Everything Miami OC Shannon Dawson Said Ahead of the Cotton Bowl Against Ohio State

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes ended the season as one of the hottest offenses in the country, but against Texas A&M, typhoon-like weather slowed down the offensive attack and forced the Canes to adapt on the fly.

Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson saw what his offense was able to do against the Aggies in the first round of the College Football Playoff, but knows there is another level they could go.

In the Cotton Bowl against No. 2 Ohio State, it could be another night in the office where he will have to adjust to the chess match against defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.

Ahead of the game, Dawson spoke with the media in preparation for the Cotton Bowl as well as reflecting on the first-round matchup against the Aggies.

On How Much the Win Impacted the Texas A&M Game...

Definitely impacted things. Impacted pass game, impacted kicking game. It was swirling. It was probably one of the windiest days I've had in my career. Can probably think of maybe one or two other ones, maybe when we went to Lubbock one time, or West Virginia, it was very windy. Yeah, the wind was swirling. You've got to deal with it. It did affect the game in some ways. And you know, we did some things well and some things we obviously could have done better. And we found some stuff in the running game that gave us a slight edge, which was good.

On Adjusting Play Calling Against the Aggies...

I don't know if it changed the way I called the game. It was kind of a weird flow game. They had the ball first and ate up a little bit of clock, but they weren't getting any points. We had trouble on third down in the first half. That was probably more so of me calling the game like I did. We were in some third down situations. Their third down defense is really good, and we didn't execute. And the difference between a first half and second half is we stayed out of those situations. So we ran the ball better the second half. But I was a lot more conscious on second down of staying out of third and mediums.

So the first half, you balance, like the shot to JoJo (Joshisa Trader), we hit that and that changes things. But also, we didn't hit it and it put us into a third and eight. So you got to balance the throwing the ball down the field, taking chances on a windy day, not hitting them, and coming back and playing third and eight against the number one in third-down defense in the nation. So that probably changed my mindset through the course of the game more than any condition, as I was trying to stay out of third downs. And the second half, we did. And we moved the ball better the second half. We averaged nine yards a play the second half. So yeah, we stayed out of third downs.

With the iPads and everything, it's pretty common. You have some lapse time between drives. You watch it, you discuss it, you talk about the next drive. Yeah, it's easier today that it's ever been because of the iPads and the technology. And you kind of get a feel for the flow of the game too. At halftime, I had to remind everybody it's 0-0. Would have been the same if it was 30-30. It's a tie game. So not much was going on. I say not much -- a lot was going on, but it was not a lot of points being scored, not any points being scored. So it was just a weird game in that sense.

It was more frustrating, the opportunities we got that our defense played lights out and gave us some short fields and we got nothing. We got no points out of it. We didn't score touchdowns. And then we would miss the field goal. So we would come away with nothing. So we had about three times down there that we came away with nothing. And a lot of that -- I could have done better play calling, looking back on it. There's some things that I can critique myself on. And you got to give credit to them. They played good defense. So it was one of those games. You had to keep fighting. And the best thing that we did was not panic and stay the course.

On in game Adjustments...

Yeah, no doubt. I felt as the game went on and Carson's [Beck] awesome at communicating. He's been in a lot of games. And he felt like running right at them was a good way to attack them the second half as me and him talked. We're pushing them around in the middle. So conversations with Coach [Alex] Mirabal, and then obviously me and Carson would talk. And ultimately, running right at them was the right way to go. And we were pushing them around in the middle, that was pretty obvious. So I just needed to be patient and stick with that, which is not always easy to do. But it was the right thing to do.

On Listening to Carson Beck in the game...

Yeah, well, he's right. I think having a level head in those situations is crucial. You know, it's easy to get impatient and start trying to throw the ball around the yard in a day where it wasn't working that way. So ultimately, what we had going for us that really they didn't is we could run the football. They couldn't. So they had to try to throw it, which turned into a couple of interceptions and some erratic passes. So you know, us being able to lean on the run the second half was really the tale of the tape in the game.

Awesome. And he sees things very clearly typically when he comes off the field. He says something and you watch it on the iPad, I mean, he's typically spot-on. And so there's things that I don't see in the course of calling it that I watch the iPad, and he's typically pretty spot on in those situations. And everybody keeps a level head and a very calm demeanor, which is key in those type of games when it's real tight. And look, one mistake can cost you a game. So I thought his input was awesome.

On Ohio State's Defense

Look, it's got to be a little bit of both. Ultimately, we have to do what we do well. And we try to use some emotions and stuff to hide it and not do it out of the same sets every week. But ultimately, you know, the play that bailed us out in this game was a day-one play and install. And so, I mean, you never know what's going to be the deal that gives you the advantage.
So it's going to be different every week. Now going against talented defense like Ohio State, they don't have any weaknesses. And so ultimately, we have to do what we do good, but we also have to figure out where the soft spots in their defense are and try to gain some advantages there.

On James Brockermeyer...

Well, he's extremely bright football player. Very, very smart. In our offense, and probably I would argue any offense, the center needs to be the quarterback of the group. He makes a lot of calls. And he's on point in protections, and he sets it. The quarterback can override it, and their communication is crucial. But Brock and Carson's [Beck] relationship is unique. And you need it to be that way to be good on offense. I will say overall, I thought our O-line was really the reason the game tilted. They were very physical. And our receivers, even though we weren't sitting there throwing it all over the yard, they were unbelievable blocking safeties and nickels. They were the reason those plays were hitting for more than 10 to 15. It was going for 20, 30, 40. Everybody bought in to the second half, and really the whole game. But everybody bought in. Hey, it's going to be a physical game and we need everybody to be physical, not just the O-lineman, because we're going to have to run the ball and kind of grind it out a little bit. So everybody bought in. And I thought the receivers played a heck of a game, even though you look at the stat sheet and you wouldn't think that. But we talk about that a lot with those guys, affecting the game without the ball in your hand. And I don't think there was a better example of that than the second half of at that game. They affected the game without the ball in their hand in a way that I've probably never seen.

