Tyler Van Dyke leads No. 22 Hurricanes against Temple in UM’s first road game of the season
Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke has some fond memories in Philadelphia.
Although Van Dyke grew up in Connecticut, he is a Philadelphia Eagles fan. He and his family were season ticket holders and would make the trek to Lincoln Financial Field to watch Donovan McNabb and the Eagles take on their NFL foes.
“When I was young, my favorite player was Donovan McNabb,” Van Dyke said. “… My favorite game has to be the Christmas Day, Eagles vs. Giants when the Eagles were down, like, 31-10 and came back with Mike Vick, and then DeSean Jackson returned that muffed punt for the game. That’s probably the coolest game I’ve seen the Eagles play.”
Van Dyke is hoping to create some more great memories at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday as the No. 20 Hurricanes (3-0) travel north to face Temple (2-1) at the home of both the Eagles and Owls at 3:30 p.m.
“Went to a lot of games growing up at ‘the Linc,'” Van Dyke said. “So I’m very excited to play there. It’ll be a cool experience. … I know, being an Eagles fan, some of those fans are crazy and passionate. So that’s what I think about when I think about ‘the Linc.’ So I’m just excited to get in the stadium and play there for the first time.”
Van Dyke has starred to begin the year, leading Miami to three straight wins at home, exceeding their total from the disappointing 2022 campaign. Going on the road offers its own challenges. But the Hurricanes are treating it like just another game.
“The only difference is the plane ride, really,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “In the offseason, the operations director, they do a great job just scouting out the right, proximal hotels that have the space, the conference rooms, whatever we need to meet, to walk through. Sometimes we have to have mobility circuits if it’s a later game to get the guys up in the morning and make sure they’re just not sitting there stagnant and whatnot. For us, you’ve heard it for 100 years about how all road trips should be a business trip. Home games are business trips; they’re just local business trips.
“The mentality for this is we need to go play our best football.”
The Hurricanes will face off against the son of an NFL legend. Temple’s quarterback, E.J. Warner, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. The younger Warner has completed 52.5 percent of his passes for 760 yards and four touchdowns. He has thrown two interceptions.
“He’s an excellent quarterback,” Cristobal said. “He’s really well coached. Obviously, the lineage there. He’s really sharp, really accurate. He understands front structures. He understands the back end, as well, so he’s finding windows really effectively.”
The Owls do not rank high in many statistical categories, currently sitting 94th in scoring offense and 64th in scoring defense. However, they are 23rd in passing defense, allowing 171 passing yards per game so far this year.
“Very athletic. We played them last year (at Houston), and I think they’re a much-improved defense from last year,” UM offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “We had to score at the end to beat them, and I thought this year, watching them on tape, they’re more athletic. They get after the passer. I think they were top-10 last year in sacks, No. 11 in tackles for loss. Chaotic up front, a lot of movement, a lot of subtle D-line movement, twists, that give you issues, and they’re explosive on the edge.”
Temple will offer a drastically different road environment compared to UM’s first road game last year. The Hurricanes’ first game outside South Florida in 2022 was in front of a 107,000-person crowd at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. The Owls’ average crowd in two home games this year has been a tenth of that size.
Despite what will likely be a smaller crowd, the Hurricanes’ many freshmen will be playing in a hostile environment for the first time, offering a new experience for them before they start their ACC schedule.
“Going into another stadium, it might be a little different for the young guys” cornerback Daryl Porter Jr. said. “But to the older guys, it’s just another game. Just do your job and make plays.”
