Miami OC Shannon Dawson Explains His Run Game Philosophy
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CORAL GABLES — Don't ask No. 10 Miami about their run game. The plan is simple: they are going to beat their heads against the wall and break you up the middle.
Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson took joy in the run game against Stanford after complaints about how often the Hurricanes consistently run up the middle.
From the outside looking in, the Hurricanes don't run the ball outside. Statistically, when they do run the ball, it is 62 percent of the time up the middle. This is something Dawson isn't worried about, because he knows he has the players to do anything on offense. UM desires to bully those up front.
“I don’t understand the infatuation of how you get the ball outside with the running backs,” Dawson said. “I’m 100 percent good with the ball hitting the A or B gap. How do you want me to get outside the ball with the running back? Run option? I don’t obsess about that nearly as much as you [the media] do or our fans do.”
To his credit, Miami rushed for five touchdowns and was one yard shy of reaching 200 yards. Most of those runs came up the middle, where they smashed Stanford in the second half en route to a 42-7 victory.
Most started to criticize the run game when there was a concern about it against Louisville, which game planned against it well because it was obvious that it was predictable. Dawson knows that, but also knows that he trusts he guys up front that no matter what is called, people will move.
“When you say `running up the middle,’ when you’re in the shotgun and hand off outside zone it’s going to be a B gap or an A gap run 90 percent of the time with any team in the nation,” he said. “The majority of what we do is inside zone run game. We do run outside zone about half the time. It depends on the game, structure of the other team’s defense … We are big, physical, strong people. We move people up front.”
The Hurricanes will once again lean on their run game against the SMU Mustangs on Nov. 1 (noon, ESPN).
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.