Miami Hurricanes sticking with quarterback Tyler Van Dyke despite rough outing vs. Middle Tennessee State

After starter Tyler Van Dyke was benched in an ugly loss to Middle Tennessee two weeks ago, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal said Monday there is no QB controversy in Coral Gables.

«We are honest about the fact that Tyler has played great football here for a long time and you don't turn on your quarterback because we had a bad day,» Cristobal said Monday in his first public comments on the QB job since Miami's 45-31 loss to MTSU on Sept. 24. «You make sure you do things and install things and work on things that the quarterback and supporting cast feels comfortable with.»

Miami's offense stagnated in a Week 3 loss at Texas A&M, and Van Dyke struggled again early against MTSU. Over the two-game stretch, he completed just 51% of his throws with one TD and two interceptions.

Van Dyke, who threw for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in each of his final six games of 2021, was pulled midway through the loss to MTSU in favor of former blue-chip recruit Jake Garcia. Garcia didn't fare much better, completing just 10-of-19 passes for 169 yards. Cristobal said he thought Garcia did «a great job» and «has a super bright future» at Miami, but acknowledged Van Dyke deserved to play through struggles.

Miami hosts North Carolina on Saturday in what could be a critical game in the ACC Coastal. Despite the back-to-back losses, the Hurricanes remain the favorite to win the division, according to ESPN's FPI metric, which gives Miami a 40.3% chance to take the Coastal. North Carolina is second at 29.3%. This will be Miami's first conference game of the season.

For the season, Van Dyke is completing 59% of his throws with four touchdown passes and three interceptions, along with a 41.3 Total QBR.

«After a rough day like that,