Trailing 27-7 and with N’Kosi Perry going 7-18 for 89 yards in the first half Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Mark Richt considered making a change at quarterback. Ultimately it was Perry’s talent that kept him in the game.
Saturday’s win over Florida State was only the second start for N’Kosi Perry in his collegiate career. Perry threw fewer passes in the entire game in his first start against North Carolina last week then he did in the first half on Saturday against Florida State.
Redshirt Senior Malik Rosier who had been the Miami Hurricanes starting quarterback until last week’s demolition of North Carolina led Miami to his own comeback victory last season against Florida State.
Rosier’s demise as the Hurricanes starter was his lack of accuracy. He has a 52.1 completion percentage this season and 53.4 percent for his career.
There was a lot of question entering Saturday’s game if the pressure of playing against Florida State for the first time would get to N’Kosi Perry. There were some in the crowd that wanted Rosier in there with the way Perry was playing. The Redshirt Freshman had been accurate in his three previous appearances this season.
In the Spring and through August training camp inconsistencies with his accuracy had also hindered Perry. True Freshman Quarterback Jarren Williams has been lauded as the most accurate passer on the Miami Hurricanes roster.
Richt had his weekly appearance on the Joe Rose show on WQAM on Monday morning. Rose and co-host Zack Krantz asked Richt if he considered going back to Rosier against Florida State.
"“There’s no doubt [changing quarterbacks] crossed my mind…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.”"
Perry passed his toughest test yet. It might have been passing with a C but he did what he needed to, to help Miami win. The first two touchdowns of the game for the Hurricanes came on fourth down passes from Perry to Lawrence Cager.
One in the first half and one five plays after the first of back to back turnovers forced by the Miami defense. The second of those two turnovers Perry connected with Jeff Thomas from 17 yards out on the Hurricanes first play from scrimmage after a Michael Pinckney interception.
The second of the touchdown passes to Cager and the one to Thomas came 42 seconds apart and got Miami within six points after trailing by 20. Perry’s performance in the second half on Saturday cemented his status as the starting quarterback.
He led the Hurricanes to the largest comeback in the history of the rivalry with Florida State. Before Saturday’s game, Perry had completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 442 yards nine touchdowns and three interceptions. He also had 51 yards rushing on 20 carries.
To keep his starting spot Perry is going to have to play better this Saturday against Virginia. Rosier was benched largely because of his issues with accuracy. A 40 percent completion percentage is not going to cut it.
Fans had been clamoring for Perry as the Miami quarterback for more than a year. If he continues to struggle with accuracy issues the Hurricanes fanbase will turn on him quickly.