Miami football head coach Mario Cristobal had nothing but praises for freshman quarterback Emory Williams, who passed his first test as a starter in college. And it was not just an ordinary test, as it came against Dabo Swinney's Clemson Tigers last Saturday.

“He went through his progressions extremely well,” the Miami football sideline boss said of Williams (h/t Sam Gillenwater of On3). “He articulated the play calls since we’re a huddle operation for the most part. When we didn’t huddle, he was able to communicate very well as well. There was no communication issue,” added Cristobal, who's been Miami football's head coach since 2022. “He was very decisive. He got some balls batted earlier. I think, as a freshman quarterback, sometimes you don’t find that throwing lane. As the game went on, he got really comfortable. I thought he really started settling in. He really made some big throws.”

Williams got the nod to start under center in the Clemson game with Tyler Van Dyke sidelined with an injury. He passed for 151 yards and a touchdown with an interception while completing 24 of 33 throws. It looked as though Miami football was going to suffer its third loss in a row when the Hurricanes found themselves trailing Clemson by 10 points at the end of the third quarter. But Williams and the Canes engineered a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to force overtime where Miami wrapped things up in a 28-20 victory.

It remains to be seen whether Van Dyke will be able to play in the next Miami football game versus the Virginia Cavaliers this coming Saturday. Either way, the Hurricanes will have a much more confident Williams ready to answer the call if his team needs him to start again in lieu of Van Dyke.