No. 15 Miami shakes off slow start to bury Southern Miss
Tyler Van Dyke completed 19 of 29 passes for 230 yards and one touchdown, leading the 15th-ranked Miami Hurricanes to a 30-7 win over visiting Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon.
The TD pass was on a flea flicker that started with a handoff to Henry Parrish Jr. and a toss back to Van Dyke, who then threw over the top to an open Key’Shawn Smith for a 35-yarder to put Miami ahead 24-7 in the third.
Miami (2-0) also got 102 yards rushing and one touchdown from Parrish. Kicker Andres Borregales added three field goals, including a 40-yarder.
The Hurricanes also got a big-time performance from cornerback Tyrique Stevenson who had one interception and a spectacular punt return.
Southern Miss (0-2) was led by quarterback Zach Wilcke, who made a few stellar throws, including a 32-yard touchdown to Jason Brownlee that gave the Golden Eagles their only lead of the game at 7-3.
Defensively, Southern Miss was led by Malik Shorts, who came up with the only interception on Van Dyke on the day.
However, the Canes shut down Southern Miss’ leading rusher Frank Gore Jr. — the son of the former Miami and NFL star. Gore Jr. was held to 10 yards on seven carries.
In the first quarter, Miami opened the scoring with Borregales’ 30-yard field goal that capped a 14-play, 68-yard drive. Miami might’ve scored a touchdown on that march, but pass-rusher Jalil Clemons deflected a toss intended for an open Will Mallory.
Southern Miss took a 7-3 lead with 14:30 left in the second as Wilcke lofted his TD pass to Brownlee over cornerback Malik Curtis.
With just 20 seconds left in the first half, Miami regained the advantage, 10-7, on Parrish’s one-yard leap over the middle of the pile. That capped a 10-play, 86-yard drive.
Miami scored on its first drive of the second half as Thad Franklin ran for a seven-yard touchdown. That capped a 13-play, 77-yard drive. A 12-yard run by Parrish on third-and-5 was the key play on the march as Miami went up, 17-7.
The Hurricanes forced a three-and-out on Southern Miss’ next possession, and Stevenson’s 30-yard punt return set up the Hurricanes. Stevenson grabbed the punt on one hop and then ran over a Southern Miss defender.
On the next play, Van Dyke found Smith for the flea-flicker touchdown, and Borregales added two field goals to put the game away at 30-7.
–Field Level Media