On Malachi Toney being limited against the Aggies...

Yeah, we try to find unique ways to get him involved and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And you know, we probably looking back on it, I mean, I could have done some things in the pass game that probably would have loosened him up a little bit, and I have to do a better job of that. But ultimately, people are going to focus on him, and other guys have to step up and make plays. But we got continue just being creative and getting him the ball in a lot of different ways, which we did. We kind of threw the kitchen sink at him in a way, and they played good defense. It's just the way it goes.

On Mark Fletcher Jr's Big Day...

Yeah, I just think he was different the last couple weeks in the look he had in his eyes. We talked about it a little bit in the offensive meeting that I just felt like -- I thought leading up to this game, I just felt like he had a different -- not that he's ever approached things badly, but I just thought that he had a different edge to him this week. And in my mind, you know, I thought he was going to be extremely hard to tackle. Just because you could see it in his eyes. And he played like that. And he played like a man possessed. And we needed it. And we needed his leadership in a lot of ways on the sideline and his calmness. And I don't think you can say enough about Mark as a human being and as a player. What a leader, just special person.

On Limiting the Pre-Snap Penalties...

Yeah, I thought we handled it well. We didn't have any pre-snap penalties. We had one delay of game and it was my fault on third down. I froze. And it was too late in the play clock to freeze. And that thing started quick. I thought I got the play in quick. And when I got it in and I looked up, I was like, uh-oh, we're not going to be able to get the next play called. So that wasn't on Carson [Beck] or anything other than just me, that was my fault. But I don't think there was another one beside delay of game. So I thought we handled the crowd well. We handled the chaos well. A lot of older guys, experienced guys out there. And we've harped on that this year, because we've had a couple games where we didn't do so well in that area. So we've fixed that. And that's part of our job as coaches is to figure out where the problems are and fix them. So ultimately, that was good to see in that game because that was a tough environment. They have an elite environment there. And going in there and winning at this time of year is not easy. So kids handled it well and was very proud of that.

On Carson Beck limiting his passes because of the wind...

I don't know. We didn't run a lot of plays in the game, so it's hard to sit there and talk about what you didn't do or what you should have done. There's always -- I always watch the film and criticize myself first. And is there things I would do different? There is. The one play I go back to -- and I think it was the end of the first quarter or maybe start of the second where we threw the shot to JoJo (Joshia Trader) and we had him. And he missed it. Like they hit theirs; we missed ours. Does that make sense? Really the pass game overall was about the same.

And I know they had more yards than we did, but really, they hit that long one and we missed ours. And then that probably would have loosened it up a little bit, and you probably would have took more shots if you hit that. But then you miss it and get into a third and eight and you almost get stripped. Does that put a seed in my head? Probably so. I'm like okay, next time I'm in second and eight, I might want to try get it into a third and two rather than take a shot. Does that make sense?

So yeah, all that stuff, when I talk about the flow of the game, that's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to auto-correct myself as I go through the game and stay out of those situations that are maybe catastrophic situations. And I knew their third down defense was good. And that was really the difference in the second half and first half. Obviously, we ran the ball better but the emphasis on running the ball had a lot to do with staying out of those situations. And we didn't.

On if Malachi Toney could have throw a touchdown to Carson Beck on the trick play...

No, because the reason it wasn't, and you know, what's funny about that play
is Carson [Beck] has -- he'll put a little seed in his head about, hey, I'm going to be wide open out here. But that play, because of the flow of the play, the left side of the protection is not the strongest. So if he were to stop and try to throw back there, that could have caught up to him. So I think the decision Mali (Malachi Toney) made there was a good one. I thought we were going to get [Elija] Lofton -- because I thought that guy would fit, much like the Pitt game but in a different way. I thought he would fit, and we would get him. We ran with him, the edge guy did.

Mali threw a good ball, and you could see in the middle of it, the wind took and moved it about 10 yards to the left. And that's the thing about deep balls in very windy conditions, even the throw he made to JoJo (Joshia Trader), typically Carson is a very good deep ball thrower. And deep balls are always catchable. That's one thing I'll say about him, deep balls are typically always catchable. And he threw that one, and even him, he came to the sideline and said, when I let it go, I was like, that's a touchdown. And he said it was halfway there, and it just went swoop and just moved over. That's just one of the deals about the elements in those games that you have to deal with.

On Girard Pringle Jr's limited snaps...

Yeah, no doubt. Look, it was one of those games where you never know how games are going to lay themselves out. And it was -- we weren't running a lot of plays. I think at halftime, we had 26 or 30 plays or whatever it was. So there wasn't just a lot of plays to go around. And I never felt -- I felt like Mark [Fletcher] was for sure the hot hand and the guy we needed in that game. And I didn't want to sacrifice drives because I knew points were precious. So sticking with Mark was crucial. And it was the right thing to do in that game. Nothing against anybody else in the room, but when you have a guy that's playing that well, then you have to
ride him.

On Carson Beck's Leadership...

I mean, his calmness sticks out. He never gets rattled in any way, shape, or form. Because he's been in big games. He's been in atmospheres. So nothing is too big for him. And his football IQ and the quickness he unfolds things is really elite. He sees things, and he can spit it back to you and in a way that really is unique. And the way he watches film and the things he says in film review, he's seen basically everything. So ultimately, what I will give him a lot of credit for is the stuff he sees in the run game, you know -- most quarterbacks I've had in the past are, you know, handed and hope the next play is a pass play-type deal. But the things he sees in the run game and the stuff he gives us is really unique.