Freshman N'Kosi Perry Starts at QB Over Senior Malik Rosier in Miami's 47–10 Win vs. UNC
Miami redshirt freshman quarterback N'Kosi Perry earned the first start of his career for Thursday night's win against North Carolina, replacing senior Malik Rosier, who started the first four games of the season.
Going into Thursday's game, coach Mark Richt had Perry and Rosier both listed as the starter on the team's official depth chart, exciting Hurricanes fans who have been clamoring for Perry to see the field since he arrived on campus last year.
Perry, a four-star prospect in the class of 2017 who ranked ninth among dual-threat QBs in the 247Sports Composite ratings, took over at quarterback for the Hurricanes' third drive in last week's 31–17 win over Florida International. He threw for 224 yards, three touchdowns and one pick while going 17-for-25 on pass attempts. He also carried the ball nine times for 32 yards, including an 18-yard scramble on a third down.
Rosier started last week's game with a turnover on downs on the opening drive and a three-and-out on the second. For the season, he has completed 52.1% of his passes for 611 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.
Through Miami's first two drives of the game, Perry was 3-for-3 for 47 yards and the Hurricanes were up 7–3. After the first quater, they led 14–10.
A little less than halfway through the second quarter, Miami was up 24–10 thanks to a pair of turnovers returned for touchdowns. Perry was 5-for-7 for 74 yards and had two rushes for 11 yards at that point in the game, and the offense had scored on two of its three drives.
On the Hurricanes' fourth possession of the game, Perry had a 42-yard completion to Mike Harley, that got them down to the UNC five-yard line. Perry finished off the drive with a third-down touchdown toss to Darrell Langham to give the home squad a 30–10 advantage.
The score is 33–10 in favor of Miami at halftime thanks to a third turnover forced by the Hurricanes' defense. Perry was 7-for-10 for 121 yards and a touchdown and had four rushes for 16 yards in the first half.
In the third quarter, Perry's only pass attempt was intercepted and he had a fumble, but neither team scored so Miami maintained its 33–10 lead.
In the fourth, the Hurricanes forced their fifth turnover of the night as Romeo Finley returned an interception 83 yards for the third defensive score of the game to make it 40–10.
Miami tacked on another offensive touchdown later in the game to make the final score 47–10.
Perry finished the night going 8-for-12 for 125 yards, one touchdown and one interception along with six carries for 26 yards.
You can get a full recap of everthying that went on between No. 16 Miami and UNC here.
