Miami quarterback situation changes Wednesday at media viewing (and injury update)

University of Miami football coach Mark Richt told reporters during his weekly news conference on Tuesday that fifth-year senior quarterback Malik Rosier and true freshman quarterback N’Kosi Perry are “both battling’’ in the competition to see who starts Saturday night at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

On Wednesday, though Rosier began the 15 minutes of media viewing as the first quarterback during handoffs and ball security drills, Perry was the one who took nearly all the snaps with the receivers during throwing drills.

Rosier followed.

In the initial drills, Perry, redshirt freshman Cade Weldon and true freshman Jarren Williams followed Rosier. But Perry was out there throwing for a lot longer when we were watching.

On Tuesday, it was Rosier, Perry, Weldon and Williams.

“I see both of them wanting to prove that they should be the starter, which is what I was hoping and expecting to see,’’ Richt said Tuesday. “Even in between plays, they’re doing a good job of trying to get everybody to keep the tempo going, just trying to be a guy who’s a catalyst, quite frankly, and then when the ball’s snapped, make a good decision and make good throws.

“It’s very difficult to judge how throws are going to be made in the game because no matter how hard you try, when you go against the scout team it’s just very difficult to simulate reality as far as the coverages themselves or even the technique or the ability of who you’re playing against. That’s why we do some work against each other, offense vs. defense.”

When asked if UM (5-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) will still play both quarterbacks against Georgia Tech (5-4, 3-3), Richt said, “I haven’t figured that part out yet, but it’d be tougher just to start rocking and rolling guys in. I think we’ll probably have to just stick to whoever becomes the starter.”

▪ Starting running back Travis Homer, who Richt said missed Tuesday’s practice with a strained left calf, was seen doing drills, though a bit less intensely, on Wednesday. Richt said later in the day that Homer mostly did “mental reps’’ in practice.

This story was originally published November 7, 2018 at 10:48 AM.