Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson spoke with the media ahead of Miami's Week 2 game against the FAMU Rattlers. He reflected on the Hurricanes win against Stanford and the upcoming game against FAMU.
Check out everything he had to say during his Monday Press Conference down below:
On the offensive line: I was happy with the execution, obviously. More so going into the first game, just I've been watching a lot of football, because we had a day, right? And so you see a lot of delay games and a lot of communication issues on game one. I was probably the most pleased with that. You know, the communication was solid. There wasn't a lot of pre-snap penalties, not a lot— not any. Not a lot. There wasn't any pre-snap penalties, no issues with anything. So the function of the offense, obviously, was smooth. The execution, you know, you never know going into game one, and so I thought obviously, we executed at a fairly high level. I mean, looking at the film, we got a long ways to go. I mean, there's issues everywhere, but I thought for the first game, I was pretty pleased.
On if the first drive was scripted for Malachi Toney: No. If the ball is put in play down the field, then he's one of the few guys that can get it. It just so happened that if he's the first read on things and he gets open, he gets it. And so, there's four other guys that— well, in that play, there's three other guys that could have got the ball. Four, yes, four other guys that could have got the ball if it would have laid out a certain way. But in that certain defense they were playing, the first read was not Mali, but they took it away by alignment. And so then by default, Mali became the first read, and he was open. So they got it. And so I forget what play two was, but then the other play was all about— the play to him after that was more about the coverage. If it was another coverage, the ball would have went somewhere else. So a lot of it has to do with how they're playing and where the quarterback gets to in his progression. I don't call a lot of plays specifically for a human being. I just don't. Now, when it's a quick throw screen, yeah, I'm trying to get somebody the ball. I'm trying to get somebody involved. But if it's a down-the-field throw, it's a progression pass play. I mean, it could go to one of four or five people.
On Stanford stacking the box: Yeah, I mean, that's part of the flow of the game. I mean, you know, the book Art of War, right? Familiar with that book? Most people are. The enemy has a voice. That phrase, which gets thrown around a lot, but the enemy does have a voice. And so I have to see how they're going to play and what their mentality is, and then it leads me to, you know, how you want to attack. And so I didn't know what they were going to do. I had no idea. Only based on one game they played. So ultimately they came out and played a certain way, and then, you know, we tilted to what we wanted to do. And so.
On how the offensive line performed: I thought they did really well. I mean, the beginning of the game was tough because we had some adjustments to do on offense with some targeting in the run game. They had people lined up in places that was a little bit weird, and so there was a little bit of, hey, let's settle in and, you know, let's get it ID'd right in protection. And so after we had those issues ironed out, I mean, it was pretty solid from then on. You know, the protection was really good from then on. The run blocking was—I thought we were very physical. I mean, sometimes it comes down to simple mathematics. I help my daughter do her math homework all the time, and I can count to 11. And when they have more people than we can block, then they're just going to have a free guy. You can't block two people with one person. I mean, sometimes you can get away with it at times, but sometimes it comes down to just simple math. And look, we're going to stick with the run. I still—I mean, you have the stats right there. I mean, how many times did we run? How many yards did we run? 35. And so it was about—I mean, we still ran the ball, and for what they were doing, we ran the ball, in my opinion, efficiently based on what they were doing. Now, I would have loved to have some more explosive runs, which would have tilted that, but, it was muddy. It was some muddy runs. It was some runs where Mark got five where he probably should have got two, which I know in the whole scope of things, nobody wants to jump up and down about that.
On the freshman: I think they did good. I mean, look, we had a lot of guys that played their first game. Playing your first game against a conference opponent on the road all the way across America isn't the easiest thing. And so we had some guys that had to settle down a little bit. Did those guys play perfect? No. I mean, nobody did. But those guys grew in that game, and then this game will be easier, and the next game will be easier. And so really getting those guys just one game under their belt was huge. Both of them played really good at times.
On Daylyn Upshaw and Josh Moore: Upshaw made some plays, Josh made some plays, and they rotated pretty evenly at that spot, and I think that's great. Let those guys keep playing. Both of them bring certain unique qualities to that position that I like. And so I was glad that a lot of guys got in the game. We played a lot of receivers, and so a lot of people, I think ten or so people caught at least one ball, which is really, really good. And so I was very pleased with the first game, with the way the ball was distributed and just the number of kids that got involved.
On Javian Mallory: I thought he played really well. I thought he had a couple explosive runs at the end, which is typically when that happens in those games, you kind of wear down the defense a little bit. But ultimately, he showed what he's been doing on Green Tree. You know, we've really seen that on a day-to-day. So I expect him to keep getting better.
