After starting the season with some solid, but offensively pedestrian victories, the Miami Hurricanes found the missing piece of their offensive arsenal on Saturday night: explosive passing plays.
This
is something that I mentioned as being missing through 4 games, though their absence wasn’t really impactful in the first month of the season. Miami physically dominated Notre Dame, Bethune Cookman, South Florida, and Florida with their best-in-the-nation Offensive Line, and stable of powerful, physical running backs. With that focus on running the ball and beating teams up with size and strength, Miami seldom utilized the speed that exists on the roster in the vertical passing game in the first month of the season.
Fast forward to the Florida State game, and it was clear that Miami would have to hit vertical passes to win. Florida State sold out to stop the run, allocating 7 or 8 players toward the line of scrimmage in that effort. With that being the case, the challenge was clear: hit us over the top with explosive passes that you have seldom shown the ability to complete or lose.
The game plan was hinted at early in the game. Miami took a deep shot to Malachi Toney on an early 2nd down play on the first offensive drive. It was a well thrown ball, and good route, but Toney was unable to make a diving catch deep in FSU territory. While it was only one play, it foreshadowed what would follow for Miami’s passing game.
(Start the below video at 2:46 if it doesn’t already load to that point)
After missing that vertical throw and being forced to punt on their first possession, Carson Beck and the passing game got the mojo working the next time they touched the ball. 3 plays into the drive, on 1st and 10, Beck went up top to CJ Daniels with a perfectly called and thrown play-action post and gave Miami their biggest pass play of the year: 47 yards.
Man, that’s a gorgeous throw.
That play was just the start of Miami’s downfield aerial showcase. 3 drives later, after a Bryce Fitzgerald interception of Thomas Castellanos, Miami wasted no time, going with a flea flicker on the first play after the turnover and striking gold. Superstar true freshman Malachi Toney was WIDE OPEN on an over route, and Beck threw another perfect pass, dropping it in Toney’s hands for a 44-yard touchdown.
Another gorgeous throw, and another touchdown for the Hurricanes. Even if the vertical explosive passing game was limited to those 3 throws, it showed that Miami had the ability to create and complete explosive, nuclear plays that had previously been questioned.
Good thing for Miami, however: that wasn’t the end of the aerial assault.
Later in the 2nd quarter, Malachi Toney had yet-another long touchdown. It was a late checkdown on a crossing route while Beck had initially looked deep, and saw Toney explode up the field, showcasing his elite athleticism and run-after-catch skills. Unfortunately, Keelan Marion’s illegal motion (moving forward at the snap) penalty negated what otherwise would have been a play of the year candidate.
After stalling on that drive after the Marion penalty, Miami went to the locker room, took a breather, then got right back on the good foot dropping bombs over Baghdad on the FSU defense.
Next up on the big play list was To round out the explosive passing night, Beck hit Malachi Toney on 4th and 2 on a 3 verts concept that completely fried the brains of the FSU defense. After catching the ball all alone in the middle of the Noles’ defense, Toney abused Earl Little Jr. in the open field, turning the Safety into a whirling dervish, and out running 4 defenders who were running hard as hell, while Toney glided by them to the endzone with ease. Add another 40 yards and 6 points to the board!
But wait; THERE’S MORE!!!
Last on the list is CJ Daniels’ 2nd TD of the day, a beautiful tunnel screen-and-run that the veteran playmaker took to the crib. Oh yeah, and he added another dose of mocking the Seminole War Chant directly into the camera, same as he did on his first TD (a short slant so I left it out of this piece).
All told, Miami hit FSU for 4 catches, 155 yards, 38.75 ypc average, and 2 tds on explosive passing plays. That would have been even better had Toney’s 52 yard TD not been negated by penalty. Then, the line would have been 5 catches for 207 yards, a 41.4 ypc average, and 3 TDs.
For anybody who, like me, was waiting for Miami’s explosive passing game to show up this season, this was a sight for sore eyes. This proves that Miami has the ability to win by using the vertical passing game as the foundation of the offense, and that adds another thing that opposing teams have to contend with when they play the Hurricanes.
I know I’ve given all the plays up top, but here’s a nice video that puts all of Beck’s vertical throws together, so you can see how easily, accurately, and consistently Miami’s quarterback delivered the ball to his receivers against FSU.
In the end, our season-long search for Miami’s explosive passing game ended with an emphatic return against the Seminoles. Now, the Canes can work to find situations and scenarios to utilize another deadly part of their offensive arsenal through the remainder of the 2025 season.
Welcome back, explosive passing plays. Man, we missed you!
Go Canes
