishness after the play, there were two or three occasions, one that gave the offense a first down. Those have to be dealt with harshly, that’s when someone puts their emotion in front of the team.
“What I was pleased with was the operation for the first time out as a scrimmage. Your pre-snap penalties, guys lining up the wrong way, just not knowing what to do, I thought we were outstanding in that. I thought coach (Rhett) Lashlee and the staff did a great job and getting his guys prepared. I'm sure they'll watch the film and realize they can be so much better, but again, just in terms of functioning in a scrimmage setting for the first time out and not having a spring, I was very impressed.”
Redshirt senior QB D’Eriq King led the way on offense for UM, completing 15 of 26 pass attempts for 178 yards and 4 TD’s.
“D'Eriq King, his ability to make plays -- four touchdown passes, plays with his feet -- really, really ignited our offense and really got them going,” Diaz said.
While King made plays through the air, it was a pair of freshmen RB’s that took control on the ground. Jaylan Knighton (10 carries, 126 yards, TD) and Don Chaney (11 carries, 57 yards, TD) both showed that they felt right at home in Lashlee’s offense.
“They both have had a great camp, so it just made sense they'd have a great night tonight,” Diaz said. “Both guys had explosive runs, Chaney had some good, hard runs on some short-yardage stuff and both of them had the ability when they got out in the open field to make things happen. Once they got comfortable, you could really see their explosion.”
With star DE Gregory Rousseau opting out of the 2020 season, the Canes are looking for the rest of their defensive ends to step up, and Diaz was encouraged by what he saw in the scrimmage from the position.
“Jaelan Phillips, we probably played him for maybe a little bit over a quarter, he's relentless off the edge,” Diaz said. “You like to see guys who've had a great week of practice come out on scrimmage day and put it together and Jaelan did. Then you mention Cam Williams, he really took advantage of his time tonight and I thought was very impressive. Chantz Williams did some good things on defense. He had five tackles and two sacks in his first-ever college scrimmage. That idea of getting guys off the edge creating havoc is a big part of our defense and they really did step up and played their part.”
At linebacker, UM is attempting to replace two veteran, four-year starters, and Diaz liked what he was seeing out of redshirt juniors Waynmon Steed (5 tackles) and Bradley Jennings, who both sat out the 2019 season due to injury.
“I first have to point out Bradley Jennings and Waynmon Steed, both coming off injuries, I thought both made a lot of good things happen,” Diaz said. “But then when you mention (Sam) Brooks, (Avery) Huff and Corey Flagg and Tirek Austin-Cave. Flagg and Cave, they left their mark a few times on some big hits. It's fun and we've got a great competition at linebacker, and not even to mention Zach McCloud. We've got a lot of guys have been getting in play and in that competition is far from over.”
Other stats released by UM after the scrimmage:
-TE Will Mallory led the team with 4 catches for 71 yards and a TD.
-WR Mike Harley had 2 TD catches.
-WR Xavier Restrepo had 2 catches for 54 yards, plus a 70-yard rushing TD.
-WR Michael Redding III had 3 catches for 41 yards.
-S Gurvan Hall led all defenders with 7 tackles.
-LB Sam Brooks had 5 tackles.
-LB Corey Flagg had a sack.
-CB Marcus Clarke recorded an interception.
