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Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee praised the ability of his passing game to finally breakout last week vs. UVA, and especially singled out the wide receivers as a group that upped their level of play.
"I know I said it last week, and it sometimes sounds like wishful thinking, but ever since the Clemson game, (the receivers) have really been practicing well,” Lashlee said. “It was really nice to see Mark make that big catch on the sidelines, even Will Mallory the first play of the game was huge. Mike Harley made some really big catches.”
Head coach Manny Diaz mentioned that freshman QB Tyler Van Dyke has been progressing well the past few weeks, and could challenge N’Kosi Perry for the #2 job in the second half of the year. Does Lashlee agree with that sentiment.
“Tyler is coming along nicely,” Lashlee said. “I feel really good about where he’s progressing as a true freshman. In seasons you have a starter, you’re not having competition at other places. As a coaching staff, we feel good that N’Kosi and Tyler would give us an opportunity to win if they’re called upon. That’s a nice situation.
“(Van Dyke) is very mature for a freshman, handles himself and prepares very well. He’s gotten better throughout the course of the first six or seven weeks of the season, a lot of times (they can) hit that freshman wall. He’s still progressing very nicely.”
As for Lashlee’s starting quarterback, D'Eriq King had a strong performance last week in completing 21 of 30 passes for 322 yards, a TD, and no turnovers. He also rushed for 28 yards vs. the Cavaliers, but Lashlee felt he missed some opportunities to pick up chunk yardage with his legs.
“Zone read is something he hasn’t done much in the past believe it or not, didn’t do it at Houston, in high school,” Lashlee said. “He’s getting a feel for it… Most of the time, (the defense) is making him hand the football off, and that’s smart by defenses.”
After only picking up one carry in the second half last week while backs like Don Chaney, Jaylan Knighton, and Robert Burns closed out the win, starting RB Cam’Ron Harris sent out a tweet he felt disrespected, which was later deleted. Lashlee later addressed the tweet and Harris’ status.
“I talked to him briefly, coach (Eric) Hickson has talked to him - it was a tweet and kids tweet a lot of things, that’s how they vent,” Lashlee said. “I’m not sure what Cam really meant other than he’s frustrated, the last couple of weeks haven’t gone as he hoped. He’s a big part of what we’re doing. It’s probably a team effect in we can be better in a lot of areas the last couple of weeks… You have to ask Cam what he meant really, to be honest with you.”
It has been tough sledding for Harris the past three weeks, as he has only run for 35 yards on 28 carries (1.3 ypc) with no TD’s in that span. Does Lashlee expect the freshmen backs to gain more snaps in the second half of the season as a result?
"I don't know if it's a comparison, but both the young backs, six games in, they're very comfortable playing," Lashlee said. "Those guys, they run hard, run downhill, break tackles, run behind their pads and the game is just slowing down for them."
With UM’s second bye set for this week, Lashlee wants to use the extra time to work on the run blocking up front, among other aspects of the offense.
“I agree we can be better in all aspects, and one of the things an off week allows us to do (is) we’ll see where we really need to improve, what we need to work on, what guys are struggling (in)," Lashlee said. "Obviously, against Clemson we didn’t run the ball very well at all. This past Saturday night some of the run boxes we were getting we needed to be better running the football. I don’t know (if the OL is) limiting us, but we’d like to run better. I felt we ran the ball well against Pitt. But we can be better. That’s what this week will allow us to do. I still think we’re running better than the average, but we need to run it better. I have no doubt those guys up front will improve.”
Senior OL Navaughn Donaldson is still rehabbing from a knee injury, and Lashlee did not rule out Donaldson working his way into the mix in the second half of the season.
“Navaughn is not cleared yet,” Lashlee said. “He’s really improving and doing some really good things. Maybe later this year, for sure next year (he can play).”
Freshman OL Jalen Rivers is one who the staff feels has shown a lot of improvement in the group up front and he could see playing time moving forward.
“For a freshman, he’s a guy that if he had to play we feel he could and would get better each week,” Lashlee said of Rivers. “He’s definitely in the top six, seven, eight guys on that offensive line... He doesn’t act like a freshman.”
