When asked who would be starting at QB for Miami on Wednesday, Miami Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt said the following:

That’s a good question. Yeah, we’ll know when we roll out on the field first play for sure, so that’s what I’m going to tell everybody. But yeah, I know.

After several hints were seen on social media (including this one via screenshot of Perry’s IG), and plenty of trolling was done pre-game (alternating QB1 in certain drills, having Malik Rosier QB1 thru 80% of warmups), Mark Richt FINALLY showed the world his QB when N’Kosi Perry took the field with the offense as the starting QB for the first drive of the game.

A redshirt freshman from Ocala, FL, Perry has all the physical tools in the world. At 6’4” 195lbs, Perry is tall and lean with good quickness if he chooses to run and a CANNON for an arm.

In his HS career at Ocala (FL) Vanguard, Perry was a record-breaking star. He was the 2015 6A player of the year in Florida, and by the time he was ready to graduate after the 2016 HSFB season, he’d shattered school and county records set 20 years prior by former Vanguard, UCF, and NFL star QB Daunte Culpepper.

After sitting and redshirting as a freshman in 2017, Perry has pushed for, and finally gotten the starting job at Miami. He replaces redshirt senior Malik Rosier, who has had some good stats and moments but is physically limited and very inconsistent.

In spot action and 1 nearly-full game — last week vs FIU — Perry has shown flashes of his prodigious talent, something I’m sure figured into the decision to start him over Rosier, who had started the last 17 games for Miami and 18 overall in his career. Perry made plays like this vs FIU, and hopefully there’s more of them tonight, and in the future.

For the year, Perry’s stat line — again, in limited action — is as follows: 26/39 passing, 66.7% completions, 317 yards, 6 TDs, 2 INTs, 14 carries, 25 yards (though this number is much larger without sack yardage deducted).

It’s no secret that I’ve long held that Perry and freshman QB Jarren Williams are the players with elite talent at the most important position on the field. No, they don’t have game experience, but they have the athleticism and talent that Malik Rosier simply does not. And, if Perry can continue to perform to the level that he’s shown this year, that is a clear and unquestionable upgrade at QB, and that should help unlock new levels of performance for the offense as a whole.

So it has come to pass that redshirt freshman QB N’Kosi Perry has ascended to QB1, and will showcase his talents in his first career start against an ACC foe — the North Carolina Tar Heels — in primetime on national television.

The legend starts now. Welcome to the show, kid!

Go Canes