Miami-Southern Miss Takeaways: Live By The Run

Mario Cristobal opened the week demanding more from his team during practice.

Despite hanging 70 points on Bethune-Cookman in the season-opener, too much was left on the table, and the level of intensity did not exactly match Cristobal’s desires.

The same energy was lacking early for the Canes, which scored its first touchdown within the final 30 seconds of the first half. Lapses on offense kept things standstill for a moment, but the 15th-ranked Hurricanes adjusted and prevailed in its 30-7 win over Southern Miss.

Here are some takeaways that are worth discussing as Miami begins preparation for Texas A&M this week.

Spoiling Frank Gore Jr’s homecoming was the defensive gameplan heading into Saturday, and the Hurricanes did just that. Gore entered Week 2 as the nation’s leader in rushing yards but was nonexistent in all four quarters. He rushed for just 10 yards on seven carries.

Without the rush presence of Mitchell Agude and others, Miami’s defense still forced seven tackles for loss and three sacks. Leonard Taylor bodyslammed Gore in the second half and had a sack. Jacob Lichtenstein and Jordan Miller also had TFLs.

Cristobal forced Southern Miss to beat UM by throwing the football, which wasn’t going to work. Miami’s pass defense struggled in the first quarter, giving up four third-down conversions. Adjustments were made, and Southern Miss did not convert on third down throughout the rest of the game.

“That’s something that we fixed as the game went on,” Cristobal said. “I think the defense got better and better as the game went on. Even on that last drive, we played a lot of the guys who are on the threes and twos, and they really showed up and showed up strong.”

Cristobal and his staff are putting Miami in a position to compete with any team in the. country. As the Canes travel to Kyle Field for its first road matchup at Texas A&M, Miami can not allow fifty-fifty plays to change the course of the game.

Southern Miss succeeded on deep balls to 6-foot-3 receiver Jason Brownlee, who had five receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown. He made an incredible sideline catch over a well-contested DJ Ivey and a 33-yard jump ball over Daryl Porter Jr.

“They got 50 and we got 50,” Cristobal said. “You’ve seen that they’ve done that now to us a couple weeks in a row, right? They’ll just shoot them up there and use their size and length against some of our guys.”

Adjustments ultimately prevailed, and Miami also came down on the strong side of fifty-fifty balls. Tyrique Stevenson had a goal-line interception in the third quarter, TeCory Couch deflected a pass early in the fourth and Ivey played perfect coverage but dropped the INT.

“All in all, we have some work and some improvement,” Cristobal said. “That is certainly an area where people are coming after us, so we have to get better at it.”

Running the ball well calls for championship football. The best drives Miami has put together in the first two games have all stemmed from excellent running.

“We need to run harder, quite honestly,” Cristobal said. “When the Canes run hard, we are hard to stop and it opens up everything for us as we continue to grow and mature at the wide receiver position.”

If it wasn’t clear already, Cristobal is prioritizing the run for this offense. All throughout fall camp, Cristobal was working with the offensive linemen and ensuring the gaps will be opened for the Canes’ running backs to plow through.

“Really, I thought the difference was, they started running the ball and imposing their will a bit as the game went on and then our D got tired,” said Southern Miss head coach Will Hall.

Henry Parrish has made the most of his many opportunities in the first two weeks. He’s the first Miami running back since Joe Yearby in 2016 to open the season with back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances.

Parrish’s run style enables him to always fall forward, picking up an extra yard or two.

Thaddius Franklin is utilizing all of his 240-pound frame. He’s the perfect goal-line running back for Miami and will also be used in screen-pass situations. Jaylan Knighton made his season debut but is still taking precautions given UM’s thin running back depth.

Miami had a 13-play, 77-yard drive in the third quarter that lasted over seven minutes and was topped off with a Franklin touchdown run. Developing the run game early versus Texas A&M will be the recipe for success.

Xavier Restrepo is clearly Tyler Van Dyke’s favorite target, and the duo is going to be electric all season

The roommates combined for a team-high six receptions for 72 yards and it seems that every time the two connect it’s an automatic first down. TVD zipped a 24-yard pass to Restrepo in the second quarter, and the two continue to be on the same page.

Van Dyke struggled at points, overthrowing his receivers and making poor reads on an interception. He completed 20 of 29 passes for 241 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

“We’re not going to win next weekend if I play like that today,” Van Dyke said.

Van Dyke, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, plans on getting back to work Saturday night and correcting his mechanics.

“Sometimes I get a little too low, I’ve got to keep my elbow up,” Van Dyke said. “I’m probably going to go back to the facility tonight and just get that right before next week. I do think it’s mechanical.”

Michael Redding, who made his second consecutive start, and sophomore Brashard Smith both flashed Saturday. Key’Shawn Smith scored his first touchdown but aside from Restrepo, nobody has set themselves apart from the rest in-game yet.

Cristobal praised Andy Borregales for his near-perfect performance last week, and the same must be said after Week 2.

Borreglaes made three field goals and extra points, including a 48-yard kick. He also had touchbacks on five of his seven kickoffs. The second-year sophomore went 11-for-12 on touchbacks during kickoffs in the season-opener.

The brother of former Lou Groza Award winner Jose Borregales is on pace to earn some hardware in the near future.