Forget quarterback competition. The Miami Hurricanes had a quarterback crisis vs. FIU

Strange-but-true fact: Jarren Williams threw for six touchdowns in a single game this season. Not just this season, actually — this month. The quarterback carved up the Louisville Cardinals to set the Miami Hurricanes’ single-game touchdowns record Nov. 9. It feels like ancient history, but it was actually just two weeks before he trotted out to the turf at Marlins Park to play the FIU Panthers on Saturday.

Miami went right into a bye week after the blowout win against Louisville at Hard Rock Stadium, then showed up in Miami as a 20-point favorite against the local foe. By the end of the first quarter, Williams’ six-touchdown day felt like ancient history. By the end of the third, it felt almost impossible it could have ever happened. When the clock ran out, FIU had a 30-24 win against the Hurricanes.

“It’s really on me,” Williams said. “It starts with me.”

In his first appearance since setting a Miami record, Williams threw three interceptions to all but gift the Panthers one of the biggest upsets of the season. The redshirt freshman went just 19 of 36 with 249 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns — and it was even worse than the final stat line indicated. Another interception thrown by Williams was called back because of defensive holding and a few other near interceptions were dropped by defenders. Williams was just 5 of 15 with 78 yards and no touchdowns until the fourth quarter, when he went 14 of 21 for 171 yards and two touchdowns while playing in desperation mode.

It was a throwback in all the worst ways for Miami. Williams has only thrown an interception in one other game — another three-interception outing against the Virginia Tech Hokies last month. Like Saturday, the Hurricanes (6-5) were a significant favorite against Virginia Tech, but Williams threw three interceptions in the first quarter against the Hokies to let Virginia Tech steal an upset win at in Miami Gardens.

The Hurricanes benched Williams in the first half against the Hokies and quarterback N’Kosi Perry nearly led a miraculous comeback in relief. Miami never made a change Saturday. Perry never started warming up and Tate Martell, listed third on the depth chart, wasn’t even on the sidelines, although a team spokesperson said he wasn’t aware the quarterback was absent.

“We still felt like Jarren was into the game and seeing what was going on out there,” coach Manny Diaz said, “and obviously he played well in the fourth quarter.”

On Saturday, Williams spread out his gaffes a bit more. He threw his first interception on the Hurricanes’ second play. Williams tried to thread a pass over the middle to Dee Wiggins and threw it too far in front of his wide receiver, straight to Panthers defensive back Stantley Thomas-Oliver III. FIU (6-5) immediately hit a 29-yard field goal after failing to pick up a first down to take a 3-0 lead. The Panthers never trailed and took a 13-0 lead into halftime.

The second half started even worse than the first. Williams threw another pass over the middle and, after a deflection, FIU linebacker Sage Lewis pulled in a second interception off Williams. Although the Panthers started in Miami territory, the Hurricanes forced one punt and then another. The Hurricanes went three-and-out once and then Williams started another drive with another interception. Again, he tried to thread a pass over the middle and threw it directly into the hands of FIU linebacker Jamal Gates. Another Panthers drive began in Miami territory and FIU kicker Jose Borregales hit a 53-yard field goal to put the Panthers up 16-0.

FIU knew exactly where Williams’ passes were going on the interceptions, particularly the two by the linebackers. The Hurricanes ran run-pass options on each of those and the linebackers didn’t bite at all. With a bye week of their own ahead of the game, the Panthers had watched enough film to know Williams usually throws when Miami calls a run-pass option. Coach Butch Davis and FIU were always a step ahead of the Hurricanes, and they took too long to adjust.

“It all came down to film and the type of offense they were running. They were running like an RPO offense, so we were able to notice when the quarterback would read one of our linebackers and then throw the ball a lot,” Lewis said .”The picks that me and Jamal had, we just did a good job of getting under it and not biting on the run.”

Miami finally sprung to life at the end of the third quarter and scored 24 points in the final 16:52. It was far too late. The Hurricanes trailed 23-3 until running back Cam’Ron Harris finally found the end zone with 8:07 left.

Williams even threw two touchdowns with Miami frantically trying to stay alive, hitting on a deep ball to Mark Pope for a 35-yard score and finding fellow wide receiver Dee Wiggins from 3 yards out to cut the score to 30-24 with 31 seconds left.

For the final 15 minutes, Williams looked something like the quarterback the Hurricanes thought they had come to expect. He won the job in the preseason because they trusted him most to limit his mistakes and go through all his progressions. He elevated his play in November by connecting on deep shots more frequently and taking off to run more often.

Diaz credited the Panthers’ defense, of course, but also pointed out what was obvious in the first half: Miami’s offense was too predictable and it made the Hurricanes lose to FIU.

“Or is the question, Are we not going through our reads and getting the ball to the guy that’s open, right?” Diaz said. “I’m not taking credit away from them. They played well, but those guys will watch on film and say, ‘Oh, gosh.’ Just go through your read one more time and you’ll see a guy.”