CORAL GABLES, FL — With Hurricane Ian growing into a tropical storm off the coast of Puerto Rico and slowly making it’s way to the Florida mainland, another potential storm could be brewing down in Coral Gables, thanks to Heisman Trophy quarterback Tyler Van Dyke getting benched for Jake Garcia in Miami’s shocking 45-31 home loss to Middle Tennessee State.
Van Dyke, who came off a less than stellar performance in the Canes 17-9 road loss to Texas A&M at Kyle Field, looked awful in going 16/32 for 138 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, before being replaced by former five-star QB Jake Garcia. Garcia, who flipped from USC to Miami, provided a spark in going 10/19 for 169 yards in relief. While the Canes didn’t win the game, they may have inadvertently stumbled upon their QB of the future, or completely destroyed their own QB room in the process.
In what can be described as a shocking fall from grace by the highly-touted Van Dyke, the Connecticut-born standout now needs to somehow regain his confidence, and get back on track if he has any hopes of being in New York, and ultimately the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Credit Middle Tennessee State for forcing Van Dyke into some bad throws, collapsing the pocket, and utterly making the 6’4, 225-pounder look and play much smaller than his statuesque frame.
In a city that craves drama and is fueled by glitz, glamour and style, the proverbial juiciness of the Van Dyke-Garcia QB battle is primed to be as entertaining as a weekend on South Beach.
Whichever quarterback that first-year head coach Mario Cristobal feels is best equipped to handle the lofty expectations of being the starting quarterback at The U, which includes a proud lineage of Heisman winners and national title champions such as Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Gino Toretta to Ken Dorsey, needs to quickly show that they can handle this kind of Miami heat.