Each week this season, we’ll take a look back at the game that was for the Hurricanes.

Here, some of the key storylines, numbers of note, and quotes from Miami’s season-opening 38-3 win over Miami (OH).

The Recap

The Hurricanes entered the season with lots of new faces, both on the field and on the sideline.

Several of those newcomers wasted little time making their presence felt.

Under the guidance of new offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson, who joined the Hurricanes this offseason after a successful four-year stint at Houston, the Hurricanes put together a lightning quick drive on their opening possession.

Miami moved down the field on three plays and scored its first touchdown of the season when quarterback Tyler Van Dyke connected on a screen pass with receiver Colbie Young, who scampered 44 yards to the end zone. The drive took all of 1:25 off the clock.

The Hurricanes added to their lead on their next possession after kicker Andy Borregales capped a 15-play, 66-yard drive with a 34-yard field goal.

Borregales would add field goals of 32 and 43 yards before halftime, helping send the Hurricanes into the locker room with a 16-3 lead.

Miami’s running backs were force in the second half with Mark Fletcher, Jr., Henry Parrish, Jr. and Donald Chaney, Jr. all finding the end zone.

Fletcher scored on a 26-yard run, while Parrish scored on a 12-yard run and Chaney capped the scoring for Miami with a 20-yard run.

Van Dyke, who was hampered by a shoulder injury for much of last season, completed 17 of his 22 pass attempts, throwing for 201 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Parrish had nine carries for a game-high 90 yards and Fletcher, a freshman making his Miami debut, had nine carries for 76 yards. Young had four catches for 79 yards, while fellow receiver Xavier Restrepo hauled in six catches for 68 yards.

Miami’s defense kept the RedHawks out of the end zone, with their only score coming on 48-yard field goal from Graham Nicholson. Linebacker Francisco Mauigoa, a transfer from Washington State, led the Hurricanes with five tackles, while Te’Cory Couch had four stops.

“We played a lot of guys tonight and played a pretty solid brand of football,” Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said. “I was certainly proud of the way our defensive guys came out and put a lot of pressure on their offense. They got us some really good field position and, while we didn’t capitalize all the time, we put a couple good drives together…

“The second half, we just started to methodically take over the football game. I’m proud of the offensive and defensive lines. I felt they controlled the line of scrimmage for a majority of the game. They make it difficult with their angles, with their leverage, with their numbers in the run game. They sure bring a lot of pressure, and our guys did a decent job. The defensive line put a ton of pressure on their guys.”

Numbers to Know

493 – The Hurricanes offense totaled 493 yards in their season opener and did so with a balanced attack that included 250 rushing yards and 243 passing yards.

2 – The RedHawks had 12 third-down conversion opportunities and three fourth-down conversion opportunities. They were successful on just two of those chances, both on third down.

41.5 – Number of yards averaged by new Hurricanes punter Dylan Joyce. Joyce, who hails from Kyabram, Australia, knew he had big shoes to fill after fellow Aussie Lou Hedley’s departure for the NFL. And on both of his opportunities Friday, Joyce delivered. He had a long of 47 yards and pinned the RedHawks inside the 20 once.

15 – Cristobal said ahead of Miami’s opener that some of the youngest Hurricanes had earned the opportunity to play and on Friday night, 15 freshmen made their Miami debuts. Two – offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa and Joyce – started.

6 – Number of tackles for loss notched by the Hurricanes defense in Friday’s win. Three of those were sacks. Sophomore Wesley Bissainthe notched the first sack of his Hurricanes career, Jahfari Harvey added another sack and Ryan Ragone and Bobby Washington, Jr. combined on the third.

Quotable

“Aggressive. I saw a team that played fast. I saw a team that played to their training, since January; a commitment to increasing our level of physicality and speed. They’re playing with a bit more power. And then, [defensive coordinator Lance] Guidry, and how highly we think of him, he put it together. If you watch film with him, he’s not going to be completely happy. He’s going to find a lot of stuff to fix. But he is going to be happy with the effort. He is going to be enthused and encouraged by the progress of this defense and some of the things we can get better at. All in all, a solid performance but there is a lot of room for improvement, and we recognized that as we walked off the field.”

– Head coach Mario Cristobal, on the performance of the defense

“I made one mistake, obviously the interception. The guy made a good play getting back there…give credit to him. But overall, felt pretty accurate. The line did a great job protecting for me. I only took one hit. Happy with the performance, happy we got the win. Definitely clean that interception up a little bit, but we’ve got to move on and prepare for next week.”

– Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, on his performance

“It means a lot. Coach Cristobal has really been on us about that, making sure that Hard Rock [Stadium] is the hardest place [to play] in college football. Day in and day out, that’s what we do on Greentree, we make sure that we’re working as hard as we can so when we get here, we earn it.”

– Safety Kam Kinchens, on what it meant to open the season with a win at home

“Honestly, I can feel the shift, just with everything. The energy, the mindset going into the game, I could feel the shift. These guys are hungry and we’re eager to win.”

– Linebacker Wesley Bissainthe on how it felt to take the field with the 2023 Hurricanes

“We compete with each other every single day and the one thing we always do is stay together. Henry [Parrish, Jr.] makes me better. I make him better. And the same with Ajay [Allen] and Don [Chaney, Jr.]. All of us, we just compete every day.”

– Running back Mark Fletcher, Jr. on the balance and competition in the running backs room

Up Next

Miami (1-0) is set to host No. 23 Texas A&M next Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium. The Aggies opened the season with a 52-10 win over New Mexico.

In that win, Aggies sophomore quarterback Connor Weigman completed 18 of 23 passes and threw for 236 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. Evan Stewart had eight catches for a game-high 115 receiving yards with two touchdowns. A&M scored touchdowns on each of its first five possessions.

The Hurricanes and Aggies met last season in College Station, with Texas A&M emerging from a defensive battle with a 17-9 win.

That night, Borregales converted on field goal attempts of 28, 22 and 34 yards to provide the scoring for Miami, while Parrish had a team-high 85 rushing yards.