Hurricanes stay hot on the trail with commitments from five-stars Dominick Longo and Deron Tryon
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports Miami Insider
Mario Cristobal was reeling in top ten classes when the Miami Hurricanes were still a project and coming off two disappointing seasons. Armed with a College Football Playoff appearance, he's almost impossible to stop on the recruiting trail and he's at it again, landing commitments from five-star offensive tackle Dominick Longo and five-star running back Deron Tryon as the Hurricanes' top ranked class continues to get better.
Longo, who picked Miami over in-state Clemson and South Carolina, is a powerful athlete who is your traditional run-blocking offensive tackle in the mold of Francis Mauigoa. He does have the flexibility to play both tackle spots as he currently plays left tackle at the high school level but projects better at right tackle, where Mauigoa currently is. If Mauigoa decides to declare early for the draft, Longo could be his replacement as a day-one starter as he is that good.
Miami went out and landed Tryon, the country's top ranked running back to pair with Mo Rugamba, who they signed last year. Rugamba is a bruiser while Tryon is more of a scat back with his ability to evade tacklers and get to the edge of defenses. We've seen Miami use current running back Chris Johnson Jr. in a variety of ways and Tryon is of that same ilk but he's got even more size than Johnson and could eventually develop into an all-around running back.
Has to be on track for the top class in the nation
I am weary of Georgia making another late push like last year when they signed 4 5-stars in two weeks but we should have it locked down, especially with potentially more guys on the way
Florida Atlantic intercepts Nicholas Vattiato three times but can't complete upset of Miami
The rout appeared to be on after the Miami Hurricanes scored a touchdown on their third offensive play of the day and needed just six plays on their drive to go up two touchdowns early in the first quarter.
Two first half interceptions, both in the red zone, from Miami quarterback Nicholas Vattiato would keep the Florida Atlantic Owls in the game, needing a late touchdown from Jeremiah Smith to ground the Owls 28-14 and survive near disaster for Miami on Saturday.
Vattiato was benched for one series after his second interception before the half, which allowed for Florida Atlantic to get back into the game with a 68-yard touchdown pass to Jayshon Platt. Miami head coach Mario Crisotbal after the game confirmed that Vattiato sitting out the first series of the second half was due to performance.
Emory Williams didn't fare much better by no fault of his own as Jeremiah Smith dropped back to back passes to force Miami to punt. Both teams continued to exchange punts in the second half until Cameron Francher led a fourteen play drive that included two third down conversions and a fourth down conversion before finding Joseph Young, wide open in the endzone on a coverage bust, for the score with 4:47 remaining.
The Hurricanes would score on a sixty-nine yard touchdown by Smith in the next drive to help put the Owls away. Scoring Summary Quarter 1 Isaiah Horton 65 Yd pass from Nicholas Vattiato (9:53) Mark Fletcher Jr, 1 Yd run (1:32)
Quarter 2 Isaiah Horton 8 Yd pass from Nicholas Vattiato (3:17) Jayshon Platt 68 Yd pass from Cameron Fancher (0:22)
Quarter 4 Joseph Young 10 Yd pass from Cameron Fancher (4:42) Jeremiah Smith 69 Yd pass from Nicholas Vattiato (3:14) Player Stats QB Cameron Fancher: 17-36, 330 yds, 2 TD, INT, sacked 4 times QB Nicholas Vattiato: 18-29, 283 yds, 3 TD, 3 INT, sacked once QB Emory Williams: 2-7, 31 yds, sacked twice
HB Zuberi Mobley: 20 att, 83 yds HB Mark Fletcher Jr: 16 att, 63 yds, TD HB Chris Johnson Jr: 7 att, 56 yds QB Nicholas Vattiato: 6 att, 54 yds
LT Jalen Rivers: 70.1 PFF grade LG Matthew McCoy: 60.4 PFF grade C Ryan Rodriguez: 50.9 PFF grade RG Anez Cooper: 69.2 PFF grade RT Francis Mauigoa: 74.2 PFF grade
S Tracy Bennett: 10 tkl, 2 TFL S Ayden Armstrong: 9 tkl, TFL, INT S Phillip Dunnam: 6 tkl, INT DE Nick Livings: 1 tkl, INT S Markeith Williams: 10 tkl, 3 TFL CB Damari Brown: 6 tkl, 4 TFL DE Marquise Lightfoot: 3 tkl, 3 TFL, 2.5 sacks
Isaiah Horton 65 Yd pass from Nicholas Vattiato (9:53)
Jayshon Platt 68 Yd pass from Cameron Fancher (0:22)