What we learned from 7-5 season

BOSTON — The Miami Hurricanes‘ regular season came to an end Friday with a resounding, 45-20 victory over Boston College on the road.

The victory means Miami ends the season at 7-5, a two-game improvement from last year but not exactly a massive success. They have a chance to get one more win in a to-be-determined bowl game next month.

Here are 10 things we learned during the Hurricanes’ roller-coaster of a regular season:

The Hurricanes improved their roster …

Mario Cristobal took over a Hurricanes team last year that he now admits was not prepared to win.

“A year ago, that was some tough sledding,” Cristobal said Friday. “A roster nowhere near capable of sustaining a high level of play.”

Cristobal and his staff turned the roster over in the offseason and improved it immensely. With potentially one exception (tight ends), the Hurricanes improved at perhaps every position group. The result was a team that went 5-7 last season and suffered a two-touchdown loss to Middle Tennessee State last year improved by two wins and were in nearly every game they lost until the end.

Miami did improve season over season, which should be recognized.

… But they still underachieved

However, the Hurricanes should have ended the year better than 7-5. First, Miami should have beaten Georgia Tech, and it would have if Cristobal and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson simply called a quarterback kneel instead of running the ball. That play will live in infamy, and it still looms over the team two months later.

If you look at their other four losses — North Carolina, N.C. State, Florida State and Louisville — none of them were unwinnable. UNC is surely excusable; sometimes you run into talented players like Drake Maye and Tez Walker, and they have good days.

The losses to the Wolfpack and Seminoles came when the Hurricanes were deep in an offensive rut that they could not get out of. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke had a miserable game against N.C. State, and Miami’s inability to score with him cost them a chance to win. Backup Emory Williams was not much better against FSU, and UM lost by seven points. If they could have passed the ball more effectively in that game, the Hurricanes could have upset the Seminoles.

There are a few reasons why Miami ended the regular season 7-5, but none of them should have been insurmountable.

It might be time for Tyler Van Dyke to move on

Transfer rumors surrounded Van Dyke after last offseason season, but he opted to stay at UM. He said another year at Miami would be good for his development as he prepared to go to the NFL.

A little less than a year later, and the NFL still looks far away. Van Dyke got off to a hot start to the year before an absolutely dreadful stretch of games in ACC play. In five games, he threw 11 interceptions and was ultimately benched in favor of the true freshman Williams. He got the job back after Williams suffered a season-ending injury and had a solid final two games, leading UM to a win in the season finale.

But during his struggles, a vocal segment of the Hurricanes fan base turned toxic toward Van Dyke. He has been booed at Hard Rock Stadium. Social media has turned into a snake pit with venom directed at him.

To his credit, through it all, Van Dyke has accepted criticism and blame. He has said all the right things and talked about how he loves being a Hurricane. If Van Dyke does return to Coral Gables, he will almost certainly be penciled in as Miami’s starter again.

The UM veteran has said he has not thought much about his future plans, but it will surely be a discussion he will have with his family. Miami may not be the best place for him anymore, and it might be time to move on.

“My mind is not really there right now,” Van Dyke said after beating Boston College. “I’m just proud of being a Hurricane. We went out there and got the dub out in my neck of the woods. Had a bunch of family here so it was really to show out in front of them and get the win.”

Mario Cristobal could have quarterback problems

Miami has two potential quarterback issues that could rear their heads in the near future.

The first is simple: Who is going to start next year? If Van Dyke returns, he is likely the starter; however, his struggles this year could make that less than a sure thing. If Van Dyke leaves, that leaves two quarterbacks who are currently on the roster, Jacurri Brown and Emory Williams (though the transfer portal could tempt them), and one expected freshman signee, Judd Anderson.

The Hurricanes will likely look for a portal quarterback to fill Van Dyke’s void if he were to leave. They would need to nail that recruitment and find the right quarterback.

But replacing a departing quarterback is a somewhat routine, if important, task for a head coach. The other issue is more existential.

Cristobal coached an otherworldly talent at quarterback while he was at Oregon: Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. Although Herbert put up strong numbers with the Ducks and went sixth overall in the NFL draft, Cristobal has been criticized for not utilizing the star quarterback to his full potential.

When Cristobal arrived at UM, Van Dyke was the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year. At times, Van Dyke has shown that form again. But as mentioned, he has also struggled mightily, been benched twice and has not lived up to those post-2021 expectations. Fair or not, Cristobal has developed a reputation as a coach who struggles to develop quarterbacks.

In college football, reputation is everything. You have to convince players to come play for you, and every coach’s reputation precedes them. Cristobal’s reputation appears to be showing up in quarterback recruiting.

After arriving at Miami in December 2021, Cristobal signed Brown, a four-star who was already committed to UM. In the 2023 class, Cristobal could not hang onto blue-chip commit Jaden Rashada but signed Williams, a three-star prospect who was listed as the No. 34 quarterback in the class in 247Sports’ composite rankings. Anderson is currently the only quarterback in the 2024 class; he is a three-star prospect and the No. 59 quarterback in the class. UM also has three-star Luke Nickel committed in the 2025 class, but he is years away from arriving and making an impact.