**With an upcoming bye week this week, defensive coordinator Blake Baker will have an extra week to prepare for NC State, and the DC was asked how involved head coach Manny Diaz is in developing the gameplan.
"Overall, it’s a collaborative effort between everybody on the defensive staff,” Baker said. “Coach Diaz and myself have always believed everyone in that room has a voice. If you don’t agree with an idea, speak your mind, we’re not going to yell at you or get mad because everybody has value, from GA’s to the defensive coordinator, head coach. It’s something we’ve always done. It gives guys ownership in the room as well. I don’t ever foresee that changing.
“As far as calling the game, everybody has a voice. There’s times there’s one voice and it is what it is. But at the end of the day I would say coach Diaz and I - we talk it through. We’ve always had that relationship and that hasn’t changed regardless of what our title is.”
While the secondary played well overall vs. UVA in giving up just 181 passing yards, a big chunk of that came on Virginia’s second scoring drive late in the 4th quarter when Al Blades and Gurvan Hall seemed to lose track of the receiver for an easy 35-yard TD pass.
“It was just a miscommunication, they were moving fast,” Baker said. “A simple miscommunication between two guys on the back end, something that’s very correctable. Not an ideal time, but proud of the way we responded. The first half they moved the ball well on us, stuff we hadn’t necessarily seen, but the second half up to that point, two three and outs (to start the half), starting to find our groove. I told the guys ‘We’re still up, we don’t allow points moving forward, we win the game,’ and our guys did a great job responding after that big play touchdown.”
The Canes continued to have issues with targeting in the game, as Amari Carter got his second of the year on UVA's very first offensive play and was ejected.
“It’s definitely something we continue to address. You can still be physical without targeting,” Baker said. “Some are malicious and some aren’t. The young man from Virginia was not very tall in the first place and then ducked. The only thing Amari could have done was raise his head, eyes, maybe it doesn’t get called. It obviously hurts the player, he’s got to miss the remainder of the game, then hurts the team. It’s something we’ll continue to harp upon. Coach (Ephraim) Banda does a drill every week where we talk about tackling low.”
With Carter out for the game and Brian Balom on the Unavailable List, the Canes were shorthanded at safety and turned to striker Gilbert Frierson for some backup reps at the spot.
“Gilbert, man he’s just a student of the game,” Baker said. “He sits at meeting and is obviously playing attention to everything. How prepared were we as a staff to put him there? He’s played absolutely zero snaps at safety for us. He came up to us at halftime and said `Coach, I can do it.' He’s smart, knows everybody on the defense, what their job is supposed to be. It’s impressive.”
True freshman S Jalen Harrell was also thrown into the fire vs. UVA and got the first significant snaps of his career.
“Jalen is a confident young man,” Baker said. “The one thing about Jalen that we do know is he will come downhill and he will tackle. He is physical at the point of attack. Our young guys are really coming along. Truth be told, we maybe didn’t see that happening going into the game, but he really did a great job when his number was called.”
With Miami essentially at the halfway point of their 11 game season, Baker gave his take on how the defense has played so far in 2020.
“Overall, we have to clean up some things on our rush defense from defensive line to linebacker, really all three levels,” Baker said. “As we started in on the tape, week in and week out, there’s some things you don’t necessarily notice, but look at it from 30,000 feet away there are glaring things we have to clean up in the second half of the season in the run game.”
Two other freshmen Baker could see getting time down the road include DE’s Chantz and Quentin Williams.
On Chantz: “Man, he’s very, very technique sound,” Baker said. “You can tell he was extremely well coached in high school, a smart young man. He’s bigger than really I anticipated him really being at such a young age, maybe 260 pounds right now and running like a deer. This (bye) is an opportunity he can really press for playing time in the second half of the season.”
On Quentin: “We’ve worked him inside and outside as well, he has bounced around for us,” Baker said. “You can see how physical he is. Extremely heavy-handed, really impressed with those guys. They’re both young. Our young guys, man - they are stepping up in a big way. As we continue to self-scout ourselves this bye week I think you’ll see more and more young guys play for us. Our freshman class, they’re blue collar, quiet bunch, but the real deal. Really happy with all of them.”
With LB Corey Flagg out vs. UVA, Baker also spoke about how Waynmon Steed stepped into the backup role.
