Richt mulled change at QB against FSU
CORAL GABLES — Ahead of last week’s game against Florida State, Miami Hurricanes coach Mark Richt made it clear from the get-go: redshirt freshman quarterback N’Kosi Perry would get the start against the Seminoles despite his inexperience in the heated rivalry.
But as Perry and No. 16 Miami struggled through the first half, Richt couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, the veteran quarterback who last year beat the Seminoles in Tallahassee might be the one to pull the Hurricanes out of their offensive funk.
Yes, Perry had thrown a first-half touchdown pass to Lawrence Cager, but the young quarterback had missed open targets, was facing intense pressure from the Seminoles defense and was just 7-of-18 for 89 yards going into the locker room with the Hurricanes down two touchdowns.
Meanwhile Malik Rosier, whose finalminute touchdown pass to Darrell Langham last October lifted Miami to a stunning 24-20 win over FSU and snapped the Hurricanes’ seven-game losing streak to their rivals, waited.
Richt ultimately, decided to stick with Perry. And then came the comeback.
Aided by two turnovers forced by the Hurricanes defense, Perry and the offense
rallied, scoring 21 unanswered second-half points that gave the Hurricanes a 28-27 win.
The young quarterback didn’t put up incredibly impressive numbers, finishing 13-of-32 for 204 yards, but he connected with both Cager and Jeff Thomas for a pair of third-quarter touchdowns. And in the fourth, his 41-yard touchdown pass to Brevin Jordan proved the eventual winner.
All of that, Richt said Monday, gave Perry invaluable experience with the Hurricanes (5-1, 2-0 ACC) now preparing for a key stretch that will include four of their next five games on the road, starting Saturday night at Virginia.
“There’s no doubt [changing quarterbacks] crossed my mind,” Richt said Monday morning during his weekly radio appearance on WQAM-560’s Joe Rose Show. “You have to, especially when you have a guy like Malik that’s been through these kinds of wars in the past. But we hung in there. I got a little help from my quarterbacks coach [Jon Richt] on that decision. We stuck with Kosi and he came through for us.
“We just know his ceiling is so high, and this kind of helped his confidence. I don’t know if it is the defining moment in his career, but it’s certainly a huge moment and he played big when he had to. We’re real proud of him.”
Richards to stay with Hurricanes: Also Monday, Richt touched briefly on Miami’s future plans for receiver Ahmmon Richards, who the school announced on Sunday has been diagnosed with a career-ending neck injury.
For the second time in as many days, Richt declined to get into the specifics of how or when the injury occurred, but he did use the word “chronic” to describe the condition and reiterated that Miami plans to keep Richards on scholarship and said the receiver still very much remains a part of the football program.
“The knee injury did happen. He did hurt his knee [against LSU] and that was immediately what was the issue,” Richt said. “I don’t want to get too much into it, but, it’s kind of a chronic thing that became … to the point where the doctors felt it wasn’t safe. So that was it. We love Ahmmon, we want his health above all else, and he’s going to stay with us, he’s going to stay on scholarship until he gets his degree. He’ll probably help us coach and we’ll help him get a great job. Anybody who’s looking for one of the finest kids in America, who’s a great competitor and knows how to communicate and that kind of thing, he should have job offers coming left and right. He’s that kind of kid.”
Punting woes continue: As the Hurricanes continue preparing for Saturday’s game at Virginia, it’s likely they’ll be putting some extra focus on their special teams work, particularly on punts and punt coverage.
Miami has already made a change at punter, with Jack Spicer now starting ahead of Zach Feagles. But Spicer had some issues against FSU, too, with two of his punts going less than 30 yards. And FSU capitalized on one punt, returning it 74 yards for a touchdown that put the Seminoles up 27-7.
“We struggled punting it, where it was supposed to be punted, how high it was supposed to be punted, the hang times. We did not cover well. They flat-out outhustled us and we take so much pride in how hard we play,” Richt said. “You can live with some mistakes. But you can’t live with somebody giving greater effort than you, and it was by a big margin, in my opinion. When I saw the film, I was embarrassed.
“That’s the one thing I really [told] those guys in the team meeting. It’s one thing to get beat by [FSU defensive end Brian Burns] coming around the edge, one of the best ends in America, or making a mistake here and there. You don’t give the effort that it takes to win, and we take so much pride in that. That hurt me probably more than anything, so, I let them know. We’ll get better.”