King talks matchup with Lawrence, Clemson defense

King talks matchup with Lawrence, Clemson defense

Stefan Adams
As Miami Hurricanes QB D’Eriq King prepares for the matchup vs. #1 Clemson this weekend, he has taken time to watch film of the Tigers’ last game against UVA, where Virginia’s offense had some success vs. the Clemson defense in piling up 417 yards and 23 points.

“Watching the Virginia game, I think Virginia is a pretty good team as well, just watching what their quarterback did, found lanes here and there,” King said. “It’s like that every single game, you just have to read your progressions.”

Taking on the Brent Venables defense at Clemson is always considered a tough task, especially as the Canes will be travelling to Death Valley for the game.

“The Clemson defense, their defensive coordinator is one of the best in the country,” King said. “They do every front - you have to be ready for everything because you don’t know what you’ll see. Follow the rules, take the completions when they’re there. They have a high scoring offense, we do too. You can’t press and do too much, have to let the game come to you, especially on the road.”

Still, King prefers to keep much of the focus on making sure the Miami offense comes ready to play, and he says he feels the UM attack unit has progressed each week.

“The mood of the team is good, we have good vibes,” King said. "If we keep coming every single day trying to get better, and if we focus on the details of the small things, I think we have a pretty good chance to keep growing, getting better."

Yesterday, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee mentioned that he prefers to run the passing game through tight ends Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory, and King says he has a lot of confidence in the pair.

“Throwing the ball to Brevin and Will, they’re two of the best tight ends in the country, they’re a security blanket for me,” King said. “I’m sure Clemson will try to do everything they can to limit those guys getting catches. We have to make plays everywhere else, have to play within our scheme and do it to the best of our ability.”

Across from King on the Clemson sideline is their own star in QB Trevor Lawrence, who not only has found it easy to put up stats over the years, but also has experience playing in big games after appearing in the past two National Championship games, winning one.

“We’re going up against a great quarterback, but I’m not playing Trevor Lawrence, our defense is playing him,” King said. “Trevor is a great talent, will be the No. 1 pick in the draft - he’s a great quarterback. I’m excited to even play in this game. They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. We earned the right to be in this game, have to go out and play the best game we can on the road.”

The Hurricanes will be making their third straight College GameDay appearance this weekend, with the Clemson matchup representing another opportunity to impress on the national stage.

“This is a reason you come to play at Miami, play in big games like this,” King said. “It’s just another game for us, the third game in a row we have College Gameday. Clemson is a great team, has great players - Trevor, Travis (Etienne), a great defense. It’s the next game, so it’s a big game for us. I’ll go out there and try to get a win, that would mean a lot for the program… It seems like Clemson is in these kind of games every year, week in and week out - it’s just another game for those guys.”
 

Comments (8)

Amazing how much Lashlee and King are on the same page as to what the offense has available from play to play. I would attribute this to both Lashlee and King. They are a perfect match of skills and intellect.
We have not had this level of cohesion between quarterback and coordinator since Dorsey and Coker/Chud.
Great talent up and down the offense doesn't hurt either.
 
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