Miami football will announce starting QB vs. Pitt later than last two weeks
Miami football head coach Manny Diaz announced N’Kosi Perry as the Hurricanes starter against Virginia and Georgia Tech on Wednesday each of the last two weeks. Diaz was not ready to announce the Hurricanes starter for Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
The Miami football team will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers on Saturday afternoon. Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz was not ready to name the starting quarterback against Pittsburgh after practice on Wednesday as he had the previous two weeks announcing N’Kosi Perry as the starting QB.
The Wednesday announcements were a bit different for the Miami football games the last two weekends against Virginia and Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes defeated the Cavaliers two weekends ago on Friday night. Last weekend’s loss to Georgia Tech began at noon on Saturday. Both games were at Hard Rock Stadium.
The starts by Perry against Virginia and Georgia Tech were his first two of the season. Perry played his first snaps of 2019 in the third game against Bethune-Cookman. The redshirt sophomore nearly rallied Miami from a 28-0 deficit to win against Virginia Tech three weeks ago
Redshirt freshman Jarren Williams played nearly flawlessly in the first four Miami football games of 2019. Williams did not throw an interception this season until he threw three on the first three drives of the game against Virginia Tech. The play of Perry and Williams has been a big upgrade at QB for Miami in 2019.
Perry has completed 71.4 of his pass attempts for 1,086 yards, seven TDs and the three interceptions this season. Williams was 1-3 against Georgia Tech. That is his only playing time in the last three games. Perry has completed 60.9 of his pass attempts for 871 yards and an exception eight TDs and one interception.
Williams and Perry have dealt with shoulder injuries this season. Williams has been a chronic shoulder injury sustained early in the season. It was likely the battering Williams took after being sacked ten times against Florida. Perry hurt his shoulder and was briefly out of the game against Georgia Tech.
Both QBs are healthy enough to play Saturday against Pittsburgh according to Diaz. Miami will have two more days to evaluate the Hurricanes top two signal-callers. Diaz said the decision will likely be made on Thursday according to Inside the U. The answer Diaz gave is the fairly generic whoever gives Miami the best chance to win.
"“This Wednesday is a little bit different. We will let it go another day. Then we will let the Thursday practice determine it. It is whoever we feel will give us the best chance to win and move the ball and understand the game plan.”"
Perry might be the better choice for Saturday’s game. The Panthers
. Perry is more mobile and has a bigger arm. It is going to be tough for Miami to hit on big plays. If they can that will make Pittsburgh respect the Hurricanes passing game more.
That could require the Panthers to drop more players in coverage. Pittsburgh is averaging 5.14 sacks per game. That would be the most sacks per game in at least a decade. Only two teams have averaged even four per game for an entire season since 2009. Utah averaged 4.23 in 2014 and Stanford averaged 4.07 in 2012.
Perry was 16-of-28 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia Tech. Perry is 5-3 as a starting QB in his two seasons at Miami. He started and defeated Pittsburgh at Hard Rock Stadium last year.
Perry’s performance was abysmal against the Panthers in 2018. Miami won more inspite of him than because of him. Perry was 6-24 for 52 yards with no TDs or interceptions and gained 46 yards on five carries.