“He has really good instincts, played really well, had a tackle for loss, did some good things for us,” Baker said.
"I know I said it last week, and it sometimes sounds like wishful thinking, but ever since the Clemson game, (the receivers) have really been practicing well,” Lashlee said. “It was really nice to see Mark make that big catch on the sidelines, even Will Mallory the first play of the game was huge. Mike Harley made some really big catches.”
Head coach Manny Diaz mentioned that freshman QB Tyler Van Dyke has been progressing well the past few weeks, and could challenge N’Kosi Perry for the #2 job in the second half of the year. Does Lashlee agree with that sentiment.
“Tyler is coming along nicely,” Lashlee said. “I feel really good about where he’s progressing as a true freshman. In seasons you have a starter, you’re not having competition at other places. As a coaching staff, we feel good that N’Kosi and Tyler would give us an opportunity to win if they’re called upon. That’s a nice situation.
“(Van Dyke) is very mature for a freshman, handles himself and prepares very well. He’s gotten better throughout the course of the first six or seven weeks of the season, a lot of times (they can) hit that freshman wall. He’s still progressing very nicely.”
As for Lashlee’s starting quarterback, D'Eriq King had a strong performance last week in completing 21 of 30 passes for 322 yards, a TD, and no turnovers. He also rushed for 28 yards vs. the Cavaliers, but Lashlee felt he missed some opportunities to pick up chunk yardage with his legs.
“Zone read is something he hasn’t done much in the past believe it or not, didn’t do it at Houston, in high school,” Lashlee said. “He’s getting a feel for it… Most of the time, (the defense) is making him hand the football off, and that’s smart by defenses.”
After only picking up one carry in the second half last week while backs like Don Chaney, Jaylan Knighton, and Robert Burns closed out the win, starting RB Cam’Ron Harris sent out a tweet he felt disrespected, which was later deleted. Lashlee later addressed the tweet and Harris’ status.
“I talked to him briefly, coach (Eric) Hickson has talked to him - it was a tweet and kids tweet a lot of things, that’s how they vent,” Lashlee said. “I’m not sure what Cam really meant other than he’s frustrated, the last couple of weeks haven’t gone as he hoped. He’s a big part of what we’re doing. It’s probably a team effect in we can be better in a lot of areas the last couple of weeks… You have to ask Cam what he meant really, to be honest with you.”
It has been tough sledding for Harris the past three weeks, as he has only run for 35 yards on 28 carries (1.3 ypc) with no TD’s in that span. Does Lashlee expect the freshmen backs to gain more snaps in the second half of the season as a result?
"I don't know if it's a comparison, but both the young backs, six games in, they're very comfortable playing," Lashlee said. "Those guys, they run hard, run downhill, break tackles, run behind their pads and the game is just slowing down for them."
With UM’s second bye set for this week, Lashlee wants to use the extra time to work on the run blocking up front, among other aspects of the offense.
“I agree we can be better in all aspects, and one of the things an off week allows us to do (is) we’ll see where we really need to improve, what we need to work on, what guys are struggling (in)," Lashlee said. "Obviously, against Clemson we didn’t run the ball very well at all. This past Saturday night some of the run boxes we were getting we needed to be better running the football. I don’t know (if the OL is) limiting us, but we’d like to run better. I felt we ran the ball well against Pitt. But we can be better. That’s what this week will allow us to do. I still think we’re running better than the average, but we need to run it better. I have no doubt those guys up front will improve.”
Senior OL Navaughn Donaldson is still rehabbing from a knee injury, and Lashlee did not rule out Donaldson working his way into the mix in the second half of the season.
“Navaughn is not cleared yet,” Lashlee said. “He’s really improving and doing some really good things. Maybe later this year, for sure next year (he can play).”
Freshman OL Jalen Rivers is one who the staff feels has shown a lot of improvement in the group up front and he could see playing time moving forward.
“For a freshman, he’s a guy that if he had to play we feel he could and would get better each week,” Lashlee said of Rivers. “He’s definitely in the top six, seven, eight guys on that offensive line... He doesn’t act like a freshman.”
**With an upcoming bye week this week, defensive coordinator Blake Baker will have an extra week to prepare for NC State, and the DC was asked how involved head coach Manny Diaz is in developing the gameplan.
