Under OC Shannon Dawson in the national title game, the Miami Hurricanes offense has been asleep in the first half. The Canes have put up 0 points, QB Carson Beck has gone 6-of-10 for 49 yards and they have 20 total yards rushing.
Miami fans are starting to get frustrated. In the biggest game of the year, the offense can't be found. That is not going to work against QB Fernando Mendoza and Indiana. The Hoosiers are up 10-0 at halftime against the Hurricanes.
Shannon Dawson's career
Shannon Dawson took a winding path to Miami before becoming one of the more recognizable play callers in the sport. Dawson started coaching there in 2002, then worked under Hal Mumme at Southeastern Louisiana and New Mexico State before running offenses at Millsaps and Stephen F. Austin.
He broke into the Power 5 at West Virginia in 2011, eventually becoming the Mountaineers' offensive coordinator, then did a one-year stint as Kentucky’s OC in 2015. From there, he ran the offense at Southern Miss (2016-18), joined Houston in 2019 and moved up to OC/QB coach, and Miami hired him in February 2023 to run the Hurricanes' offense and quarterbacks.
At Miami, Dawson's has built his offenses on spacing and quarterback-friendly passing concepts. But, this year's version has leaned more into what Cristobal team's usually do best: dominate through the offensive line and establish a run game. The 2024 group led the nation in points and yards per game.
This season, Miami's offense has been productive but less than last year. The Hurricanes are averaging 31.6 points per game and 409.2 yards per game, with 6,138 total yards on 1,028 plays. The balance is pretty clear: 254.6 passing yards per game and 154.6 rushing yards per game. Efficiency-wise, Miami is 46.8% on third down and 68.1% on fourth down. Miami's turnover margin also sits at plus-11 on the year.