Is it possible that Williams and/or Anderson are diamonds in the rough? Of course. Lower-ranked quarterbacks develop into standouts every year. But for every Stetson Bennett, there is a Tua Tagovailoa, a five-star who became everything he was expected to be and now is starring for the Dolphins.

Quarterbacks are the most important players on the field, and you need high-level players there to compete for titles. Miami may not have one of those on its roster, and one may not be arriving any time soon. As much as Cristobal may have improved the roster across the field, the Hurricanes were still limited by their quarterbacks this season. That may be the story going forward, too.

Freshmen star early

Miami expected big things from the 2023 class, and some players quickly made an impact.

Five-star offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa took over as the Hurricanes’ starting right tackle from Day 1, and he performed well. He finished the season with a 67.8 offensive grade with a 71.8 run-blocking grade and a 62.9 pass-blocking grade. Those may not be perfect marks but they are solid for anyone, let alone a first-year player.

Other players took on bigger roles as the season went on. Defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr., a four-star signee from Miami Central, quickly became a fan favorite. He ended the regular season with 37 tackles and tied for the team lead with 7.5 sacks. He also had 9.5 tackles for loss.

Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. followed a similar trajectory, becoming a key player after returning from a foot injury. He emerged from a group of four rotated running backs and finished the regular season second on the team with 512 rushing yards and five scores.

Other key freshmen included cornerback Damari Brown, Riley Williams and Emory Williams.

Receivers outdo expectations

Miami returned three starting receivers, Jacolby George, Xavier Restrepo and Colbie Young. All three had their time to shine this season, and all three put up solid seasons.

Restrepo, a Deerfield Beach High alum, had a stellar season. He finished the regular season with a team-best 993 yards and notched five scores on 74 catches. Pro Football Fous gave Restrepo the highest offensive grade on the team.

George, a Plantation High alum, paced the team with eight touchdown catches and was second on the team with 851 yards on 55 catches. Colbie Young notched 563 yards and five touchdowns on 47 receptions.

All three players’ stat lines would have led last year’s team in receiving.

Lance Guidry was a revelation

Cristobal brought in two new coordinators for this season, and new defensive coordinator Lance Guidry lived up to his billing after leading an excellent defense at Marshall last year.

The Hurricanes surrendered 30 or more points just twice all season — against North Carolina and Louisville. Last year, they gave up 30 points or more five times. UM improved by more than four points per game, going from 26.8 points surrendered last year to 22.1 this year. In 2022, Miami gave up 375.2 yards per game; the Hurricanes improved to 324.1 yards per game.

Guidry’s success has made him the subject of coaching rumors as the postseason approaches, but Cristobal would do well to keep Guidry on staff.

Offensive line work

The Hurricanes overhauled their offensive line during the offseason, bringing in two five-star prospects, Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola, and a pair of key transfers, Javion Cohen and Matt Lee. They joined returning starters Jalen Rivers, who moved from left guard to left tackle, and Anez Cooper.

The five starters — Rivers, Cohen, Lee, Cooper and Mauigoa — performed admirably. They allowed 14 sacks all season after Miami surrendered 36 last year.

Miami earned an 81.6 pass-blocking grade and a 68.8 run-blocking grade this year. Lee had the highest pass-blocking grade at 89.1, and Mauigoa had the highest run-blocking grade at 71.8.

Perhaps more impressively, none of the starting linemen suffered serious injuries in the regular season. All five started all 12 games, and they all played at least 771 snaps.

Hurricanes hit in the transfer portal again

Miami turned to the transfer portal to address several areas of need, and they hit several home runs.

In addition to landing two starting offensive linemen, the Hurricanes picked up major contributions from tight end Cam McCormick, defensive lineman Branson Deen and cornerback Jaden Davis. Those three all became key starters.

Perhaps no addition was bigger than middle linebacker Francisco Mauigoa. The veteran joined UM after his younger brother committed to Miami, and he became a force and a leader on the defense. He ended the regular season with 61 tackles and a team-best 15 tackles for loss. He was second on the team with 6.5 sacks and forced three turnovers (two forced fumbles and an interception).

Rebuilding sometimes takes a while

Sometimes a coach can come in, flip a roster and immediately turn a poor team into a winner. But it is more common for a rebuild to take time. Miami fans need only look north to see what those results can look like.

Mike Norvell was 8-13 after two years at Florida State. He lost to an FCS team, and many FSU fans were just about done with him. Last year, the Seminoles turned things around and went 10-3 (shellacking Miami 45-3 in the process). This year, they enter the final week of the season undefeated and with a chance to make the College Football Playoff.

That is a shining example of a rebuilt roster, and it took years to see the results. By reaching a bowl game this year, the Hurricanes are ahead of Norvell’s pace. That does not mean UM will win 10 games next season like Norvell did in Year 3, but it means Miami fans should not panic despite going 7-5. The roster is improved and there is a foundation for steady, “continued progress,” as Cristobal said.

“Improved roster, improved systems, improved schematically, improved culture. Now every game is either we’re winning it or it’s coming down to the wire, it’s coming down to the last — most of them came down to the last series or so,” Cristobal said. “So continued progress.”