After a short week following the loss to LSU, the Miami Hurricanes will return to the gridiron to host FCS Savannah State. This week will give Mark Richt and his staff a chance to work out the flaws in their team. Which Miami Hurricanes backup quarterback will make their collegiate debut? The obvious question from the majority of the Miami Hurricanes fanbase is who will relieve Malik Rosier at quarterback when the game gets out of hand and how much time will they receive? Rosier is the only quarterback on the Miami roster that has ever taken a snap much less attempted a pass in college. At least one of those quarterbacks will definitely make his college debut on Saturday. Could we see more than that? Redshirt Freshman Cade Weldon was the second-team quarterback in the loss to LSU. N’Kosi Perry didn’t make the trip to Arlington, Texas. He was suspended for the season opener. True Freshman Jarren Williams is currently the Miami Hurricanes fourth team QB. Christy Cabrera Chirinos of the Sun Sentinel reported that both Weldon and Perry were given time with the first-team offense in practice this week. What will the new game plan look like? Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Mark Richt took some of the responsibility for his team’s collapse against LSU. Saturday’s game gives the Hurricanes coaching staff a chance to look at players and see what does and does not work in a game situation. This is as close to a preseason game as college football has. Look for less called running plays and diminished responsibility for Rosier at the line of scrimmage against Savannah State. Richt discussed what he did wrong during his weekly meeting with the media as relayed in the Palm Beach Post earlier this week.<doc-sep>With the humiliating loss to LSU to open the season behind them, the Hurricanes now switch their focus and attention to their home opener against the Savannah State Tigers. Dropping from no. 8 to 22nd in the country in the newest AP Poll, Miami’s season has restarted, and will need a convincing victory in order to jumpstart their 2018 campaign. Savannah State is coming off a loss of their own, after falling to UAB this past weekend 52-0. This will be the first time that the Hurricanes and Tigers have met since 2013, when Al Golden’s Canes took Savannah State to the cleaners, 77-7. Bouncing Back (On Offense) Its no surprise that Miami, and all of us fans, are still reeling from the devastating loss to LSU in Dallas. That being said, its a new week, with the same goal in mind, and that is to repeat as ACC Coastal Division champions. Starting off offensively, Miami will look to improve their passing game, which we all know means Malik Rosier. Yes yes, Rosier has been named the starter for Saturday’s game, much to the distaste of Hurricanes fans. Rosier struggled immensely against the LSU defense, throwing two interceptions and completing just 42% of his passes. With Miami expected to roll over Savannah State, Saturday will look to be a confidence boosting game for Rosier, who desperately needs it, and frankly, so do all of us. This is definitely the game for it happen as well, the UAB quarterbacks combined for a 92% completion percentage. Look for Rosier to throw, and throw often and early. Still healing from an injury on Sunday, Ahmmon Richards is still uncertain if he’ll play, so we’ll be seeing lots more of Jeff Thomas and Lawrence Cager at the wideout position. In the Miami running game, indeed a bounce back week for them is needed as well. Against LSU’s ferocious defense, Miami rushed for just 89 yards on 34 attempts, equaling out to a whopping 2.4 yards per rush. Travis Homer, someone who was expected to have a breakout game against LSU, will get another chance to open his season and get back on the right track, as well as Deejay Dallas. UAB ran all over Savannah State on Saturday for 287 yards. The Hurricanes offensive line struggled as well against LSU, and will need to come back in a huge way this weekend, after giving up four sacks. Getting To Know Savannah State The Tigers just like Miami are coming off a loss to begin their season, a game which they were 100% outplayed and out-coached. Coming off a rough 3-8 season in 2017, the Tigers didn’t get off to the best start against UAB. On offense, the Tigers have several players that you’ll need to know, and who to look out for on Saturday. Quarterback wise, don’t expect too much from the Tigers gunslingers. D’Vonn Gibbons went 1-for-9 against UAB for just 23 yards and an interception. The offensive line gave up a sack to the Blazers, but Savannah State totaled 155 yards rushing, which was more than Miami, awkward. However, don’t expect too much firepower from the Tigers offensive. This is a game that the Miami defense needs to see the Turnover Chain not just once, but several times, and get their confidence back. On defense, the Tigers gave up over 550 yards of total offense and surrendered 52 points, so we’re not exactly talking about the LSU defense here. UAB’s quarterbacks completed 23-of-29 passes, converted on 8-of-12 third down conversions, two areas where Miami’s offense struggled. Keys To The Game Its pretty simple this week, as Miami is pressing the restart button on the 2018 season. Malik Rosier. Alright coach Richt, you kept with Rosier, now its all on you two to save our season, but it all starts with Saturday. Rosier must make some plays in his first few drives to gain some confidence back. Like I said before, expect Miami to throw it often and early. If Rosier struggles against this defense, it’s time to pull the plug on 12. Continue to play young talent. In a game against a lowly squad like Savannah State, its going to be important that the Hurricanes continue to build on the success that their freshman gave them on Sunday. Guys like Brian Hightower and Brevin Jordan will no doubt get touches against the Tigers, and look for Al Blades Jr. to get some quality time on defense. Also, look for redshirt freshman N’Kosi Perry to get some playing time if and when Miami builds a second half lead. Forget LSU. Miami can do one of two things, bounce back after Sunday’s loss and make the most of the rest of the season, or let it ruin this once promising year. Savannah State provides the Canes with the opportunity to do just that, and they just need to run the Tigers into the ground and get 2018 back on the right track. Final Words The season is not over nor is it lost. Look for Mark Richt’s team to come out swinging early, and scoring points. Its not a win that’ll put Miami back into the top 10, but its a win, and thats all we’re focused on right now.