Mario Cristobal shares how Tyler Van Dyke helped Emory Williams

Going into Miami‘s game against Clemson, Mario Cristobal had a problem. His starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was injured and freshman Emory Williams was forced into action. Still, the Hurricanes managed to win the game in overtime.

Throughout the game, Van Dyke mentored Williams, leading to Cristobal praising the relationship between both of his quarterbacks.

“He was excellent,” Mario Cristobal said. “He’s a great mentor. I know Emory really looks up to him. Just helping him learn. Again, it was a new offense for everybody, but just Tyler’s experience, and football at the college level requires a certain level of understanding and Tyler has been instrumental in helping Emory along with that.”

It was a solid first game for Emory Williams, who completed 24 of 33 passes for 151 yards. He also threw a touchdown and an interception.

Emory Williams proved that Miami can win tough games with him at quarterback in the absence of Tyler Van Dyke. However, Mario Cristobal would still prefer to have his veteran under center moving forward in ACC play.

He is doing well. He was good to go and in the middle of the week it flared up and caught us off guard,” Cristobal said.

“It was the right thing to play Emory because he was getting most of the reps. We feel like he will be good to go next week, but I will hold off comment on that until we get back to the training room so I can give you more accurate data.”

Emory Williams explains how Tyler Van Dyke helped him during first start

For his part, Emory Williams was incredibly excited to have Tyler Van Dyke helping him on the sidelines. Williams also felt that Van Dyke did an excellent job helping him to process his first game as the starting quarterback at Miami.

“It was a special moment. TVD. I love TVD. We have a great quarterback room, me, TVD, JB. We’re all super close. Just to see his excitement for me is, it means the world for me, and I’m his biggest fan. So, he was with me every step of the way. Couldn’t be more proud to be his teammate,” Williams said.

“He was always — anytime I came off to the sideline, he was, ‘Hey, this is kind of what I saw,’ and I told him about some things I did. He was like, ‘Eh, you know,’ and he was right. I’m glad he was there because I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did without him.”