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Hurricanes Rush for 305 in the 305; Parrish Jr. Scores 3 TDs in Debut
Miami Gardens, Florida – The Miami Hurricanes kicked off the Mario Cristobal era with a 70-13 rout of the visiting FCS Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.
56,795 fans were announced at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday for Cristobal’s 12th season-opener at the University of Miami.
Cristobal spent 5 years in Coral Gables as a player, including his redshirt year, three as a graduate assistant, and three as a full-fledged assistant. However, this was the first with him in charge of the operation, and Miami fans are excited about the new regime.
For the most part, the Canes played a clean game on all three facets. To start, the Hurricanes offense never saw 4th down, converting 100% (7-7) on 3rd downs. Miami dominated on the ground, picking up a fitting 305 rushing yards and a school record 7 touchdowns. South Florida native and former Columbus Explorer, Henry Parrish Jr., led the charge in his Hurricanes debut. The Ole Miss transfer rushed for 108 yards and 3 touchdowns (all in the first half), also adding 3 catches for 25 yards.
Tyler Van Dyke looked calm and poised commanding the offense, completing 13 of 16 passes for 193 yards and 2 touchdowns. Van Dyke hit his roommate and emerging leader of Miami’s receiving corps, Xavier Restrepo, for 100 yards and a touchdown on 5 catches, including an explosive 52-yard catch-and-run that set up Parrish Jr.’s 2nd rushing touchdown of the night.
Other than a botched snap at the goal-line caused by a substitution issue at center, Miami did not turn the ball over and did not punt.
The Canes defense did a solid job at stopping the run, allowing less than 100 yards on the ground, and a Gilbert Frierson pick-six headlined Miami’s 3 interceptions. However, Miami only secured six tackles for loss and two sacks. While credit is due to the BCU quarterbacks whose athleticism resulted in plenty of extended plays, the Hurricanes must do a better job at containing mobile quarterbacks.
Key’shawn Smith was an absolute game changer as a kick returner, putting up an electric 184 yards on 3 returns (including a controversial kick return touchdown that was called back after review showed Smith stepped out-of-bounds). Andres Borregales was perfect on all 10 of his extra-point attempts.
Coach Cristobal on the #Canes RBs and Key’Shawn Smith’s big return and his thoughts (spoiler, he said nothing on the subject). pic.twitter.com/Yj1NOdjFfj
— Brandon Odoi (@Brandon_Odoi) September 3, 2022
What’s Next?
This weekend, the Canes face the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Southern Miss is coming off a demoralizing loss against the Liberty Flames where both teams’ starting quarterbacks went down with injuries. The Flames’ third quarterback on the night, Kaidon Salter, connected with Demario Douglas in the corner of the end zone for a go-ahead two-point conversation in the fourth overtime. Southern Miss running back Frank Gore Jr. was stuffed just outside the goal line to end it.
This will be the first matchup between Miami and Southern Miss ever, and Frank Gore Jr. suitably returns to Miami to play against his Hall-of-Fame-likely father’s alma mater. If Southern Miss’s backup quarterbacks are not performing up to par, don’t be surprised to see Gore Jr. taking the helm of the “super back” formation, where Gore Jr. plays somewhat of a Wildcat quarterback role. (Thanks to the Ronnie Brown-Ricky Williams Dolphins, fans at Hard Rock Stadium are all too familiar with the Wildcat formation.) He played the 2nd half against Liberty in this role and finished the game with 32 carries for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns while going 1/4 for 48 yards passing.
Considering Miami’s trouble containing BCU’s mobile quarterbacks, Gore Jr. might pose an exciting challenge. Nevertheless, the #16 Canes should be heavily favored to win this weekend so they should have a good opportunity to clean up the mistakes from Saturday’s game.
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