National

Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke injured as Duke forces 8 turnovers in 45-21 win over Hurricanes

Miami committed eight turnovers and lost QB Tyler Van Dyke to an apparent right shoulder injury in a 45-21 loss to Duke at home on Saturday.

The Hurricanes fumbled the ball a whopping five times and Jake Garcia threw three interceptions in relief of Van Dyke as Duke scored 28 consecutive points in the second half to win after Miami had briefly come back to take the lead.

Duke took a 24-21 lead thanks to an 18-play, 79-yard drive. And then its final three scores came after a turnover on downs, a fumble and then on a pick-six. The Blue Devils fumbled twice themselves as the teams combined for 10 turnovers.

One of Miami’s five fumbles came on the play where Van Dyke was injured. He was sacked on a blindside hit and fumbled the ball as he landed on his right throwing shoulder. Van Dyke immediately went to the locker room after the hit and never returned to the game.

Van Dyke entered the game completing 64% of his passes for 1,656 yards and nine TDs and four interceptions over Miami’s first six games. His production through the first half of the season failed to match his performance as a redshirt freshman in 2021 when he threw for nearly 3,000 yards on 324 attempts and tossed 25 TDs to just six interceptions after taking over the starting job from D’Eriq King.

Garcia was 13-of-21 for 198 yards in Van Dyke’s absence, but the freshman’s three interceptions were devastating to Miami’s chances of a win.

The win moves Duke to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the ACC while Miami is 3-4 and 1-2 in the conference. Duke’s victory puts the Blue Devils a win away from their first bowl appearance since 2018. Miami, meanwhile, has games remaining against Florida State, Clemson and Pitt as it attempts to make a bowl in a disappointing first season under Mario Cristobal.

The Hurricanes have lost four of their last five games — including a blowout loss to Middle Tennessee State — and three of those losses have come at home. The road loss was at Texas A&M in Week 3 in a game that looks more and more underwhelming with each passing week.