D’Eriq King Transfers to Miami Hurricanes from Houston
Former Houston QB D’Eriq King transfers to Miami (FL). King announced on Monday that he will officially transfer to Miami (FL) and play for head coach Manny Diaz. The former Cougar quarterback played in four games in 2019 before deciding to take advantage of an NCAA rule that allows a player to play up to four games and then take a redshirt for the rest of the season, without losing eligibility.
As Houston went 1-3 over that four-game stretch, King didn’t complete 60% or better of his passes. As a senior, King said he would return to Houston in 2020.
D’Eriq King Transfers to Miami
All that changed on Monday. King will now be part of a Hurricane quarterback room that also includes Jarren Williams, N’Kosi Perry, and Tate Martell.
So, what does King bring to the table? As a starter, his numbers at Houston (2017-2019) were solid:
- 4305 passing yards
- 1365 rushing yards
- 49 passing touchdowns
- 10 INTs
- 1365 rushing yards
- 28 rushing touchdowns
2018: Top 50 Player
D’Eriq King’s best year with the Cougars came in an injury-shortened 2018 season. As the starter, he passed for 2982 yards and 36 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions, while also rushing for 674 yards and 14 touchdowns. ESPN ranked him as one of the Top 50 players going into the 2019 season. And, his 2018 performances tell the story:
- 2 games over 300 yards passing.
- 3 games over 400 yards passing.
- 4 games with 3 touchdown passes.
- 3 games with 5 touchdown passes.
- 7 games with zero interceptions.
- 4 games of 70% or better completion pct.
- 1 game at 80% completion pct.
He missed the last two games against Memphis and the bowl game versus Army (a 70-14 beatdown) due to injury.
2019: Four and Out
The 2019 season began on the road at Oklahoma. King finished the game 14 of 27 for 167 yards and 2 TDs and no interceptions in a 49-31 loss to the Sooners.
In a week 2 against Prairieview, he was 15 of 26 139 yards and 1 TD with 1 interception as the Cougars won 37-17.
King kept the Cougars close in week 3 versus Mike Leach and the “Air Raid” Washington State Cougars, but could not hold on in a 31-24 loss.
And then, in week 4 against Tulane, the Greenwave used a couple of “trick” plays late in the fourth quarter to secure a come from behind victory 38-31 over the Cougars.
So, King decided to “take a redshirt” and sit out for the rest of the 2019 season.
Miami Gets a New OC
The Hurricanes decided to part ways with OC/QB coach Dan Enos after the 2019 season after a dismal 6-7 season and a 14-0 loss against Louisiana Tech in the Walk-On’s Independence Bowl.
Enter Rhett Lashlee.
Lashlee has had coaching stops at UConn, Auburn, and most recently SMU (2019) prior to arriving in Coral Gables. As the offensive coordinator with the Mustangs, Lashlee coached an offense that was very productive in 2019:
- #9 nationally in total offense at 489 yards/game.
- # 13 nationally in passing offense at 309 yards/game.
- #7 nationally in scoring offense at 41 points per game.
- QB Shane Buechele passed for 3929 yards and 34 TDs and 10 INTs, 63% completion percentage, and averaged 302 passing yards/game (6th nationally).
- WR James Proche caught 111 passes for 1225 yards and 15 TDs, averaging 94 yards receiving/game (18th nationally).
By contrast, Miami ranked #98 in total offense (367 yards/game), #52 in passing offense (249 yards/game), and #90 in scoring offense (26 points/game). Lashlee is a major coup by Coach Diaz and will be an instant upgrade for the Hurricane offense.
D’Eriq King Transfers to Miami
If King can navigate through a very crowded quarterback room, and produce numbers like he did in 2018, Miami could be like the Hurricane teams of old in 2020.
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Material for this article sourced from cfbstats.com, thespun.com, sportslogos.net