"Overall, it’s a collaborative effort between everybody on the defensive staff,” Baker said. “Coach Diaz and myself have always believed everyone in that room has a voice. If you don’t agree with an idea, speak your mind, we’re not going to yell at you or get mad because everybody has value, from GA’s to the defensive coordinator, head coach. It’s something we’ve always done. It gives guys ownership in the room as well. I don’t ever foresee that changing.
“As far as calling the game, everybody has a voice. There’s times there’s one voice and it is what it is. But at the end of the day I would say coach Diaz and I - we talk it through. We’ve always had that relationship and that hasn’t changed regardless of what our title is.”
While the secondary played well overall vs. UVA in giving up just 181 passing yards, a big chunk of that came on Virginia’s second scoring drive late in the 4th quarter when Al Blades and Gurvan Hall seemed to lose track of the receiver for an easy 35-yard TD pass.
“It was just a miscommunication, they were moving fast,” Baker said. “A simple miscommunication between two guys on the back end, something that’s very correctable. Not an ideal time, but proud of the way we responded. The first half they moved the ball well on us, stuff we hadn’t necessarily seen, but the second half up to that point, two three and outs (to start the half), starting to find our groove. I told the guys ‘We’re still up, we don’t allow points moving forward, we win the game,’ and our guys did a great job responding after that big play touchdown.”
The Canes continued to have issues with targeting in the game, as Amari Carter got his second of the year on UVA's very first offensive play and was ejected.
“It’s definitely something we continue to address. You can still be physical without targeting,” Baker said. “Some are malicious and some aren’t. The young man from Virginia was not very tall in the first place and then ducked. The only thing Amari could have done was raise his head, eyes, maybe it doesn’t get called. It obviously hurts the player, he’s got to miss the remainder of the game, then hurts the team. It’s something we’ll continue to harp upon. Coach (Ephraim) Banda does a drill every week where we talk about tackling low.”
With Carter out for the game and Brian Balom on the Unavailable List, the Canes were shorthanded at safety and turned to striker Gilbert Frierson for some backup reps at the spot.
“Gilbert, man he’s just a student of the game,” Baker said. “He sits at meeting and is obviously playing attention to everything. How prepared were we as a staff to put him there? He’s played absolutely zero snaps at safety for us. He came up to us at halftime and said `Coach, I can do it.' He’s smart, knows everybody on the defense, what their job is supposed to be. It’s impressive.”
True freshman S Jalen Harrell was also thrown into the fire vs. UVA and got the first significant snaps of his career.
“Jalen is a confident young man,” Baker said. “The one thing about Jalen that we do know is he will come downhill and he will tackle. He is physical at the point of attack. Our young guys are really coming along. Truth be told, we maybe didn’t see that happening going into the game, but he really did a great job when his number was called.”
With Miami essentially at the halfway point of their 11 game season, Baker gave his take on how the defense has played so far in 2020.
“Overall, we have to clean up some things on our rush defense from defensive line to linebacker, really all three levels,” Baker said. “As we started in on the tape, week in and week out, there’s some things you don’t necessarily notice, but look at it from 30,000 feet away there are glaring things we have to clean up in the second half of the season in the run game.”
Two other freshmen Baker could see getting time down the road include DE’s Chantz and Quentin Williams.
On Chantz: “Man, he’s very, very technique sound,” Baker said. “You can tell he was extremely well coached in high school, a smart young man. He’s bigger than really I anticipated him really being at such a young age, maybe 260 pounds right now and running like a deer. This (bye) is an opportunity he can really press for playing time in the second half of the season.”
On Quentin: “We’ve worked him inside and outside as well, he has bounced around for us,” Baker said. “You can see how physical he is. Extremely heavy-handed, really impressed with those guys. They’re both young. Our young guys, man - they are stepping up in a big way. As we continue to self-scout ourselves this bye week I think you’ll see more and more young guys play for us. Our freshman class, they’re blue collar, quiet bunch, but the real deal. Really happy with all of them.”
With LB Corey Flagg out vs. UVA, Baker also spoke about how Waynmon Steed stepped into the backup role.
“He has really good instincts, played really well, had a tackle for loss, did some good things for us,” Baker said.
