Miami football defeats FIU behind dominant defense, N’Kosi Perry

The Miami football team rode a dominant defense for the second straight home game and N’Kosi Perry was brilliant in relief of Malik Rosier as the Hurricanes won 31-17 over FIU to improve to 3-1 on the season.

The victory over FIU was the last non-conference game of the season for the Miami football team. The Hurricanes will begin ACC play on Thursday night at Hard Rock stadium against North Carolina. The Miami Hurricanes defense was dominant with most of FIU’s 133 total yards coming in the fourth quarter.

Perry came in during Miami’s third series of the game. The Hurricanes were unable to convert on Fourth and one at the FIU 39 on their first drive of the game. The Miami football team went three and after gaining five yards on the second drive. That might have been the end of the Malik Rosier era after that drive.

Perry came in and was on fire from the beginning. He completed his first ten passes and finished 17 of 25 for 225 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His hot start was incredible as he was accurate and zipping in passes with his big, strong arm. The seven of 15 finish is a bit concerning.

The final score will look much closer than it was. Miami raced out to a 31-0 lead and then let up as FIU scored the final 17 points of the game. Miami dominated in virtually every aspect of the game. If not for a 17-0 fourth quarter by the Panthers this game would have been an epic blowout.

Miami football Head Coach Mark Richt and Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz cannot be pleased with the way that the Hurricanes finished the game. The Panthers gained 48 yards on 37 plays through the first three quarters. They had only 20 on 15 plays in the first half.