Miami Hurricanes storm Temple Owls in road trip win

Miami, Florida – The Miami Hurricanes cruised to victory clipping the Temple Owls 41-7 in their first road game of the season. The rainy blowout moves UM to 4-0 for the first time since 2017 wrapping up the nonconference schedule. Scoring on their first three drives, the Hurricanes surged ahead maintaining their advantage from start to finish. Tyler Van Dyke completed 17 of 24 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Henry Parrish, Jr. led the way on the ground collecting 139 yards and two TDs. Xavier Restrepo recorded his first two touchdowns of the season as part of a seven-catch, 41-yard effort.

Watch out, Randy Moss, there's a new TD-grabbing superstar in town! 😎@CanesFootball | #ACCFootball pic.twitter.com/iQdR80EnDn

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) September 23, 2023

Jacolby George logged five catches for 90 yards and Colbie Young completed two receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown. Offensively, the Canes outclassed their former Big East rivals 543-279 in total yards while dominating time of possession. Although five for 11 on third down, Miami was successful six out of seven times in the red zone making sure there were no turnovers. On the other side, the Hurricanes held the Owls to just 11 rushing yards. By comparison, the collective effort by the runningbacks yielded 323 yards. E.J. Warner found little success throwing one touchdown and turning the ball over thrice via two interceptions, both to Te’Cory Couch, and a fumble. The sophomore was frequently pressured resulting in three sacks. Returning home, the Miami Hurricanes will have a bye week and then host Georgia Tech beginning conference play.

A fantastic first half for Tyler Van Dyke:
🙌 246 passing yards
🙌 2 passing touchdowns
🙌 1 rushing touchdown@CanesFootball up 34-0 at the half.

📺 @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/2HSMpMXJTe

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 15, 2023

Takeaways

Van Dyke and Parrish were a powerful duo

If Temple was hoping for some sort of upset they were sorely mistaken. The one-two punch handily knocked out the Owls. Initially run heavy, Miami started to open it up. Van Dyke was cruising looking very relaxed dropping dimes in a wet, windy environment. With just over nine minutes left in the half, TVD completed a 39-yard connection to George. Prior to that, Miami’s signal caller slung it to Young who made a terrific catch using both hands, his height, and that raw athleticism for the 14-0 TD. Kudos to the entire offensive line for making sure their guy was well-protected, opening up the lanes allowing the running backs to chew up a lot of yards. Hopefully, Matt Lee isn’t too banged up.

https://twitter.com/83_87_89_91_01/status/1705691755054780895?s=20

Speaking of, Parrish ran rampant finding holes in Temple’s defense surpassing the centennial mark. Furthermore, his longest stride was 17 yards crossing the endzone twice to boot. Starting the season as the RB1 in a crowded field full of talent, Henry has been largely able to keep his post getting plenty of action. Parrish’s lone blemish was a dropped pass that could have turned into something greater. UM did a good job spreading the ball around.

A special day for Restrepo

Xavier Restrepo finally found the endzone. As noted in this week’s preview, I figured he’d end the drought. Not only did the wideout do it once but twice. The best part about him is that Restrepo can catch and block. With a little over a minute left until halftime, the young man put up another great stop permitting Parrish to rumble past for the 13-yard TD to make it 24-0 Canes. It’s the sort of skillset both the fans and coaches appreciate.

Xavier Restrepo 2nd TD on the DAY!!! pic.twitter.com/Pcof2sFc0v

— NMD Grant (@NMDgrant) September 23, 2023

Despite the conditions, the wide receivers made plays with only two dropped passes. That’s pretty impressive when you’ve got the rain and the wind to deal with. Four weeks into the season, you can really see the synergy Van Dyke has with Restrepo. Shannon Dawson’s air raid has enhanced Miami’s offense bringing out the very best in the quarterback and the receivers. Let’s see how he looks going forward.

Stingy defense

The Owls flew into a literal wall this weekend. Not ones to abandon the rush, Temple’s run game was rendered useless managing a measly 11 yards. Leonard Taylor commanded in the trenches as the defensive front heaped a whole bunch of pressure on Warner. The QB was sacked thrice, hurried twice and there were five pass breakups. On top of that, Warner threw two picks happily secured by Couch including a key play in the endzone during the second quarter. Jaden Davis, Jahfari Harvey, Jaden Harris, Wesley Bissainthe, and Francisco Mauigoa all contributed to the dominant showing. Admittedly, the pass defense was slightly disappointing in the first half. Late in the second quarter, Daryl Porter Jr. got caught sleeping when E.J. Warner found Darvon Hubbard for the 37-yard completion putting the Owls deep inside UM territory.

Te'Cory Couch | #ItsAllAboutTheU® pic.twitter.com/dRcvZzKMtw

— GO ‘CANES! (@83_87_89_91_01) September 23, 2023

Luckily, Warner missed his wide-open man in the endzone. Subsequently, Taylor made a crucial sack for a loss of six yards forcing the Owls to go for it on fourth down turning the ball over in the process. Temple did manage to slip in an unlikely touchdown before halftime. However, the damage proved to be minimal.

Photo | Miami Hurricanes