CORAL GABLES Zaquan Patterson was one of the gems in the Hurricanes 2024 recruiting class, so it was no surprise to see him on the field early in his freshman year.
After being kept on the bench in Miamis Week 1 win over Florida, Patterson made his college debut against Florida A&M on Saturday.
His first college game came after a lightbulb moment for the young safety.
He was locked in, Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said after UMs win against FAMU.
He had an interesting realization this week that was like, Man, this college football stuff is hard.
It requires a lot of time and I got to learn my stuff to be effective and be successful.
And that he was going to do it.
He had much better practices and he really trusted it going out there to play, and he did not disappoint.
Hes another one that we have to continue to do a really good job of developing.
Patterson, a former Chaminade-Madonna star, played 18 snaps on defense in UMs second win of the year.
He had two tackles and a pass breakup.
Pro Football Focus gave him an 83.3 defensive grade and an 85.9 coverage grade.
Patterson also played 14 snaps on special teams.
We wanted to get him in early in the first half when the game was still competitive, of course, defensive coordinator Lance Guidry said.
We got him in and he did some good things, and hell continue to grow.
Theres no experience like game experience.
You can practice all you want, but youve got to get in the game.
He had a really good week of practice.
He just locked in.
And hopefully, going forward, we and continue to play him anywhere between six (and) 10 snaps, 15 max.
Hes doing good.
(If an) injury happens, and hell have to play more.
...
Its hard for a safety to come in as a true freshman and play.
Hes ahead of it, I think.
He continues to do good things, and well keep playing him more and more.
Guidry has said that his defense is safety-led, so although Patterson is capable of making calls on the field, Guidry said they will try to pair him with veteran Meesh Powell so Powell can take the lead role.
Hes very smart.
He understands the whole defense.
He can call it all out, Guidry said.
But when you get on the field and youve got to make the checks, its different.
Youve got to be comfortable with that.
We tried to play him with Meesh as much as we could, but at the end, it was him and Markeith (Williams).
So when we bring him in, its good that we put him in with Meesh so Meesh can handle all the calls and he can just play.
Patterson has a new teammate working in the secondary, as well.
Robby Washington has switched from wide receiver to defensive back.
Washington was a two-way player at Miami Palmetto High, but stuck to wide receiver in his freshman year at UM.
In the spring, he practiced at defensive back occasionally.
Now the move to defense appears to be sticking.
Guidry said he thinks Washington can work at both cornerback and nickelback as he integrates into the defense, and Cristobal said he thinks Washington can become a major contributor as he develops.
Robbys an excellent athlete, a really good football player, Cristobal said.
Unfortunately, hes had some nagging injuries since hes arrived here at Miami.
It just so happens that, you know what, we need a little bit of help at the DB spot.
In practice, weve done it with him before, and weve done it with him before because whenever we do tackling drills, when we do coverage drills, his natural ability to bend, to come to balance, to strike ball carriers, its special.
He did some in high school if you watch some of his clips at safety, just a very natural guy.
When we threw him up there in press overage and some of the one-on-one stuff we would do in the spring, it was evident hes super talented.
We believe that he will be an elite corner.
I know those are strong words, but he has the ability to get on people and stay on people.
Hes smart and hes tough, and hes a good guy.
We look forward to continue developing him..
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