ANALYSIS: Entering year a forgotten man on the national stage, Miami Hurricanes QB Tyler Van Dyke sending a clear message with his play
Before the 2023 season kicked off, one of the big lingering questions was Miami Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. And, particularly, if fans would see the 2021 version that was the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year, or the 2022 version that struggled and then essentially had a season-ending shoulder injury midway through the year.
The first two games this season have put an exclamation point on the answer.
Van Dyke was efficient with a short passing game in the opening win against overmatched Miami (Ohio), then let it fly all over the field Saturday afternoon in the 48-33 win against No. 23 Texas A&M. He finished connecting on 21 of 30 passes for 374 yards and five touchdowns with no turnovers. And, mind you, three of his passes were dropped. Perhaps his only errant throw was a deep shot down the middle that was just past the outstretched fingers of Jacolby George.
Now Van Dyke, who was overlooked in preseason hype for national honors, NFL Draft Day early boards and even ACC top three QB lists, is starting to get his due. He has the ACC’s top QBR rating so far at 87.0 per CFB Focus, ranking No. 8 in the nation. Behind him is a guy who is getting plenty of Heisman Trophy buzz, Florida State’s Jordan Travis (86.9 QBR, which is No. 9 in the nation). North Carolina’s Drake Maye, who is projected by some as a first-round NFL pick? He’s No. 4 in the ACC at 84.4 QBR (No. 12 overall).
If you go inside Pro Football Focus’ grades, you also see the stellar work Van Dyke’s done through these first two games for Miami. He has an overall 84.2 grade and 84.4 pass grade (for reference he had a 75.5 grade in 2021 and 66.8 last year). Both are outstanding, and his NFL passer rating per PFF is 139.5.
That rates No. 7 in the nation for QBs with 30 or more passing attempts on the year (behind USC’s Caleb Williams, Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman, Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel, Ole Miss’s Jaxson Dart, Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson and Oregon State’s DJ Uiagalelei).
So that’s pretty good company.
Shannon Dawson dialed up plays all over the field for Van Dyke this past Saturday and will continue to do so. If the pass protection continues to hold the way it did (Van Dyke was sacked twice and hurried a handful of other times), then the QB’s pinpoint accuracy on throws will no doubt continue to shine through.
When is the last time you saw a Miami QB with this kind of feel for the game and accurate passes time after time? Or a receiving corps that had 246 yards in a game against a top 25 team … after the catch?
It’s an incredible transformation from what we’ll call the pre-Dawson offense. In 2022 the pre-Dawson attack (if you can call it an attack) ranked No. 85 out of 130 teams in total offense (367.1 yards) and No. 96 in scoring offense (23.6 points).
The scheme helps, of course. And it spread the ball all over the field with Van Dyke the captain of it all.
He was 5-for-5 throwing to the left side in Saturday’s game (per PFF) with 2 TDs, was 14-20 throwing down the middle with 2 TDs, and 2-3 to the right side with a TD. He also was 2-3 passing on throws of 20 or more yards for 116 yards and 2 TDs, 5-8 on throws between 10-20 yards (for 130 yards and a TD), 7-9 on throws from the line to 10 yards out (for 65 yards and a TD) and 7-8 on throws behind the line (for 63 yards and a TD).
Van Dyke mixed it up in distance and spreading the field, and also was noted running play action 15.6 percent of the time (3-4 passing, 2 TDs in those situations). He was blitzed about half the time and was 10-15 passing when not blitzed (214 yards, 2 TDs) and 11-15 when blitzed (160 yards, 3 TDs).
Essentially, he was successful in all areas. There was nothing the Texas A&M defense could do to slow him or this offense.
Also of note: Van Dyke’s graded out higher four other games in his career – in 2022 he graded out better against Virginia Tech (88.5) and Bethune-Cookman (90.3) and in 2021 had better grades vs. Central Connecticut State (87.9) and NC State (84.3). So this was probably the best game he’s played against a quality opponent.
A quick refresher on Van Dyke: He was a backup behind D’Eriq King as a true freshman in 2020 (playing off the bench for Miami in 2 games), then in 2021 was again expected to be behind King. But he was thrust into a starting role after King’s season-ending injury and wound up starring as a starter in the final 9 games of the season. He earned ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after completing 62.3 percent of his passes for 2,931 yards with 25 TD passes and just six INTs. Then last year Van Dyke was slow out of the gate in Josh Gattis’ offense. In the first four games, including a trio of perceived overmatched opponents Bethune-Cookman, Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee, he totaled just four TD passes with three interceptions. Then he came alive vs. UNC (496 passing yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) and Virginia Tech (342 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) before suffering the injury to his shoulder in the first half vs. Duke. He ended with 1,835 passing yards, 10 TDs and five INTs. Not the year he had hoped given the high expectations off his outstanding 2021 performance.
But now he’s back on track.
So go ahead and call Van Dyke the forgotten guy who is no longer forgotten.
Those preseason lists that omitted his name?
Those naysayers that predicted the offense wouldn’t be explosive?
Van Dyke just called them out bigtime on a national stage with his play.
And he plans to continue to do so.
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