NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -After playing both Kirby Freeman and Kyle Wright in a loss to No. 5 Oklahoma on Saturday, Miami coach Randy Shannon said there is no quarterback controversy for the Hurricanes.
There does, however, appear to be a competition once again.
M five days later.
“We have two quarterbacks and we think we can win with both of them,” Shannon said after his team was held to 89 yards passing in a 51-13 loss.
Freeman, a junior who’d taken every snap in Miami’s 31-3 season-opening win against Marshall, started again and went 2-for-8 for 10 yards before getting replaced by Wright midway through the second quarter with the Hurricanes trailing 21-3.
“I went in and did what they asked me to do,” Wright said. “That’s it. That’s all I can do.”
Wright’s first drive resulted in Miami’s only touchdown of the day, although it came with the assistance of a fake field goal and two pass interference penalties in the end zone against Oklahoma. He yielded to Freeman again in the final minute of the third quarter.
“It was not just one person. As a team, we didn’t play very good,” Shannon said.
Wright, a senior, was 7-of-14 for 65 yards, including a 6-yard pass to Ryan Hill for Miami’s only touchdown. He also picked up a first down with a 15-yard pass to Darnell Jenkins to set up one of the Hurricanes’ two field goals.
Freeman finished with 17 yards on 3-for-9. Lance Leggett, Miami’s top receiver, didn’t have a catch – in large part because he was tightly covered whenever the Hurricanes threw his way.
Sooners safety D.J Wolfe said that switching quarterbacks didn’t affect Oklahoma’s defensive schemes.
“We played them like they were the same,” Wolfe said. “Both of them are great quarterbacks. … It was a thing where we didn’t care as a defense which one was there because they keep the same flow and the same basic offense out there.”
The Hurricanes had passed for at least 100 yards in 30 straight games before Virginia Tech held Wright to 84 yards in a 17-10 Hokies win last November, a game where Wright broke his right thumb. Freeman took over the starting job the following week and the Hurricanes finished the season 2-2, including a win over Nevada in the MPC Computers Bowl.
Wright was 5-4 as the starter last year. He started all 12 games in 2005, when Miami went 9-3, but lost the starting job to Freeman in training camp this year – although Shannon said the Hurricanes still consider Wright to be starting-caliber.
Neither of the quarterbacks got much help from the running game against Oklahoma. Graig Cooper ran 18 times for 26 yards, and Javarris James had 28 yards on eight carries. James also lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by Oklahoma cornerback Reggie Smith to make it 21-3.
Cooper and James combined for 215 yards last week against Marshall.
“The offense did a lot of good things,” Shannon said. “They’ve got to trust what they’re doing and communicate what we’re trying to get done.”
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