No one would blame Miami football head coach Mario Cristobal for going in a different direction at quarterback after Tyler Van Dyke's performance in the team's last loss to Middle Tennessee. Van Dyke threw two interceptions, heard the boos from Hurricanes fans and was benched in the second half of the awful loss to the unranked Blue Raiders.

Naturally, such a performance would raise questions of a quarterback controversy. Cristobal made his feelings very clear on that sentiment Monday, per ESPN.

“We are honest about the fact that Tyler has played great football here for a long time and you don't turn on your quarterback because we had a bad day.” Cristobal said on WQAM's Joe Rose Show in his first public comments on the QB job since Miami's 45-31 loss to MTSU on Sept. 24. “You make sure you do things and install things and work on things that the quarterback and supporting cast feels comfortable with.”

Mario Cristobal said that Tyler Van Dyke “has played great football here for a long time.” In a strong statement sure to endear Van Dyke to his head coach even more, the Miami football leader said that “you don't turn on your quarterback because we have a bad day.”

Cristobal is right. Tyler Van Dyke appeared in 10 games for Miami football last year, throwing for nearly 3000 yards along with 25 touchdowns against six interceptions. That's the kind of play that gives a quarterback some leeway after a rough day at the office.

How much leeway, though, remains to be seen. The Hurricanes are 2-2 and behind the likes of Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech in the ACC Coastal division.

For now, Tyler Van Dyke remains the starter for the Hurricanes. But he needs to start playing better.