Adjusting to live game action

Richt eager to see how players react to spotlight

CORAL GABLES — For the past four weeks, the majority of the Hurricanes’ work has been done out of the public eye, with only a select few high school coaches, prospects and high-level donors getting to watch their work on Greentree Practice Field.

But with Miami set to host its spring game at Hard Rock Stadium tonight, fans — and anyone else interested in taking a look — will have the chance to see what kind of progress the Hurricanes have made through their first 11 practices.

Among those interested in seeing how the Hurricanes perform when in the spotlight is Miami coach Mark Richt, who knows players — particularly younger ones — can respond differently when faced with not only the challenge of being hit, but being asked to make plays in front of thousands of spectators.

“Can you function when the pads are on and we’re tackling? I’ve got a bunch of receivers that look really good in shorts. Then the pads come on, they don’t look quite as goods. Then you put the pads on and you tackle? It’s not the same guy,” Richt said. “Can you function? And it’s not just that position, all positions. Can you function in a true game-type situation? Now, can you function with a lot of people in the stands watching as well? It’s a little bit more pressure. Even the punter and kicker, there won’t be a rush, but there’s going to be a lot of people watching. Those will be pressure kicks by virtue of the fact there will be people in the stands. How do you handle a

lot of people watching? Does it change how you think? Does it change how you perform?”

Some of the players likely to face the most scrutiny are Miami’s quarterbacks, including Malik Rosier, who started all 13 games last season, but is trying to hold off a wave of underclassmen looking to unseat him in the fall.

Both Richt and quarterbacks coach Jon Richt have said multiple times this spring Rosier — who threw for 3,120 yards, 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions last year — has maintained his edge ahead of N’Kosi Perry, Cade Weldon and Jarren Williams because of his extensive knowledge of the Hurricanes’ system.

But Rosier’s accuracy and streaky play have long been issues for the redshirt senior. In last weekend’s scrimmage — the first of the spring — neither he nor Perry, a redshirt sophomore, put up particularly impressive numbers.

With both getting time with and against Miami’s first and second units, Rosier was 8-of-17 for 109 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, according to UM. Perry, meanwhile was 6-of-13 for 33 yards with an interception.

Weldon, who has missed four workouts while dealing with an eye infection, did not play, and his status for tonight remains in question, but Williams, an early enrollee who arrived in January, did well with and against the third unit, going 6-of-8 for 68 yards with two touchdowns.

“I’m impressed with Malik’s knowledge and understanding of our system, of football in general, of defenses. … He even makes good suggestions to us sometimes. He’ll say something that makes sense and say, ‘Do you think we ought to do this?’ He gets it,” Richt said. “The beauty of that is when you get N’Kosi and Cade and Jarren and they see what it looks like, they know they’ve got a long way to go to catch up on really understanding everything we do, and why we do it, and being able to do it in a timely manner. You’ve got the clock ticking a lot of times. If you got to make an audible or change a blocking scheme at the line of scrimmage, you got to see it and do it. Because [Malik] is able, he teaches the young guys just by example, which is great.”

As much as tonight’s game may mean to the Hurricanes players, it won’t be their final chance to impress their coaches.

While spring games traditionally mark the end of spring practices, Miami will still have two practices next week and a closed scrimmage. It’s not the preferred situation, Richt said, but one he said had to happen because Hard Rock Stadium would not be available later.

Richt