When Louisiana Tech and Miami square-off on December 26th in the Walk-On’s Independence Bowl, quarterback play will be extremely important for the Hurricanes.
In 12 regular season games, the Miami offense ranked 90th in total offense and 74th in scoring offense, largely due to inconsistent play at quarterback.
Let’s take a look at the two quarterbacks the Bulldogs will be tasked with stopping Thursday afternoon.
Redshirt freshman Jarren Williams is likely to get the start. Williams was a 4-star recruit that ranked as the 8th best quarterback nationally in the 2018 recruiting class, according to Rivals.com.
Williams has played in 11 games as a redshirt freshman and completed 63% of his throws for 2,093 yards, 19 TDs and 6 INTs.
The young quarterback is purely a pocket passer as he has -83 yards rushing on the year.
Let’s take a look at some of the details when it comes to the passing game.
-- At LOS or Behind | 44/47 (94%) for 359 yards, 3 TDs
-- 0-10 Yards Down Field | 63/95 (66%) for 486 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs
-- 11-20 Yards Down Field | 40/67 (59%) for 783 yards, 6 TDs, 2 INTs
-- 20+ Yards Down Field | 13/30 (43%) for 465 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT
Forcing Williams to push the ball down the field will be a goal of the Louisiana Tech defense.
-- No Pressure | 133/178 (75%) for 1,730 yards, 16 TDs, 4 INTs
-- Under Pressure | 27/80 (34%) for 363 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs
-- Not Blitzed | 113/166 (68%) for 1,445 yards, 12 TDs, 3 INTs
-- When Blitzed | 47/92 (51%) for 648 yards, 7 TDs, 3 INTs
Just like most freshmen, Williams struggles with pressure. Miami has allowed 47 sacks, 4th worst nationally, so it’s possible that Williams has become tentative in the pocket and could be forced into mistakes with pressure.
Now let’s shift gears to N’Kosi Perry, the ‘Canes most “experienced” quarterback. Perry was a 4-star recruit that was also ranked as the 8th best quarterback nationally in the 2017 recruiting class according to Rivals.com.
Perry has seen action in 18 career games, completing 53% of his throws for 2,084 yards, 21 TDs and 8 INTs. Perry is not much of a running threat himself with only 194 career rushing yards.
Let’s take a look at how Perry has performed in his 8 games of action this season.
-- At LOS or Behind | 21/24 (88%) for 163 yards, 2 TDs
-- 0-10 Yards Down Field | 35/52 (67%) for 287 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
-- 11-20 Yards Down Field | 15/34 (44%) for 252 yards, 2 TDs
-- 20+ Yards Down Field | 8/23 (35%) for 287 yards, 2 TDs
Perry, like Williams, is better when he’s throwing the ball within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. With 50% of Miami’s passing yards coming after the catch in 2019, it will be important for Tech to tackle well in order to prevent big plays.
-- No Pressure | 68/111 (61%) for 774 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT
-- Under Pressure | 11/35 (31%) for 215 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
-- Not Blitzed | 49/88 (56%) for 709 yards, 4 TDs
-- When Blitzed | 30/58 (52%) for 280 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs
Pressure, pressure, pressure. Louisiana Tech must be able to get pressure on Williams and Perry if they are going to have success.
Miami is only converting 26% (130th nationally) of its third downs. Can Bob Diaco’s unit expose the young Miami QBs?
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