What can Miami learn from their near loss against Virginia Tech?

Diversify the offense

As great as Cam Ward has been through five games (300 yards + 3 TDs in each game), Shannon Dawson cannot continue relying only on him to lead the Hurricanes to the promised land this year. Miami's running back room is supposed to be one of the best in the country, as is their offensive line.

There's no reason the running game should be struggling as much as it is. Against the Hokies, Miami totaled 165 yards on the ground. 35 percent of those yards (57) came from Cam Ward using his legs on broken passing plays. Another 15 percent (24) came on one end-around from Chris Johnson Jr. Damien Martinez finished with 60 yards on 14 carries, equaling 4.3 yards per carry.

In five games against lesser opposition, Martinez is averaging just 4.6 yards per carry after averaging 6.1 yards per carry in both 2022 and 2023. What can Miami do to get him back on track? The run game as a whole has been underwhelming.

A lot of the Hurricanes' attempts to move the ball on the ground have been up the middle, where they are often stopped for a short gain. It would be great to see Shannon Dawson attempt to get Martinez and the other running backs out in space, as we saw on Johnson Jr.'s 24-yard run against the Hokies.