D’Eriq King Returning To Elite Form At Quarterback

For the first three weeks of the 2020 season, D’Eriq King looked like the QB from Houston that we were all expecting, and Miami’s offense was clicking. Then, against Clemson and Pittsburgh, King and the offense struggled, failing to move the ball through the air or on the ground.

In the three games following however, King has returned to his old-self, looking like the quarterback we saw in early September.

Against UVA, NC State and Virginia Tech, King has thrown for 1,008 yards, 7 touchdowns and zero interceptions, completing 70% of his passes. Against NC State, King became just the 4th QB in Miami history to throw for at least 430 yards in a single game.

And in that game versus NC State, it wasn’t just King’s arm that helped Miami steal a win, but his scrambling ability as a well, rushing for 105 yards, for a grand total of 535 yards of total offense just from King that night.

King has also been the main reason why the Hurricanes are sitting with a 7-1 record, as he’s led Miami on two come-from-behind victories on the road, against the Wolfpack and the Hokies. In both games, Miami trailed in the 4th quarter, and King led the offense down the field, scoring when they had to, to take the lead, and ultimately the ballgame.

Speaking of clutch, King has been marvelous when his team is down. In games where Miami is trailing by 1-7 points, King has thrown for 509 yards, 6 touchdowns and no interceptions, completing 71% of his passes.

King’s play has sparked the entire Miami offense, as the Canes racked up 1,008 yards of total offense in the two games they played in November. In the three games in October, that number was 985 combined yards of total offense. In October, Miami’s offense averaged 4.8 yards per play, and in November they’re averaging 5.9 yards per play.

In the last two games, King has involved more of his receivers as well, even without star tight end Brevin Jordan in some of those matchups.

Mike Harley has perhaps been King’s favorite target, and in the last 3 games, the senior has 24 receptions for 374 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns. Mark Pope has 13 catches the last 3 games, when he only had 16 catches in the 5 games prior. Dee Wiggins registered his first 100-yards receiving performance of his UM career against Va Tech. Will Mallory had 6 catches for 78 yards and a touchdown against NC State.

Clearly, you can see that King and his receivers have found their groove they were missing earlier in the year. We knew that it was only a matter of time until the passing game got clicking again.

Whether or not this season is able to resume, we can definitely see how explosive a Rhett Lashlee offense can be with someone like King running it, and running it like they have the last three games.