Following Monday’s practice, Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee spoke about the progression he’s seen from his offense, including how redshirt senior D’Eriq King has looked running his system.
“I’ve learned he’s got really good instincts at quarterback,” Lashlee said of King. “He’s smart, knows what to do, throws it well, runs it well. He has good intangibles, instincts at the position. He’s a quick study, understands space, the game, how defenses play, and rarely makes the same mistake twice.”
With King entrenched as QB1, one of the main questions on the offense is who his top target will be. Asked about junior WR Mark Pope, Lashlee pointed to the consistency he’s shown in camp thus far.
“Mark’s been one of our guys that has gotten steadily better as camp has gone on. That’s because we’re hopefully putting him in position to be successful,” Lashlee said. “He continues to gain confidence, and when you’re a confident player, you play better.”
On the OL, the main position battle has been at left guard, where Jakai Clark, Ousman Traore, and Zion Nelson have all seen work with the first team at various points this fall.
“All those guys are improving,” Lashlee said. “We’ve been able to keep a lot of them in the same spots for the last week, week and a half. They’re still getting competition. We’re going to need all those guys, whether it’s injuries, all the testing that’s going to happen. We’ll probably get through this weekend before we totally settle everything. Whether it’s Ousman or Jakai - every practice is valuable.”
In what areas does Lashlee want to see the offense
“Whoever is in the best physical and mental shape will have a chance, just the level of execution (is important),” Lashlee said. “Just attention to detail, execution (is necessary).”
Much has also been made about the increase in pace on offense during practice, something Lashlee cautioned is worthless without adding the efficiency to sustain drives.
"At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you’re trying to go fast or not, you have to execute,” Lashlee said. “The way you run over 80 plays a game on offense is getting first downs. Otherwise, we’ll just be running plays really fast and punting faster than we want to.”
With the first game of the season against UAB set for next week, Lashlee gave his overall take on what he is expecting from his unit vs. the Blazers.
“I’m just really pleased with our guys buying into what we’re doing, changing out style of play on offense from what the guys did last year,” Lashlee said. “Their attitude has been great, their effort has been great. They’re excited about what we’re trying to do. I want our guys to play hard, play together, play tough and just play four quarters and find a way to finish, see what we can do. A lot of new guys, each week you hope to get better."
