On Monday afternoon, Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson spoke with the media, recapping the 33-20 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the upcoming game against Central Michigan. Check out everything he had to say down below:
On Miami’s second-half offensive struggles and lack of execution: I mean, we didn't execute at the level we did the first half. I think it's obvious to everybody watching the game. Just strain. Halftime, I had a little bit of anxiety at halftime because I've done this long enough to where I know, like when things are going really good, it can slow you down more than when things are going bad. And what I mean by that is, like, there's two things that really hinder success offensively: success and failure. Like if you're not playing well, you press. You try to do things that are, like, outside of what you need to be doing. And if you are playing really well, you relax. And I didn't really sense going out of the second half that we did, because we took the first drive and we went straight down the field and scored again. I think it was 31 to 7. And then after that was just complete lack of execution. And, I mean, we have to strain and we have to keep doing the things that we did to get the 31 to 7 lead. And as simple as that. I mean, I'm harder on me than anybody could be when I watch the game. And, like, it was the same stuff we were doing the first half. And, some plays that we were getting five, six, seven yards a play, now we're getting two. And then instead of it being third and two, now it's third and ten, third and nine. And we didn't get in manageable third down situations the second half, so we weren't executing them. And we had plays to be had, to be quite honest, we did. And so, but kudos to those guys. I mean, I thought they played their tail off the second half. And then when you're in those situations, you're desperate. Like Wake was desperate on both sides. So you end up, like, just, it doesn't matter. You're playing your tail off, right? So, in those situations when momentum flips, we have to do a good job of taking a deep breath and focus on executing the football.
On Darian Mensah reaction to a defense stop the offense: Well, he was fine. I mean, his mentality's great. He never gets too up or too down on the sideline. I mean, the communication was exactly the same. And so by our communication and his body language, you wouldn't have known that we were going three and out. I mean, it was just more so of, hey, what are we gonna do the next drive? What do we want to do, what are we looking at? And so we were just trying to figure out, you know, really at that point, like I felt like we either got a first down and we score or we didn't. It was feast or famine. And so we just couldn't get it going. And so, it's frustrating, but it'll ultimately be a great learning lesson for us too, because it's so clear on film of, like, okay, like this is the same play we ran in the second quarter and gained 40 yards. Like, what's the difference? Right? And so if you relax and, you quit doing the things that you're doing to be successful, then teams will make you pay, and that's what happened.
On the depth at the running back and wide receiver room after losing CharMar Brown and Joshua Moore: Well, I mean, I feel good about the depth, but I mean, obviously that sucks because just of the human element of this game. This game's brutal at times, and we all know it going into it. But what, I mean, great guys, and it's just— Marty, what a deal, man, and Josh too. And so it just sucks. The human element of that just sucks for me. But ultimately, when people go down, people have to step up, and we have guys in that room that are capable and ready, and they'll be ready to roll.
On running back Javian Mallory: I mean, game reps are huge, and he takes a ton of reps on GreenTree against a pretty dadgum good defense. And so, we feel good about the guys that are going to be prepared to play, and so it just sucks for those guys. Really, your heart breaks for those guys.
On Jordan Lyle: Yeah, I mean, look, we trust Jordan. Jordan's a talented dude, and that's more of a Coach Cristobal question than a Coach Dawson question, to be quite honest with you. And so when he's ready to go, we'll go.
On Cooper Barkate’s missed opportunities and continued growth: Well, I mean, what was the stat line? I can't remember. Yeah, and, I'm going to be very honest with this, okay? Because there was about two opportunities in that game that, you know, if we do the right thing and we're in the right place, he makes a huge play. And he knows that. And the thing about receiver play is you got to constantly strain and do your job at a high level, even if you're not getting the ball, because you don't know in real time when that particular coverage on that particular play is going to be the one that, hey, I'm the one that has to do my job on this play because everything worked out where I get it, right? And there was a couple situations in that game where he was in a position where, like, man, like they played a certain coverage, and, like, I was eager, and we kind of, we were just a little bit off, you know? And he's going to have his time, and he's doing a lot of good things. And I just, I hate it for him because if we would have done just one little thing in a certain route, then he would have probably had a 70-yard touchdown. And it sucks because he didn't. But the learning lesson there is you never know in real time when that particular, whatever scheme we're running, right? Whenever that particular defense tilts a certain way where, man, you got to be in the right place at the right time, and you're going to be the big play. And it happened twice in that game, and we were just a little bit off, whether it was we just needed a split second more to throw it, or he saw it as too high, and it was one high, and he should have went outside release, you know, just little things like that. But he's doing a really good job, and it's going to come. Like, I said it last week, and, people step up. Lofton stepped up this week. I mean people are going to step up and other people are going to make plays. That's the way football goes. But I did want to, like, there was a couple times in that game where we could have made him pay, and we didn't. And so that's a little bit frustrating.
