Key matchups for Miami and NC State
Alex Donno from Locked On Canes and Grayson Boone and Kenton Gibbs from Locked On Wolfpack break down the key matchups between these teams.
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00:00 My key matchup, now I already talked about Miami's pass rush, but to me,
00:04 key matchup that could decide a victory in Miami's favor,
00:08 I think is shutting down NC State's running game.
00:11 Because I'm looking at a young, a lot of promise in MJ Morris, but
00:16 a young quarterback, if Miami can keep NC State to third and longs, and
00:21 then Miami can pin their ears back and not allow NC State to run the football,
00:25 then you get the pass rush going on third downs.
00:27 I think that could absolutely be a recipe for success.
00:30 So I look at Miami's defensive line, which has been banged up, but
00:34 thankfully, players like Ruben Bain and Branson Dean,
00:37 who just came back from injury last week, he really stepped up.
00:40 Leonard Taylor has been really good the last couple weeks for Miami.
00:44 Jafari Harvey, I'm looking at that as a really, really important matchup.
00:48 Cuz something about Miami guys is,
00:51 they've not been very good in recent games on third downs.
00:54 And a lot of that has to do with the distance, third and shorts.
00:58 They've even given up some kind of fluky third and really, really long.
01:01 So winning on third down, slowing down the running game to me,
01:04 if Miami can do that consistently,
01:07 I think they've got a pretty good shot at going on the road and getting a win.
01:10 So, I mean, Kenton, I'll start with you.
01:11 What do you look at as key matchup or matchups in this game?
01:15 >> I 1000% agree that it's going to be up front in terms of NC State's offense.
01:22 But defensively, I think it's also gonna be the front.
01:26 And I think that it's gonna be about the running game as well.
01:28 Because let's just be honest, right?
01:30 If I found a woman who looks at me the way that Tyler Van Dyke looks at Restrepo,
01:34 baby, wedding bells are gonna ring.
01:37 I'm gonna put a ring on this here finger.
01:39 You know what I mean?
01:40 I'm gonna give somebody my last name and a couple kids or whatever the case may be.
01:44 But the reality is very simple here.
01:46 NC State has to stop the run.
01:47 That's what's been getting Miami by.
01:49 While Tyler Van Dyke has been struggling mightily,
01:51 Miami has been able to control the clock to some extent.
01:55 And kinda do what they need to do in terms of controlling the pace of the game via
01:58 their running game.
01:59 Because, I mean, let's just be very honest about this.
02:02 Tyler Van Dyke's been a little reckless.
02:03 So if we are looking at a game that NC State can win,
02:09 the most important thing for NC State to do in my opinion.
02:12 I know that the running game, I have no doubts in my mind that NC State will come
02:16 prepared for that.
02:18 But for whatever reason, I don't know what it is about Miami quarterbacks.
02:21 Cuz first it was TBD a few years ago, when Dierrick King, actually no,
02:25 first it was Dierrick King came in and looked like a Heisman candidate.
02:28 Then TBD subbing in for Dierrick King, came in and looked like a Heisman candidate.
02:33 And now we've got TBD back again, but a sort of reduced version of TBD that has
02:38 not been the same guy that we saw in the past coming in.
02:42 And if you allow three straight of these performances where it's like, man,
02:46 he's just hot as fish grease and he's just dropping on the bucket everywhere.
02:50 Well, congratulations, the Hurricanes will walk out of Raleigh feeling very good
02:54 about themselves.
02:56 >> Yeah, in addition to NC State's offensive line trying to limit
03:00 the pass rush from Miami, my biggest matchup to keep an eye on
03:04 is Tyler Van Dyke versus this NC State secondary.
03:08 And leading up into this Clemson game last week,
03:10 I talked about the importance of making Cade Klubnik beat you.
03:14 Cuz this season he's had his struggles in some of the decision making and
03:17 so on and so forth.
03:19 Tyler Van Dyke got off to a blistering start in the non-conference,
03:23 had an injury, and has come back and has kind of cooled off a bit in ACC play.
03:27 NC State is going to have to beat Tyler Van Dyke in this game.
03:31 Because I do believe in order for Miami to put this game away,
03:34 they're gonna have to throw it consistently.
03:36 I think the NC State defense, or the run defense like Kenton mentioned,
03:40 they're gonna show up.
03:41 And despite a couple lapses in gap discipline and over pursuing,
03:45 the run defense has been very solid all year.
03:48 I expect that this Saturday night as well.
03:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]