Miami Hurricanes make massive quarterback decision ahead of Florida State matchup

The Miami Hurricanes are shaking things up ahead of a massive Saturday showdown with the no. 4 Florida State Seminoles. The Hurricanes are starting true freshman quarterback Emory Williams in the game, per college football reporter Brett McMurphy.

Williams is starting for only the second time this season. The freshman hasn’t gotten to take charge of the offense since October 21 when Miami defeated Clemson, 28-20, in double overtime. In that game, Williams threw for 151 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He completed 24 passes on 33 total attempts. Since that game, Williams hasn’t recorded a single pass in the last few weeks.

Williams has seen limited action this season for the Hurricanes. Other than the performance against Clemson, he had only one other game with more than 100 yards passing, against Bethune-Cookman. He also threw for 42 yards in a win against the University of Miami, Ohio. Saturday’s game against Florida State will be an entirely different environment for the freshman and he won’t be able to afford many mistakes against a tough Florida State defense.

Miami is going to need a big performance from their youngster to pull off the upset Saturday. The Hurricanes are 6-3 on the season, and Williams is getting the start over Tyler Van Dyke who has struggled through an inconsistent season in the ACC. Florida State enters the contest undefeated at 9-0, with a chance to run the table and go to the College Football Playoff.  Florida State got some good news when it was announced Saturday that two of their best wide receivers, Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson, can play after missing recent games. The news was reported by college football writer Pete Thamel.

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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.”

Van Dyke understands that criticism from fans comes with the territory when you’re struggling. “That’s a part of the business. I love being a Miami Hurricane. I don’t have Instagram or Twitter, anything like that, so I don’t see it, but I assume (criticism has come in.)”

Now that Van Dyke is starting again, he continues to feel support from his teammates. “A lot of (teammates) have come up to me and said they have full trust in me. They’ve told me we know what you’re capable of, and we have full trust that you can go out there and do it on Saturday.” Van Dyke emphasized that the offensive players have stayed close together despite their tough times of late. “It’s been good having full support from my teammates.”