Miami Hurricanes hosted their Miami neighboring university the FIU Panthers on their home field for their fourth game of the season.
Panthers returned an old name with them, Butch Davis, who made an impact on the history of “The U.” He coached at Miami from 1995 through 2000.
Davis was welcomed back, his team though, may have benefited the Hurricanes for scouting purposes.
Hurricanes quarterback; N’Kosi Perry came off the bench to throw for 224 yards and three touchdowns, plus completed his first 10 throws as No. 21 Miami beat FIU 31-17. He finished 17 for 25, led touchdown drives on his first two possessions after relieving starter Malik Rosier.
“They played a really good football game today and they deserved the victory,” Davis said. “I was proud of our kids from the standpoint of continuing to fight and compete until the last whistle was blown.”
It was the first time Miami and FIU separated by 8 miles — met in a football game since 2007, and it didn’t take long for any Panthers’. The Hurricanes scored on four of their final five drives of the first half and took a 24-0 lead into halftime.
FIU tied a school record with 63 points last week in a win over UMass. The Panthers managed only 17 rushing yards on 24 carries against Miami.
“Our guys were dominant,” Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. “I can have no complaints.”
The Panthers are still aiming to make progress moving forward as a football program under Davis. Panthers fell to 0-9 against AP Top 25 opponents. They’re also 1-31 against current Power 5 schools and 0-27 when facing a team that at the time was a member of the ACC (0-8), Big Ten (0-10), Big 12 (0-5) or SEC (0-4). Recruiting is a battle in South Florida for these two teams, Davis and the Panthers needed this long shot win to make a statement.
The rich get richer. The Hurricanes are 33-2 in non-conference games against other Florida schools since the start of the 2000 season. In its last 11 regular-season home games, Miami is 11-0 with an average victory margin of 23.5 points. There is a quarterback battle for the Hurricanes, expect Perry to remain the starter, his maturity is evident to go along with the accuracy.
