UM’s Jarren Williams was benched early. Is the quarterback position up for grabs?
The Miami Hurricanes officially have a quarterback situation.
After not throwing an interception in his first four starts, Jarren Williams came crashing back to Earth in UM’s 42-35 loss to Virginia Tech. The redshirt freshman threw three early picks Saturday and was benched late in the first quarter in favor of N’Kosi Perry.
The switch proved favorable: Perry threw for 422 yards, four touchdowns and nearly pulled off an incredible comeback after being down 28-0. Despite Perry’s impressive stats, coach Manny Diaz indicated that nothing has changed.
“We didn’t want to do anything to wreck Jarren’s confidence,” Diaz said of the decision to pull Williams. “We still believe that Jarren is our guy.”
Tight end Brevin Jordan echoed his head coach.
“Jarren is our guy,” the sophomore said. “We know Jarren’s our guy but we felt like today Kosi gave us the best chance to win.”
Both Jordan and Diaz noted that Perry, a redshirt sophomore, could have played better, saying there were a few throws that the quarterback probably wanted back. Perry acknowledged this and offered a nondescript response to whether he’ll keep the starting job.
“I’m just going to prepare the same way every week as if I am the starter,” Perry said.
Considering the team’s issues in a myriad of areas, it only makes sense to have some uncertainty at quarterback. And, to make matters worse, the Canes play Friday night against the University of Virginia (4-1, 2-0), which was off Saturday and leads the Coastal Division.
Regardless of who ends up behind center, senior linebacker Michael Pinckney seemed to be speaking directly to Williams when asked his message to younger teammates.
“It’s a long season. There’s plenty of plays to make. You’re in Miami for a reason.”
This story was originally published October 5, 2019 at 10:02 PM.
