On the day of college football’s season-opening, Week 0 games last Saturday, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas listed Miami’s Tate Martell among the 20-some players for whom the sportsbook had established future odds to win the 2019 Heisman Trophy, which were obviously a few weeks old considering his teammate, redshirt freshman Jarren Williams, had previously been named the Hurricanes’ starting quarterback.

While Miami is 0-1 in the Manny Diaz era after suffering a 24-20 loss to No. 8 Florida, the Hurricanes certainly had chances to win the game, especially considering their self-inflicted 14 penalties and 10 sacks.

Excluding Williams’ 1-for-3 passing performance in a game against Savannah State last season, Saturday marked our first real look at what the 6-2, 210-pound Williams can bring to a Miami team in need of improved quarterback play after ranking 113th nationally in passing yards per game in 2018.

We rewatched all of Williams’ pass attempts in Miami’s loss, charting things like depth of target and how long the Hurricanes’ quarterback held on to the ball each play.

Here’s what we observed and learned:

• Nine of Williams’ 19 completions were caught behind the line of scrimmage. Roughly 42 percent (92 yards) of his 214 passing yards were from those nine completions, so that’s not to say those short, high-percentage throws were ineffective. First-year Miami Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Dan Enos clearly made a concerted effort for Williams to get rid of the ball quickly, especially early in Williams’ debut as a starter against a Florida defense that ranked among the top 20 nationally last season and has several defenders who could be taken in the first four rounds of next year’s NFL Draft.
• Williams’ first five completions were caught at or behind the line of scrimmage and the redshirt freshman started the game 6-for-6. The average depth of Williams’ targets in the game (in relation to the line of scrimmage and ignoring throw-aways) was just 5.3 yards. However, there was a notable increase in his depths of target as the game progressed. In Williams’ first 10 attempts, none were intended for a receiver more than seven yards past the line of scrimmage. Nine of his next 20 attempts were intended for a receiver at least 10 yards downfield.
• Play-action passes and screen passes were the foundation of Miami’s passing game in the first half, which is understandable as Enos tried to help his inexperienced quarterback build some confidence against a top-10 opponent. The Hurricanes’ biggest gain on a passing play was a screen pass to running back DeeJay Dallas (shown below), who corralled a high throw from Williams with one hand five yards behind the line of scrimmage, then he picked up a block, high-stepped out of the reach of one potential tackler and ran through two arm tackles before being pushed out of bounds.

• Seven of Williams’ 30 attempts left his hand within two seconds of when he received the snap and 19 passes were thrown within three seconds of him getting the ball. We hand-timed how long Williams held onto the ball on each passing play from when he received the snap to when he released the ball, which admittedly isn’t a perfect method, but it reinforces the notion that Miami tried to get the ball to its skill position players quickly through screens, slants and crossing routes.
• However, Williams showed glimpses of poise and mobility in the pocket. The following series of screenshots show Williams stepping up in the pocket as it collapses around him, then throwing on the move to connect with tight end Brevin Jordan for a 20-yard gain on 2nd & 11.

• But Williams’ internal clock can certainly use some improvement. Florida had 10 sacks in the game and while many Miami fans might rush to blame the team’s offensive line, Williams could’ve avoided at least a few of the sacks by throwing the ball away or tucking it and committing to run. Williams threw the ball away just three times in Week 0 — the first of which didn’t come until his 22nd pass attempt and the last fittingly came on the Hurricanes’ final play of the game, 4th & 12 from Florida’s 26-yard line, trailing by four.
• Just five of Williams’ 30 attempts were intended to a receiver who was at least 15 yards past the line of scrimmage, but he completed three of them, including a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jordan, his favorite target in the game, that was tipped near the line of scrimmage but was still caught.
• The redshirt freshman quarterback showed flashes of his downfield passing ability and the touch he can put on longer throws, but far more often he was throwing short. On 3rd & 15 late in the first half, Williams stepped up in the pocket and found Jeff Thomas on a slant route for an 18-yard gain and a first down, which marked by far his biggest completion — in terms of depth of target — up to that point in the game. In the fourth quarter, when Miami led 20-17, Williams nearly put his ‘Canes up by 10 points with a third-down throw to Thomas in the end zone. Thomas was covered by C.J. Henderson, a potential future first-round NFL Draft pick, and Williams put the ball where only Thomas could’ve caught it. If anything, it was an incredibly athletic (and game-changing) play by Henderson to contest the catch. There’s a saying along the lines of that if a receiver gets his hands on the football, he should catch it, and Williams gave his teammate the chance to make a big-time play.

• Williams nearly pulled off the comeback for Miami (with a lot of help from Florida’s fourth-quarter penalties) with the following third-down throw to Jordan. A flag was thrown, and soon thereafter picked up by the officials, for defensive pass interference, but Williams was able to loft this throw into double coverage roughly 31 yards past the line of scrimmage. For a redshirt freshman quarterback in his first career start who spent most of the first half throwing short screen passes or benefitting from play-action play designs, Williams made a few throws, even if they fell incomplete, that were encouraging — albeit in a loss — for his future development as a downfield passer.

• To bring this story full circle, we did see Tate Martell on Saturday and even at quarterback for a couple of snaps. Twice Miami lined up in the formation below with Jarren Williams positioned as the third wide receiver to the right with Martell receiving a shotgun snap.

• Martell also saw limited action at wide receiver, going in motion and setting up the inevitable trick play(s) that the Hurricanes will run later this season, whether it’s a double pass with Williams and Martell, or some sort of reverse. But that will merely be a package or two in Miami’s offense.

 

While that trickery and misdirection will lead to fun play designs and perhaps a few highlight reel touchdowns, the bread and butter of Miami’s offense will be designed by Enos to maximize Williams’ talent. Screen passes and play-action passes will likely be a mainstay in Miami’s offense, at least until Williams gets comfortable with the playbook and his role as the starting quarterback, but the next steps will be for him to throw the ball away quicker to avoid taking sacks, keep his eyes downfield in the midst of pressure and if all of his receivers are covered, be willing to use his athleticism to escape a collapsing pocket.

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