Miami Hurricanes Turning Back To Tyler Van Dyke After Emory Williams Injury | How Will TVD Respond?

Tyler Van Dyke was benched last week in favor of true freshman quarterback Emory Williams.

Williams played with toughness in Miami’s 27-20 loss at Florida State, but suffered a compound fracture to his left, non-throwing arm late in the game.

On Monday afternoon, Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal confirmed that Van Dyke will become the starter once again. Miami’s other scholarship quarterback, Jacurri Brown, has not taken a snap this season.

Van Dyke has thrown 10 interceptions in his last four starts. He threw his twelfth interception of the season on Miami’s final drive against Florida State, after coming in for the injured Williams.

Cristobal had this to say about how Van Dyke is handling this situation, essentially a second chance to lead the team:

“Being a quarterback in Miami, you’ve got to be tough, you’ve got to have thick skin, you’ve got to be a competitor. He’s all that. He handled last week like a pro, which means disappointed, upset, really fought hard all week and it was a great week of practice by both guys. In fact, at the end of the week, staff felt like, ‘Man we’ve made a lot of progress.’ I felt like as a staff, and as players together, we did a better job of putting things together knowing it was gonna be a difficult team to move the ball against, particularly through the air, where they had excelled. But because of his performance last week, because of his determination, his past successes, that’s what your job as a coach is. To provide clarity, remove the clutter, and make people better. And he has done really, really well. He’s handled everything really well. And he has the confidence of his teammates and coaches.”

Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson also spoke about Van Dyke and added some nice perspective on his situation.

“Alabama had a quarterback that got benched, and look how he’s playing right now,” Dawson said, referring to Jalen Milroe. “When I say the blueprint is out there, you don’t have to look ten years in the past. Just look around. Don’t feel like you’re the only person going through something. There’s somebody right there down the road that’s going through it and handling really well. They took advantage of the opportunity. I’d be shocked if that doesn’t happen (with Van Dyke.)”

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“You’re not gonna play your best every game. It’s all about how you respond.”

Tyler Van Dyke answered questions from the media on Wednesday, looking comfortable and motivated ahead of Miami’s clash with 9th ranked Louisville this weekend.

Van Dyke’s attitude and accountability impressed me. He doesn’t sound bitter or jilted after being benched last week. He struck me as someone looking forward to another opportunity to play the game he loves. This is exactly the attitude I wanted to see.

“I’ve gotta take ownership of my mistakes,” he said. “We know what we’re capable of. We’ve done it before.”

Van Dyke started the season red hot. It wasn’t so long ago, back on September 9th, when he logged perhaps the best performance of his career against Texas A&M. In that home win, TVD completed 70 percent of his passes for 374 yards, five touchdowns, and zero interceptions. He was the top graded passer in America through his first four games.

 

From October onward, Van Dyke struggled with turnovers, throwing ten interceptions over the course of four starts. His turnovers got him benched in favor of freshman Emory Williams. Williams suffered a season-ending injury against Florida State, thrusting Van Dyke back into the spotlight.

He offered some clarity on how and why his struggles began. “I feel like I was just doing too much at certain times and making dumb mistakes in certain situations,” Van Dyke said. He admits he’s tried to force too many balls into tight windows when checkdowns are available. “I’ve got to be smarter with the football. I’ve definitely learned a lot from the last five or six weeks and I’ve got to be better from it.”

When Van Dyke was benched, he told Williams, “I’m here to support you in whatever ways I can.” Van Dyke said he tried to keep a positive mindset. “I feel like I’m in a really good headspace right now after talking to people.” He noted that his grandfather, a former athlete and football and baseball coach, has been someone he really leans on for advice. He’s also sought counsel from other family members and from the UM sports psychologist.

“At the end of the day, I’m not gonna let football consume my happiness,” he said. “I love playing football and I want to accomplish my dreams of playing college football and playing in the NFL, so I am going to do my best. I love the game. But at the end of the day I am not gonna let that consume my happiness. I don’t want to be upset the rest of my life because football didn’t go my way. You learn that throughout the process of the last few weeks. Maybe that was the life lesson that God was trying to teach me.”