After N’Kosi Perry’s big day, Hurricanes coach Mark Richt has QB decision to make

The plan, Mark Richt said, had been to give N’Kosi Perry a chance

And so, on the third offensive series of Miami’s eventual 31-17 win over FIU on Saturday afternoon, the Hurricanes coach put the ball in the hands of one of his young quarterbacks.

Perry, a redshirt freshman entered the game, led Miami to two quick scoring drives and that made it virtually impossible for Richt to reinsert starter Malik Rosier, who was responsible for a career-high five touchdowns a week earlier in the Hurricanes’ 49-24 win over Toledo.

Now, with the Hurricanes heading into a short week ahead of their ACC opener against North Carolina on Thursday, Richt has a decision to make.

Will Perry have the opportunity to make the first start of his Hurricanes career? Or will Rosier — who has dealt with accuracy issues throughout his career but is still 13-4 as a starter — again lead the offense?

“We’ll decide this week. We’ll decide this week,” Richt said on Saturday night after the FIU win. “Like I said, my quote would be ‘When the time comes, whoever I think is the best guy to give us the chance to win will be the guy. He’ll be playing.’”

If Richt opts to give Perry the start Thursday, it’ll mark the first time since Perry’s senior year of high school football in 2016 at Ocala Vanguard that’ll he’ll be in that position.

But, he insists, he’ll be ready for the challenge.

Against FIU, Perry looked comfortable and confident from the moment he entered the game. Richt shared that the quarterback saw a good bit of practice time with Miami’s first-string offense ahead of the game to prepare him for the opportunity to play.

And when given the chance, Perry responded, completing his first 10 passes before finishing the day 17 of 25 for 224 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He added nine carries for 32 yards and was sacked twice.

“It felt good. It felt like what I’m used to doing,” said Perry, who was a four-star prospect coming out of high school and rated among the nation’s top dual-threat quarterbacks in 2017 when he signed with the Hurricanes. “I was very comfortable. … I didn’t know what [Richt] had planned in his mind, all I knew is, I’d be ready when he called my name. … I’m definitely proud of myself, I’m proud of my team, but, who knows what coach Richt has in mind. We’re just going to practice like we’ve been doing before. We don’t know who the starter is.”

Perry’s teammates were equally impressed with his performance, praising the quarterback’s poise and readiness. Several, though, noted his play didn’t come as a surprise, given what he’s been able to show them in practice.

“We come out on Greentree and play like that,” said receiver Mike Harley, who finished with a career-high seven catches for 76 yards. “N’Kosi will come out with the ones and twos and make some plays. Malik will come out on ones and twos and make some plays, Cade [Weldon], Jarren [Williams]. We all have faith in our quarterbacks. We knew what time it was. We made plays happen. We put the ball in play.”

Added defensive lineman Gerald Willis, “I have a lot of confidence in Kosi. He’s shown me a lot in practice. He plays like he’s an older guy and I’m really happy for him that he’s getting a chance and opportunity to showcase his talent.”

As for Rosier, he too, earned praise for his performance Saturday.

It wasn’t necessarily for what he did on the field where he was a mere 2 of 3 for 16 yards, but for how he handled what was likely a tough situation for him personally.

It’s a situation that could grow even more difficult in the coming days, depending on the decision Richt makes.

“I thought Rosier did a good job of helping N’Kosi. He stayed on the headset, he was signaling like everybody else does who’s not playing at the time. … He signaled well and he was cheering for his teammate,” Richt said. “There were a couple times where [quarterbacks coach Jon Richt] wanted Malik to get with N’Kosi and just talk to him a little bit about what might have happened on this play or that play, and he was right there doing it.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

Hurricanes rise in AP, Coaches polls

After their third consecutive win, the Hurricanes rose to No. 16 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll, both of which were released Sunday.

Miami (3-1) moved up five spots in the AP Top 25 to achieve that ranking, while it moved up four spots in the Coaches Poll.

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