<doc-sep>With a completion percentage below .500 in the final three games of the 2017 season— all loses— a faction of the fanbase was looking for a new starting quarterback. If the end of last campaign saw blood pressure rise among fans, Rosier’s outing against LSU caused that blood to boil. The Mobile native went 15-35 while throwing a TD and 2 INT, good for a paltry 12.8 QBR. Rosier’s accuracy issues can no longer be ignored. Elite teams will have tight coverage and this offense will be at a severe disadvantage. Not to mention the frustration of the WRs. #FixIt — Chad Wilson (@GridironStuds) September 3, 2018 Fans we’re not forgiving toward the 22-year-old either. "Rosier can still lead us through the ACC" Me: pic.twitter.com/4rrdquyd1I — Rashad Ali (@dagreatest33) September 3, 2018 With the idea of a new starting QB now a mainstream opinion among UM fans, will Canes fans be satisfied on Saturday? Richt confirms Malik Rosier will start at quarterback Saturday. Says all QBs are getting better. "The guys that deserve to play will play." — Canes Football (@CanesFootball) September 4, 2018 Fans may not love this quote, but those looking for a change may start to see a real push by the backups unfolding soon. N’Kosi Perry and Cade Weldon both got first-team reps in practice Tuesday. https://t.co/diIabAgee0 pic.twitter.com/Nk96IOaOdS — Andrew Ivins (@Andrew_Ivins) September 4, 2018 While Rosier still got the majority of these reps, the fact that two of the underclassman are making moves should be encouraging for everyone— after all, even if Rosier is the starter moving forward, it’s vital for the bench to keep developing. So what can fans expect this Saturday? In a perfect world, fans could see all QBs with the rest of the offensive first team to get a sense of where each signal caller stands. More realistically, each passer could get 1 quarter of playing time, starting with Rosier and continuing with Perry, Weldon and finally Jarren Williams. The new redshirt rule allows any player to receive game reps in four separate games without losing the year in eligibility. Because of this, Williams has an advantage that Weldon and Perry missed out on. Evan Sheriffs was the only backup to see the field in 2017, but all four are likely to see action at some point in 2018. While Richt has been seen by fans as stubborn regarding the QB situation, I do think Savannah State will bring the opportunity fans have been waiting for, and at least three quarterbacks will play on Saturday. Hopefully all the underclassman can get as much game experience as possible.<doc-sep>
Here are the news and notes leading up to the Hurricanes facing the Savannah State Tigers at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. The game will be played on the ACC Network via ESPN at 6pm eastern time. On SOTU: Miami needs to address Defensive Substitution Patterns Our very own leader, Cam Underwood, wrote a post about defensive substitutions and avoiding the wholesale changes where Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney were somehow both off the field at the same time against the Tigers. Canes Back to Work Ahead of Home Opener David Villavicencio of HurricaneSports.com had a piece about Miami getting back on the practice field, and refocusing after a hard couple of days. “I guarantee you nobody is more upset than the people who are out here every day practicing,” offensive coordinator Thomas Brown said. “I know the feeling to get upset about stuff, but we’re going to fix it, we will get better and we started that today.” Miami Hurricanes stress need to be mentally tougher Christy Cabrera Chirinos put out an article on the Hurricanes, focusing on Manny Diaz and the 50 yard run that broke the ‘Canes back in the first quarter of the LSU game. “You’re not going to lose a game because you give up a touchdown in the first half to make it 10-3, but we did because after that point, we did not respond. Above everything from that game, that was the most disappointing part.” On SOTU: How should playing time be distributed among QBs against Savannah State? You all know that I feel N’Kosi Perry should’ve gotten a little scratch last season as opposed to entering 2018 with absolutely no valuable college playing time. After his suspension, and with a new redshirt rule, I really hope to see Perry, Williams and Weldon involved in what should be an easy victory for Miami. Savannah isn’t just an FCS program, they’re a bad FCS program. Georgia played Justin Fields, Clemson played Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State played Tate Martell and Alabama played Jalen Hurts all during week one. Any intelligent person over roster management can see that the Miami Hurricanes will be in dire straits if Malik Rosier is injured during ACC play and someone has to take over that’s never taken a snap period. It’s time to settle on a backup quarterback and give them first quarter playing time against Savannah State. Around Social Media The Canes know there are things that need to be corrected after Sunday’s loss, but they also know a lot of goals are still very attainable. It’s time to get back to work. https://t.co/ESKZk62R54 — Canes Football (@CanesFootball) September 5, 2018 Gerald Willis III definitely had a performance worth honoring: - Four tackles for loss - Eight total tackles - One sack - One pass break-up Congrats, @gw3_9! pic.twitter.com/laIwSnHrT8 — Canes Football (@CanesFootball) September 4, 2018 Our @seniorbowl “Seniors-of-the-Week” for the opening weekend are QB @willgrier_ from @WVUfootball and DT @gw3_9 from @CanesFootball. Former teammates at @GatorsFB are making the most out of their second chances. Clink link for full write-ups on both.https://t.co/VoO0OBktPe pic.twitter.com/tzJ7Ts48m1 — Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) September 5, 2018 OK y’all, we’ve wallowed enough. Not it’s time to move on and beat Savannah State on Saturday evening. My film preview is out Thursday at 8am eastern. GO CANES!