On Malachi Toney getting banged up and the impact on play calling: It doesn't affect the play calling. It doesn't, and I know y'all don't believe me when I say this, but, I mean, I don't, like, I'm not calling plays for the quarterback, to throw it to Mali. Most of the plays we run, a lot has to do with the defense. And so, it just so happens that sometimes, like we were talking about just then, he tends to be in the right spot at the right time. That's kind of a character trait of a really elite player, right? And so whenever he's out of the game, I call the same plays. The play backed up, I think — I'm trying to remember the drive, but it was like the first three and out, like everybody gets it, right? And Mali caught the vertical and went, like, 40 in the first half. Well, that time I called the same play and he wasn't in there. Daylyn was in there, and so he was the one on the climb route. Well, the linebacker squeezed the coverage and the ball really should have went to the next guy. And the next guy wasn't training like he should have been training because it would have been wide open? And so it's just one of those deals where I don't change the call, but I do think that in those situations, we were having to get to our second and third read at times in those drives where we weren't having success, and we weren't having the time to do it.
On the offensive line: There were times where I thought they played really well, and there were some times on film that they struggled. I think everybody understands that. And it's no different at my position. There was — and I said this to the offensive unit today, and it's true. You can watch those drives at the end where we were struggling, and you can call out every position group in the room, including the one that I coach, right? And so there was a couple plays where if Mensah's eyes were burned in the right place, man, we rip it and we probably relax and have momentum and go score, right? And so yeah, there were times where our guards needed to hold the point, right? There's times when a receiver needs to be in the right place. Like it all kind of works together, obviously offensively. But it seemed like in that little stretch of time, everybody took their turn to sabotage. And people can't take their turn to sabotage. You got to be dialed into your job, me included, and we can't take our turn sabotaging because offensive football is obviously about execution, and you need everybody to be fine-tuned and to really be dialed into doing their job for the system to work.
On Miami’s second-half offensive struggles and lack of execution: I mean, we didn't execute at the level we did the first half. I think it's obvious to everybody watching the game. Just strain. Halftime, I had a little bit of anxiety at halftime because I've done this long enough to where I know, like when things are going really good, it can slow you down more than when things are going bad. And what I mean by that is, like, there's two things that really hinder success offensively: success and failure. Like if you're not playing well, you press. You try to do things that are, like, outside of what you need to be doing. And if you are playing really well, you relax. And I didn't really sense going out of the second half that we did, because we took the first drive and we went straight down the field and scored again. I think it was 31 to 7. And then after that was just complete lack of execution. And, I mean, we have to strain and we have to keep doing the things that we did to get the 31 to 7 lead. And as simple as that. I mean, I'm harder on me than anybody could be when I watch the game. And, like, it was the same stuff we were doing the first half. And, some plays that we were getting five, six, seven yards a play, now we're getting two. And then instead of it being third and two, now it's third and ten, third and nine. And we didn't get in manageable third down situations the second half, so we weren't executing them. And we had plays to be had, to be quite honest, we did. And so, but kudos to those guys. I mean, I thought they played their tail off the second half. And then when you're in those situations, you're desperate. Like Wake was desperate on both sides. So you end up, like, just, it doesn't matter. You're playing your tail off, right? So, in those situations when momentum flips, we have to do a good job of taking a deep breath and focus on executing the football.
On Darian Mensah reaction to a defense stop the offense: Well, he was fine. I mean, his mentality's great. He never gets too up or too down on the sideline. I mean, the communication was exactly the same. And so by our communication and his body language, you wouldn't have known that we were going three and out. I mean, it was just more so of, hey, what are we gonna do the next drive? What do we want to do, what are we looking at? And so we were just trying to figure out, you know, really at that point, like I felt like we either got a first down and we score or we didn't. It was feast or famine. And so we just couldn't get it going. And so, it's frustrating, but it'll ultimately be a great learning lesson for us too, because it's so clear on film of, like, okay, like this is the same play we ran in the second quarter and gained 40 yards. Like, what's the difference? Right? And so if you relax and, you quit doing the things that you're doing to be successful, then teams will make you pay, and that's what happened.
