Mario Cristobal, Miami not pointing the finger at Tyler Van Dyke for passing game struggles

The Miami Hurricanes have struggled in recent weeks on offense, particularly in the passing game. Despite that, Mario Cristobal isn’t ready to point the finger at quarterback Tyler Van Dyke.

Following the loss to NC State, Cristobal was asked if he’d consider a change at quarterback. Without directly answering the question, Cristobal argued that the issues go beyond Van Dyke in the passing game.

“I think it’s not just pointing a finger at Tyler,” Mario Cristobal said. “I think, offensively, there’s things that we need to do better. The passing game certainly hasn’t been what it needs to be, especially when we started the season in such a strong manner. But it’s tied into us being able to put it all together and synchronize it.”

Van Dyke missed Miami’s game against Clemson with an injury. In his place, freshman quarterback Emory Williams led the Hurricanes to a win. Since then, Van Dyke has played in two games and failed to throw a touchdown pass. He has, however, tossed five interceptions.

Still, Cristobal says that everyone needs to be better and all of the offensive issues don’t fall on Van Dyke.

“Sometimes the routes are covered, smothered a little bit. Sometimes the protection has been fairly good for the most part. They brought a lot of zero blitz today and then played a lot of coverage, drop eight. So, it’s a little bit of everything. We’ve got to coach it better. We’ve got to find ways to design a couple things that might help us. See things a little bit more clearly, but it’s a little bit of everything.”

The reality is that Miami’s offensive production is a world away from where it was at the start of the season. For Cristobal, there are several reasons for that regression and it falls on the entire team, not just the quarterback position.

“We do. It hasn’t been what it’s supposed to be or what it was early on. I’m not sure if it’s a little bit of everything but it’s on us to fix it. We haven’t done good enough,” Cristobal said.

“When I say that, we have to do it as an organization, players, coaches, scheme, design, execution, the whole thing. Sometimes it’s this, sometimes it’s that. We’re out of sync. It’s obvious. We’re not throwing the ball and catching it really well. There’s no one person to blame. It’s all of us.”

Tyler Van Dyke addressed his health

One concern for Tyler Van Dyke has been that he’s playing injured after missing the Clemson game. However, after the loss to NC State, he blamed execution and not injuries for the offensive struggles, especially in the passing game.

“Yeah, it’s football,” Tyler Van Dyke said. “Just got banged up a little bit… I’m alright now. Yeah, I’m good. I’m good. Everything’s good.”