Check out everything he had to say during his Monday Press Conference down below:
On the offensive line: I was happy with the execution, obviously. More so going into the first game, just I've been watching a lot of football, because we had a day, right? And so you see a lot of delay games and a lot of communication issues on game one. I was probably the most pleased with that. You know, the communication was solid. There wasn't a lot of pre-snap penalties, not a lot— not any. Not a lot. There wasn't any pre-snap penalties, no issues with anything. So the function of the offense, obviously, was smooth. The execution, you know, you never know going into game one, and so I thought obviously, we executed at a fairly high level. I mean, looking at the film, we got a long ways to go. I mean, there's issues everywhere, but I thought for the first game, I was pretty pleased.
On if the first drive was scripted for Malachi Toney: No. If the ball is put in play down the field, then he's one of the few guys that can get it. It just so happened that if he's the first read on things and he gets open, he gets it. And so, there's four other guys that— well, in that play, there's three other guys that could have got the ball. Four, yes, four other guys that could have got the ball if it would have laid out a certain way. But in that certain defense they were playing, the first read was not Mali, but they took it away by alignment. And so then by default, Mali became the first read, and he was open. So they got it. And so I forget what play two was, but then the other play was all about— the play to him after that was more about the coverage. If it was another coverage, the ball would have went somewhere else. So a lot of it has to do with how they're playing and where the quarterback gets to in his progression. I don't call a lot of plays specifically for a human being. I just don't. Now, when it's a quick throw screen, yeah, I'm trying to get somebody the ball. I'm trying to get somebody involved. But if it's a down-the-field throw, it's a progression pass play. I mean, it could go to one of four or five people.
On Stanford stacking the box: Yeah, I mean, that's part of the flow of the game. I mean, you know, the book Art of War, right? Familiar with that book? Most people are. The enemy has a voice. That phrase, which gets thrown around a lot, but the enemy does have a voice. And so I have to see how they're going to play and what their mentality is, and then it leads me to, you know, how you want to attack. And so I didn't know what they were going to do. I had no idea. Only based on one game they played. So ultimately they came out and played a certain way, and then, you know, we tilted to what we wanted to do. And so.
On how the offensive line performed: I thought they did really well. I mean, the beginning of the game was tough because we had some adjustments to do on offense with some targeting in the run game. They had people lined up in places that was a little bit weird, and so there was a little bit of, hey, let's settle in and, you know, let's get it ID'd right in protection. And so after we had those issues ironed out, I mean, it was pretty solid from then on. You know, the protection was really good from then on. The run blocking was—I thought we were very physical. I mean, sometimes it comes down to simple mathematics. I help my daughter do her math homework all the time, and I can count to 11. And when they have more people than we can block, then they're just going to have a free guy. You can't block two people with one person. I mean, sometimes you can get away with it at times, but sometimes it comes down to just simple math. And look, we're going to stick with the run. I still—I mean, you have the stats right there. I mean, how many times did we run? How many yards did we run? 35. And so it was about—I mean, we still ran the ball, and for what they were doing, we ran the ball, in my opinion, efficiently based on what they were doing. Now, I would have loved to have some more explosive runs, which would have tilted that, but, it was muddy. It was some muddy runs. It was some runs where Mark got five where he probably should have got two, which I know in the whole scope of things, nobody wants to jump up and down about that.
On the freshman: I think they did good. I mean, look, we had a lot of guys that played their first game. Playing your first game against a conference opponent on the road all the way across America isn't the easiest thing. And so we had some guys that had to settle down a little bit. Did those guys play perfect? No. I mean, nobody did. But those guys grew in that game, and then this game will be easier, and the next game will be easier. And so really getting those guys just one game under their belt was huge. Both of them played really good at times.
On Daylyn Upshaw and Josh Moore: Upshaw made some plays, Josh made some plays, and they rotated pretty evenly at that spot, and I think that's great. Let those guys keep playing. Both of them bring certain unique qualities to that position that I like. And so I was glad that a lot of guys got in the game. We played a lot of receivers, and so a lot of people, I think ten or so people caught at least one ball, which is really, really good. And so I was very pleased with the first game, with the way the ball was distributed and just the number of kids that got involved.
On Javian Mallory: I thought he played really well. I thought he had a couple explosive runs at the end, which is typically when that happens in those games, you kind of wear down the defense a little bit. But ultimately, he showed what he's been doing on Green Tree. You know, we've really seen that on a day-to-day. So I expect him to keep getting better.
