No starting QB mystery this week: Perry the man
CORAL GABLES — In the days ahead of Miami’s ACC opener against North Carolina, Hurricanes coach Mark Richt was plenty coy about which one of his signal callers would start against the Tar Heels.
Both redshirt freshman N’Kosi Perry and redshirt senior Malik Rosier took reps with the first-string offense when Richt knew reporters were watching practice. And even during pre-game warmups, it was Rosier who led quarterback drills, though Perry had played the bulk of the snaps against FIU a week earlier.
There will be no such mystery this week as the 17th-ranked Hurricanes prepare for their annual rivalry showdown with Florida State.
Richt said on Monday that Perry will start against the Seminoles on Saturday (3:30, Hard Rock Stadium).
“He’s going to be the starter this week and he’ll prepare for that moment,” Richt said during a weekly radio appearance.
As to how Perry graded out in his first start, Richt said he was generally pleased with how the quarterback played in his limited opportunities. Because Miami forced six turnovers and scored three defensive touchdowns in its 47-10 win over North Carolina on Thursday, it ran just 46 offensive plays and threw the ball only 12 times, a number Richt joked on Monday had to be among the lowest of his coaching career.
“He graded well. Very accurate when he did throw at his targets, when he did get he ball out,” Richt said of Perry, who was 8-of-12 for 125 yards with a touchdown and an interception. “He missed a couple reads, but everybody makes mistakes and all that kind of thing, especially when it’s your first shot out of the cannon, but I thought he handled it well.”
Perry, who was suspended for the opener and saw limited action in blowout wins over Savannah State and Toledo, turned the ball over twice on back-to-back possessions early in the second half, but Richt said he felt confident the fumble and interception were issues Perry can correct as he moves forward.
“I thought he did really good. We did have the turnover, we can’t have that. As far as him getting hit, he’s got to squeeze the ball a little bit better,” Richt said. “The interception, quite frankly, was pass interference. A guy got hit before the ball got there. The ball hit him right in the chest and popped out. It’s hard to even blame [receiver Mike Harley] even though the ball got to him because he was getting hit from behind as the ball came. Can’t really mark him off for that.”
Perry wasn’t the only quarterback to earn high praise from Richt as the Hurricanes (4-1, 1-0 ACC) began turning their focus to Florida State (3-2, 1-2).
Richt was impressed by the performance of Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois, who threw for 294 yards and a career-high four touchdowns Saturday as FSU rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to win at Louisville 28-24.
Francois, who leads the ACC in completions (110) and passing yards (1,377), connected on a 58-yard go-ahead touchdown to Nyqwan Murray with 1:13 left to lift Florida State (3-2, 1-2).
It marked the fifth time in his career that he rallied FSU from a halftime deficit.
“He’s a serious competitor. He’s a big-time player,” Richt said. “It doesn’t matter how rough it gets, how physical it gets, he’ll stand in there and he’ll rip it. He’ll throw strikes and he can take off running. The guy is very, very talented and very, very tough. That’s a great combination for a quarterback. If you shut down the run game, you can make it tough, or at least tougher on him. … If they run the ball the way they want to, it’s going to be a long night.”
Also during Monday’s radio appearance, Richt hinted it may still be a while before the Hurricanes get receiver Ahmmon Richards back on the field.
The former Wellington High standout suffered what has been described as a bone bruise on his knee in the season-opening loss to LSU on Sept. 2 and hasn’t played since.