Fill-in starting QB N’Kosi Perry separated his left shoulder in the Georgia Tech game over the weekend, but later returned to the game, while regular starter Jarren Williams was apparently healthy enough to see time replacing Perry for a few plays vs. GT coming off his own shoulder ailment.
Moving forward, OC Dan Enos is hopeful both will be ready to plays vs. Pitt this week.
“We’re hoping both guys will be available for us,” Enos said.
Ultimately, Perry played the majority of the game, finishing 16 for 28 (57.1%) for 188 yards and 3 total TD’s.
“N’Kosi played a good game, solid,” Enos said. “Watched the rush a couple of times too much, had open receivers. It’s tough to criticize a guy too much that has a separated shoulder, comes back in the game. I can’t express enough my admiration for his toughness, courage. I haven’t seen that much, the injury he had, playing. Took off and scrambled one time. Looking at the rush, can’t fault N’Kosi too much. He was playing in an extreme amount of pain trying to win a game for his team. He gave our team a chance to win. Proud of the way he competed.”
A big breakdown came on the first drive, when Perry was sacked in his own endzone and fumbled the ball away, allowing GT to recover for the first 7 points of the game.
“He was more startled the guy was free and froze for a second - instead of scrambling away, throw the ball away or complete it,” Enos said of Perry. “Made a huge mistake in not protecting the football. We would have actually had a very big play, but we had a missed assignment.”
Starting running back DeeJay Dallas left the game in the first quarter, but Enos said the gameplan didn’t really change with Cam Harris subbing in.
“Not much, Cam rushed for 100 something yards,” Enos said. “He missed a couple of cuts which you’d expect from a guy that hasn’t played a bunch. But we were really happy with how he played… He (Cam) is a good football player. Robert Burns’ role will increase as well. He’s a physical runner, can get north. Losing Deejay hurts, that guy’s a playmaker.”
On the OL, John Campbell split time at left guard with Navaughn Donaldson vs. GT.
“John has been doing a good job, working very hard, practicing better,” Enos said. “Navaughn kind of struggled the last couple of games. We felt it was best if we got John in there a little bit, help (Donaldson) from a conditioning standpoint. We switched them every series and John did a really good job.”
Jeff Thomas was suspended for the game vs. GT, but Enos didn’t feel he called the game differently without his starting WR.
“We were running the ball well, were mixing it up, other guys got opportunities,” Enos said. “Dee Wiggins keeps getting better, we’re excited about his future. KJ (Osborn) continues to do well, Mark Pope - those guys played good.”
The Canes will head up north to play Pitt on the road this week, and the Panthers sport a front seven that leads the nation in sacks, averaging over 5 per game.
“They’ve got good personnel, are very well coached,” Enos said. “They have a good blitz package, do a good job on third down creating one-on-one matchups and have good players doing it… Every week you have to adjust to the schematics, blitz packages, fronts you’re going to see.”
**The Canes missed 29 tackles against GT over the weekend, and DC Blake Baker tried to explain what went wrong against the Yellow Jackets.
“The two biggest things is technique and pad level,” Baker said. “At times we stopped our feet, have a player in the gap and if we just run our feet wind up with a zero-yard gain. They make us miss in a hole, gain seven or eight yards per pop… The biggest thing that continues to show up is a lack of focus for 60 minutes as far as our technique and fundamentals.”
Why does it seem like Miami keeps having this problem every week?
“One week we’re great at tackling, the next we’re not,” Baker said. “As coaches we have to continue to press on. We’re not going to relent, will trust what we’re teaching. It’s worked for a long time. We have to harp on it to make it more consistent.”
With Mike Pinckney leaving the game with injury, UM elected to play walk-on LB Ryan Ragone in his place instead of scholarship freshman LB Sam Brooks.
“I thought Ryan Ragone went in there and did a heck of a job,” Baker said. “He went in there, played 31 snaps, we had him around the ball 10 times. … His number was called, I thought he answered it.”
While Baker liked the pressure the front seven was getting vs. GT, he pointed out a few flaws that his unit needs to improve on.
“It comes down to stopping the run and not allowing explosive passes for touchdowns,” Baker said. “Those were the two biggest things.”
With Pitt coming up this weekend, Baker is stressing one thing in particular in practice this week.
