Manny Diaz on QB race after first fall scrimmage Sunday night: ‘The battle rages on.’
The University of Miami’s first fall football scrimmage is over.
The scrimmage, closed to the public, included all three quarterbacks vying for the starting job. No decision has yet been made on the starter.
The three quarterbacks — redshirt sophomore N’Kosi Perry, redshirt sophomore Tate Martell and redshirt freshman Jarren Williams — all rotated first- and second-team snaps.
“Collectively, I was pleased,’’ coach Manny Diaz said in an email distributed by UM. “We rotated the three guys with the ones [first string] and twos [second] evenly. Combined they completed 71 percent of their passes, which is encouraging. All three guys led a touchdown drive, which was very encouraging for me. The battle rages on. There’s a lot of stuff mechanically and organizationally we need to correct, but all three guys left with something to be proud of.”
Diaz said previously that he hopes to have a starting quarterback decided some time after the second scrimmage next weekend.
Here’s what Diaz said about the scrimmage:
▪ “We needed it. I thought our guys competed hard, but just in terms of the game day - getting in and out of the huddle, getting the plays called in, substitution – you can just tell the little differences between a practice when coaches have been in a player’s ear as opposed to when they have to go out here and show what they really know. So between this day and when we scrimmage next Saturday, we’ll be looking for a lot improvement in those areas.”
▪ “Defensively, any time you scrimmage first, it’s your first time tackling. Can we tackle? Can we get guys down in the open field? I didn’t see any long explosive plays break out due to missed tackles, so I thought that was a positive. We’re looking for some guys to step up in the secondary, so seeing a guy like Gurvan Hall with two interceptions – one was on a pick, the other was on an outstanding break where he made an outstanding play, that we think he’s that type of guy – was really encouraging. Up front, we have to be a disruptive defense. A guy like Mike Pinckney, you see him popping through with a couple tackles for loss, which is right up his alley.”
▪ “DeeJay Dallas, I thought, ran the ball really well. Also caught a touchdown pass. Really versatile guy, which we’ve already known. I thought, in terms of his day running the ball, it was his best day of training camp. In the back end, down the field, Mike Harley looked really dynamic running routes, dynamic when he had the ball in his hands and had some really good runs after the catch. Other guys did some things too, but those two guys stood out.”
▪ On what Diaz expects next week:
“This is the most important week of their 2019. That’s what we’ve told them. Everything they trained for – every weight they lifted, every sprint they’ve run, everything they’ve done – has been for this six-day period between right now and next Saturday. Because after next Saturday, we have to set sail on the 2019 season and not everyone is invited on the boat. If you want to be on the boat, you’ve got to step up this week. You really have to bring it. You have to compete all week. This is going to be a hard week, intentionally. We told them it’s going to be hard. We have to find out…this is really our last evaluation of separating the ones who like it from the ones who love it.”
UM, which finished 7-6 in 2018, opens its 2019 season on Aug. 24 against the Florida Gators at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
