The battle of Miami went to the real Miami as the University of Miami beat Miami-Ohio 38-3 Friday night. Tyler Van Dyke, coming off of shoulder surgery and having a new offensive coordinator, looked great outside of one mistake that resulted in an interception.
Van Dyke finished the night 17-22 for 201 yards and 1 td which came from his first throw of the game. In the postgame, he said he was playing with a bruised thumb that he hurt a week ago but it didn't really affect him. "I felt pretty accurate," Van Dyke stated. He did look sharp and hopes to have a bounce back year after really struggling with injuries last year. Van Dyke found receiver Colbie Young on his first pass of the game for a 44-yard touchdown and the Canes never looked back from there. Although three of the first four scoring drives ended in field goals, the Canes would never trail in this one.
Miami-Ohio's quarterback, Brett Gabbert, was limited just to 127 yards passing while going 12 for 21 on passes. In the offseason he was asked who the real Miami was and that "We will show them September 1st," but the real Miami proved to be in Coral Gables. Miami-Ohio struggled all night on both sides of the ball which is a credit to the offseason staff changes Mario Cristobal did.
The most impressive groups were the offensive line and running backs. For the first time in years the Canes were able to create big holes and pound the ball with several different running backs. Freshman Mark Fletcher Jr. finished with 76 yards on 9 attempts which includes a 26 yard score. Henry Parrish Jr. ran for 90 yards on 9 carries as well with a td. Don Cheney Jr. added to the rushing game to with a 20 yard scamper which capped the scoring for Miami. Overall the Canes averaged 6.9 yards per carry on the night as they ran for 250 yards on 36 attempts. The Canes did whatever they wanted to on the ground which is what Cristobal wanted to see.
On the other side of the ball the Canes defense looked improved as well. Although they didn't force any turnovers, the Canes were tackling well and forcing punts and held Miami-Ohio to a total of just 215 yards. Miami dominated the RedHawks at the line of scrimmage all night which resulted in 3 sacks on the night and an overall easy night for the defense. The defense looked energetic and didn't give up the big plays that we saw time and time again last year.
Moving forward the Canes play Texas A&M next Saturday. That game will be televised on ABC at 3:30 eastern time. The Canes will need to play like they did week 1 if they want to get their revenge on A&M as they lost to them in College Station last year, 17-9. This will be Miami's first true test of 2023 and we will see if what we saw versus Miami-Ohio is the real Miami or not.
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