On the depth at the running back and wide receiver room after losing CharMar Brown and Joshua Moore: Well, I mean, I feel good about the depth, but I mean, obviously that sucks because just of the human element of this game. This game's brutal at times, and we all know it going into it. But what, I mean, great guys, and it's just— Marty, what a deal, man, and Josh too. And so it just sucks. The human element of that just sucks for me. But ultimately, when people go down, people have to step up, and we have guys in that room that are capable and ready, and they'll be ready to roll.
On running back Javian Mallory: I mean, game reps are huge, and he takes a ton of reps on GreenTree against a pretty dadgum good defense. And so, we feel good about the guys that are going to be prepared to play, and so it just sucks for those guys. Really, your heart breaks for those guys.
On Jordan Lyle: Yeah, I mean, look, we trust Jordan. Jordan's a talented dude, and that's more of a Coach Cristobal question than a Coach Dawson question, to be quite honest with you. And so when he's ready to go, we'll go.
On Cooper Barkate’s missed opportunities and continued growth: Well, I mean, what was the stat line? I can't remember. Yeah, and, I'm going to be very honest with this, okay? Because there was about two opportunities in that game that, you know, if we do the right thing and we're in the right place, he makes a huge play. And he knows that. And the thing about receiver play is you got to constantly strain and do your job at a high level, even if you're not getting the ball, because you don't know in real time when that particular coverage on that particular play is going to be the one that, hey, I'm the one that has to do my job on this play because everything worked out where I get it, right? And there was a couple situations in that game where he was in a position where, like, man, like they played a certain coverage, and, like, I was eager, and we kind of, we were just a little bit off, you know? And he's going to have his time, and he's doing a lot of good things. And I just, I hate it for him because if we would have done just one little thing in a certain route, then he would have probably had a 70-yard touchdown. And it sucks because he didn't. But the learning lesson there is you never know in real time when that particular, whatever scheme we're running, right? Whenever that particular defense tilts a certain way where, man, you got to be in the right place at the right time, and you're going to be the big play. And it happened twice in that game, and we were just a little bit off, whether it was we just needed a split second more to throw it, or he saw it as too high, and it was one high, and he should have went outside release, you know, just little things like that. But he's doing a really good job, and it's going to come. Like, I said it last week, and, people step up. Lofton stepped up this week. I mean people are going to step up and other people are going to make plays. That's the way football goes. But I did want to, like, there was a couple times in that game where we could have made him pay, and we didn't. And so that's a little bit frustrating.
On Malachi Toney getting banged up and the impact on play calling: It doesn't affect the play calling. It doesn't, and I know y'all don't believe me when I say this, but, I mean, I don't, like, I'm not calling plays for the quarterback, to throw it to Mali. Most of the plays we run, a lot has to do with the defense. And so, it just so happens that sometimes, like we were talking about just then, he tends to be in the right spot at the right time. That's kind of a character trait of a really elite player, right? And so whenever he's out of the game, I call the same plays. The play backed up, I think — I'm trying to remember the drive, but it was like the first three and out, like everybody gets it, right? And Mali caught the vertical and went, like, 40 in the first half. Well, that time I called the same play and he wasn't in there. Daylyn was in there, and so he was the one on the climb route. Well, the linebacker squeezed the coverage and the ball really should have went to the next guy. And the next guy wasn't training like he should have been training because it would have been wide open? And so it's just one of those deals where I don't change the call, but I do think that in those situations, we were having to get to our second and third read at times in those drives where we weren't having success, and we weren't having the time to do it.
On the offensive line: There were times where I thought they played really well, and there were some times on film that they struggled. I think everybody understands that. And it's no different at my position. There was — and I said this to the offensive unit today, and it's true. You can watch those drives at the end where we were struggling, and you can call out every position group in the room, including the one that I coach, right? And so there was a couple plays where if Mensah's eyes were burned in the right place, man, we rip it and we probably relax and have momentum and go score, right? And so yeah, there were times where our guards needed to hold the point, right? There's times when a receiver needs to be in the right place. Like it all kind of works together, obviously offensively. But it seemed like in that little stretch of time, everybody took their turn to sabotage. And people can't take their turn to sabotage. You got to be dialed into your job, me included, and we can't take our turn sabotaging because offensive football is obviously about execution, and you need everybody to be fine-tuned and to really be dialed into doing their job for the system to work.
