A ’Canes’ odyssey
Rosier, teammates work to regain timing in Orlando
LAKE BUENA VISTA — Like many living in South Florida, Malik Rosier had a decision to make as Hurricane Irma approached earlier this month.
The Hurricanes quarterback knew he could return home to Mobile, Ala. and get himself completely out of the storm’s path. Or he could get on a bus with some of his coaches and teammates and head to Orlando where they might feel some effects from the hurricane, but where they could weather it all together.
After conversations with Miami coach Mark Richt and quarterbacks coach Jon Richt, Rosier ultimately decided to stay with the Hurricanes. It’s a move he hopes will, in its own way, pay off when he and No. 14 Miami host Toledo at Hard Rock Stadium in the Hurricanes’ first game since Sept. 2.
“We just talked ball basically the whole time,” Rosier said Tuesday of how he and his teammates spent their time in Orlando before and after Irma passed through. “They had us away from the storm. We were in little rooms together and we just talked ball basically the whole time we were there. Right now, it feels like camp or almost like a bowl game. … I know there are a lot of people I’ve been praying for down there in Miami, but for us, it’s nice to isolate ourselves and get ready for this game because we haven’t played a ball game in about two weeks now. It’s nice to just get focused on football again.”
For Rosier, it’s been an eventful few weeks and little has likely gone as he might have expected.
“It’s nice to just get focused on football again.”
Malik Rosier ,UM quarterback
Named Miami’s starting quarterback in late August, he played well in Miami’s 41-13 opener against Bethune-Cookman earlier this month, completing 17-of-28 passes for 217 yards with three touchdowns. But Irma forced the cancellation of what would have been his second game as a starter, a Sept. 9 matchup at Arkansas State. And the hurricane also forced Miami and Florida State to postpone their annual rivalry game, pushing it from Week 3 of the season to Oct. 7.
By now, Rosier and the Hurricanes figured they would have learned plenty about their offense, especially after they expected to have matched up against a fierce Seminoles’ defense.
Instead, the Hurricanes are once again worrying about timing and rhythm, and making sure players are on the same page. Fortunately, they say, even with Irma’s impact, they’ve found ways to get work done.
At the hotel where the Hurricanes have spent part of their time in Orlando, there was a turf field where Rosier was able to do some throwing. Receivers, including Ahmmon Richards, Mike Harley, DeeJay Dallas, Dionte Mullins and running back Mark Walton, jogged past children playing nearby to catch Rosier’s passes, the players slowly re-establishing the offensive rhythm impacted by Miami’s long layoff.
As more of the Hurricanes made their way to Orlando, the work only intensified.
“It was different,” receiver Braxton Berrios said of resuming workouts with his quarterback. “But the timing hadn’t changed, really. Obviously, it took a day or two to get everybody back and their legs under them and clicking like we want to, especially on the conditioning side. … You can’t do stuff on your own and expect to be in the same shape you were when you were in the groove. So that was really it, the conditioning. The timing came back really quickly. From a football aspect, it’s been very frustrating.”
After studying Toledo — something Rosier says he’s been doing since learning the FSU game was postponed — the Hurricanes are aware of the challenge they’ll face Saturday.
The Rockets will come to Hard Rock as an unbeaten team that has found ways to put up both points and yards in their three wins, averaging 46 points and 553 yards this season. They haven’t faced a Power-5 team of Miami’s caliber in that stretch, but still, they have the Hurricanes’ respect and the Miami offense is aware it has to improve on its opening-game performance against the Wildcats.
In that game, Rosier showed his ability to run, as well as throw. In addition to what he was able to do with his arm, he ran for another 43 yards, while Walton and fellow running back Travis Homer each topped the 100-yard mark.
It was a solid beginning for the quarterback and his teammates, but the Hurricanes want to continue building on that, Saturday and beyond.
“I feel like for me, this week off has been a great fundamental week,” Rosier said. “Me and coach Jon, we really honed in on fundamentals and just watching the defense. Knowing what Toledo does better, that’s been the biggest thing for me. Now we have more meeting time, we have more time, we can sit down and actually go through everything we want to go through with preparing for this team.”