“Attention to detail we have to improve across the board,” Baker said. “They’re well coached, we’ll have our hands full.”
Moving forward, OC Dan Enos is hopeful both will be ready to plays vs. Pitt this week.
“We’re hoping both guys will be available for us,” Enos said.
Ultimately, Perry played the majority of the game, finishing 16 for 28 (57.1%) for 188 yards and 3 total TD’s.
“N’Kosi played a good game, solid,” Enos said. “Watched the rush a couple of times too much, had open receivers. It’s tough to criticize a guy too much that has a separated shoulder, comes back in the game. I can’t express enough my admiration for his toughness, courage. I haven’t seen that much, the injury he had, playing. Took off and scrambled one time. Looking at the rush, can’t fault N’Kosi too much. He was playing in an extreme amount of pain trying to win a game for his team. He gave our team a chance to win. Proud of the way he competed.”
A big breakdown came on the first drive, when Perry was sacked in his own endzone and fumbled the ball away, allowing GT to recover for the first 7 points of the game.
“He was more startled the guy was free and froze for a second - instead of scrambling away, throw the ball away or complete it,” Enos said of Perry. “Made a huge mistake in not protecting the football. We would have actually had a very big play, but we had a missed assignment.”
Starting running back DeeJay Dallas left the game in the first quarter, but Enos said the gameplan didn’t really change with Cam Harris subbing in.
“Not much, Cam rushed for 100 something yards,” Enos said. “He missed a couple of cuts which you’d expect from a guy that hasn’t played a bunch. But we were really happy with how he played… He (Cam) is a good football player. Robert Burns’ role will increase as well. He’s a physical runner, can get north. Losing Deejay hurts, that guy’s a playmaker.”
On the OL, John Campbell split time at left guard with Navaughn Donaldson vs. GT.
“John has been doing a good job, working very hard, practicing better,” Enos said. “Navaughn kind of struggled the last couple of games. We felt it was best if we got John in there a little bit, help (Donaldson) from a conditioning standpoint. We switched them every series and John did a really good job.”
Jeff Thomas was suspended for the game vs. GT, but Enos didn’t feel he called the game differently without his starting WR.
“We were running the ball well, were mixing it up, other guys got opportunities,” Enos said. “Dee Wiggins keeps getting better, we’re excited about his future. KJ (Osborn) continues to do well, Mark Pope - those guys played good.”
The Canes will head up north to play Pitt on the road this week, and the Panthers sport a front seven that leads the nation in sacks, averaging over 5 per game.
“They’ve got good personnel, are very well coached,” Enos said. “They have a good blitz package, do a good job on third down creating one-on-one matchups and have good players doing it… Every week you have to adjust to the schematics, blitz packages, fronts you’re going to see.”
**The Canes missed 29 tackles against GT over the weekend, and DC Blake Baker tried to explain what went wrong against the Yellow Jackets.
“The two biggest things is technique and pad level,” Baker said. “At times we stopped our feet, have a player in the gap and if we just run our feet wind up with a zero-yard gain. They make us miss in a hole, gain seven or eight yards per pop… The biggest thing that continues to show up is a lack of focus for 60 minutes as far as our technique and fundamentals.”
Why does it seem like Miami keeps having this problem every week?
“One week we’re great at tackling, the next we’re not,” Baker said. “As coaches we have to continue to press on. We’re not going to relent, will trust what we’re teaching. It’s worked for a long time. We have to harp on it to make it more consistent.”
With Mike Pinckney leaving the game with injury, UM elected to play walk-on LB Ryan Ragone in his place instead of scholarship freshman LB Sam Brooks.
“I thought Ryan Ragone went in there and did a heck of a job,” Baker said. “He went in there, played 31 snaps, we had him around the ball 10 times. … His number was called, I thought he answered it.”
While Baker liked the pressure the front seven was getting vs. GT, he pointed out a few flaws that his unit needs to improve on.
“It comes down to stopping the run and not allowing explosive passes for touchdowns,” Baker said. “Those were the two biggest things.”
With Pitt coming up this weekend, Baker is stressing one thing in particular in practice this week.
“Attention to detail we have to improve across the board,” Baker said. “They’re well coached, we’ll have our hands full.”
