The Rise of the (Miami) King

Manny Diaz didn’t hesitate.

The Miami Hurricanes had come out flat against North Carolina State. The Wolfpack had gone 89 yards in 6 plays to take a 7-0 lead. The last thing Miami wanted to do was punt the ball back to NC State.

So no, Manny Diaz didn’t hesitate. Instead, he put the ball in the hands of his best player, D’Eriq King. That faith paid off when King galloped 42 yards for a 1st down.

When Miami finished the drive with a TD, we knew that King’s run had lifted the Canes back into the game, providing a platform from which to build.

What we didn’t know is that for the next 4 quarters, D’Eriq King would put on a performance that would put him in the same breath of any of the great QBs that ever played at QB U.

Miami’s defense crumbled against the precision passing of backup QB Bailey Hockman. But every time the Wolfpack would threaten to separate, there was King and the Canes, answering back.

NC State’s strategy was simple. They didn’t respect King’s ability to connect on deep passes. And they had reason. Miami had struggled to connect downfield all year. So they loaded up on the run and dared Miami’s maligned, COVID-depleted receiving corps to get open. Dared King to beat them with his arm.

And in a gutty all-around performance from the Canes’ passing game, the Miami WRs got open and King hit them over and over again. King finished 31-41 for 430 yards and 5 TDs, spreading the ball around to Mike Harley, Mark Pope, Will Mallory, and Dee Wiggins, all of whom stepped up repeatedly to make big plays.

Despite all of this offensive explosion, Miami played from behind much of the game.  When Chris Dunn nailed a 53-yard FG at the beginning of the 4th quarter to put the Wolfpack up 41-31, he gesticulated towards the Canes bench, crudely suggesting that they fellate him.

What Dunn and the rest of the Wolfpack didn’t know is that the Canes were about to rally late like Joe Biden with mail-in ballots.

We must give the Canes’ defense some credit here. After an abhorrent first 3 quarters , Miami’s defense would hold NC State to 6 yards and also intercepted a pass in this miraculous 4th quarter.

Still, it fell to King to erase the deficit. After a 54 yard FG drive, the Canes drove again, this time for what appeared to be a tying TD. Twice, the Canes entered the end zone, and twice the refs denied them. Once again, they settled for a FG, cutting the lead to four.

When Miami got the ball back, an intentional grounding penalty (a rare King mistake)  put the Canes 92 yards from the end zone. With under 4 minutes left, this was it. 92 yards. 2nd and 18. The pressure on King was immense. He had to deliver or the season might well unravel.

King did what he did all game. He lifted his team and elevated his program. First, he hit Harley for 35 yards to get the Canes out from their own end zone. 3 plays later, on 3rd and 7, he hit Harley again, this time for 54 yards and the go ahead TD. Those 2 passes totaled 89 yards.

After an interception, Miami still needed to run the clock out. They ran twice for a total of 4 yards. With 2:20 left, and NC State out of timeouts, Miami needed just 6 yards for an improbable comeback. There was only one player to get the ball to, and the Canes exploited one of the great ironies of the game. NC State entered the game hoping to load up on the run, and force King to win the game throwing the ball. And King did that. But NC State also failed to stop King on designed runs. And on this critical 3rd and 6, King ended the game the way he started it…on a designed run for a critical 1st down.

After traveling 430 yards through the air and 105 yards on the ground, the King could finally rest, having carried his team to victory in perhaps the best individual performance in school history. As this virtuoso performance was unfolding, the game continued to hang in the balance, with the Canes trailing for much of it. Which made it difficult to appreciate in the moment.

But in retrospect, the unique magnificence of this performance is unbelievable, even to those of us who witnessed it. We’ll likely never see something like this again. Miami is now a Top 10 team again, having recovered from the Clemson loss with 3 consecutive wins. But it was the singular figure of the undersized transfer QB who came to Miami to elevate the program and did so in a spectacular fashion that we’ll remember long after this season is over.

For one game, D’Eriq King was the finest QB to ever line up under center for the University of Miami.

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports and generally covers the Miami Hurricanes. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003