Can Hurricanes’ offense find another level with critical stretch approaching?
Shannon Dawson knows what everyone is saying about the Miami Hurricanes, specifically the offense that he runs, during the past three weeks.
The Hurricanes have dropped two of their past three games — a 24-21 defeat to the Louisville Cardinals on Oct. 17 and a 26-20 overtime loss to the SMU Mustangs on Saturday. Those games have left a lot to be desired from Miami’s offense, which went from the top in the nation a year ago to one in the middle of the pack by many metrics through eight games this season. It also has UM on the cusp of being knocked out of College Football Playoff contention if it doesn’t remedy itself during the final four weeks of the season.
Dawson hears the chatter, even if indirectly.
“Everybody thinks we forgot how to coach offense — and I get it, everybody’s frustrated — [and that] we suck,” Dawson, Miami’s offensive coordinator, said Monday in summarizing the mood around the Hurricanes’ fan base. “I’m well aware of our situation. My wife tells me what everybody’s typing. She loves it. She gets a lot of entertainment of reading everybody’s stuff, and so she knows how bad of a football coach I am.”
He said the last sentence in jest, even if fans probably agree with the sentiment.
The Hurricanes were expected to take a step back offensively this season. They rewrote UM’s record book a year ago by averaging 537.2 yards per game, 7.57 yards per play and 43.9 points per game — all best in the nation.
But that group lost its starting quarterback in Cam Ward, all five of its top pass catchers and its top running back.
Regression was inevitable.
But probably not to this extent.
The No. 18 Hurricanes (6-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) enter Saturday’s game against the Syracuse Orange (3-6, 1-5 ACC) ranked 35th nationally in passing offense (258.9 yards per game), 44th in scoring offense (32.3 points per game) 46th in total offense (413.9 yards per game) and tied for 70th in rushing offense (155 yards per game). Every mark is on pace to be the lowest, in terms of yards and points, in Dawson’s three seasons at Miami.
One area that has been particularly noticeable: The lack of explosive plays.
Miami has just 31 plays this season that have gone for at least 20 yards, including just three last week against an SMU team that had allowed 41 such plays entering the game. That’s the second fewest in the ACC and tied for 100th out of 136 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
The Hurricanes have thrived this season on successfully manufacturing long drives. Of their 43 scoring drives this season, 26 (60.5%) have consisted of at least seven plays. They have only produced five touchdown drives of four plays or fewer, and three of those five came when UM had fewer than 25 yards to gain following a forced turnover.
“We move the ball down the field really well,” quarterback Carson Beck said.
But is there an added breakout element to this offense that can be unleashed? Beck said that’s dependent on what they can get from the defense it faces each week.
“Football is a game of chess,” Beck said. “It’s give and take. Sometimes we can dictate what the defense is doing based off of maybe a certain look or motion or just based off of what a certain defense does. But sometimes they dictate by the blitzes and coverage and things that they do. ... You can’t try to force things.”
Miami did that to an extent against SMU on Saturday. The offense was dominant in the first half, with the Hurricanes leading the Mustangs in total yards 227-121, total rushing yards 70 to minus-6 and time of possession 20:08 to 9:52.
But penalties (seven on the offense in the first half, nine total) and drops (five total) stymied drives and made it impossible for UM to put SMU away.
“It’s hard to say this out loud,” Dawson said, “but I wasn’t displeased with a lot in the game. I was displeased with the self-inflicted stuff.”
To that end, UM had 11 drives (excluding the kneel down at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime). All but one drive either lasted at least five plays or ended in points.
But critical plays in critical moments proved costly.
▪ Joshisa Trader bobbling a Carson Beck pass down the sideline in the second quarter that led to an SMU interception and ultimately a Mustangs touchdown.
Two penalties in three plays — an offensive pass interference on Malachi Toney and holding on Francis Mauigoa — in the second quarter when a second-and-8 from the SMU 23 into a third-and-33 and an eventual punt.
▪ Elija Lofton’s drop in the end zone on third-and-goal when UM started at the SMU 9 and had to settle for a field goal.
▪ Mark Fletcher Jr.’s run up the middle on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter and CharMar Brown’s run up the middle on third-and-1 midway through the fourth quarter that both got stuffed. That led to a turnover on downs, and SMU scored a game-tying field goal. Brown’s forced Miami to settle for a field goal.
“It’s always easy after you know what happened,” Dawson said. “The reality is everybody out there that has a certain opinion is allowed to have that opinion after the fact. I’m not. I have to make a decision within seconds and live with the results.”
Some of Dawson’s frustrations boiled over in the fourth quarter Saturday, as ESPN cameras caught him yelling and gesturing toward coach Mario Cristobal after the run by Brown.
Dawson on Monday clarified the situation, saying he was yelling into his headset.
“I very upset about not getting a yard. That was simply that,” Dawson said. “I was like, ‘We need to get the damn yard,’ and we both agreed. ... I would never disrespect authority. Never. I serve a higher authority. I understand hierarchy of authority. I would never disrespect authority behind closed doors or even out in the public. With that being said, if I ever did something like that, you probably would see a reaction from him. The reason he didn’t react is it wasn’t directed to him.”
But if the offense doesn’t find another level, the Hurricanes’ season could potentially continue heading in the wrong direction.
“You’ve got to move on,” Dawson said. “It’s just what football is.”
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