Three areas where the Miami Hurricanes want to see the offense improve in 2024

The Miami Hurricanes are officially in their second week of fall camp, with the season opener against the Florida Gators on Aug. 31 creeping closer and closer.

Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson is certainly one grateful for the fact that there are still more than three weeks until the games begin.

“We’ll make a few plays and then we’ll go backwards,” Dawson said Tuesday. “It’s not anywhere close to where it needs to be. Our communication from play to play, the urgency that we need — we need to be way more consistent in what we’re doing. We’re doing some good things, but it’s too up and down. We’ve got to clean up the stuff that kills drives.”

The Hurricanes are entering their second season with Dawson as offensive coordinator. Last year, Miami’s offense was 31st nationally in yards per game (431.2) and tied for 39th in points per game (31.5).

The group is expected to take a step forward this year, especially after Miami’s additions of quarterback Cam Ward, running back Damien Martinez and wide receiver Sam Brown in the transfer portal to go along with several key returning players — wide receivers Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George, running back Mark Fletcher and three starters on the offensive line (Jalen Rivers, Francis Mauigoa and Anez Cooper) among them.

Exactly what areas, beyond general consistency, is Dawson looking for the group to make strides? Here are three that he mentioned.

Limiting turnovers

When plays that “kill drives” are mentioned, turnovers are a key talking point in that regard.

The Hurricanes turned the ball over 22 times last season, with 14 interceptions and eight lost fumbles. That tied with Clemson and Wake Forest for the second-most in the Atlantic Coast Conference — only Syracuse, with 24, had more. In fact, only 15 of 132 Football Bowl Subdivision schools had more turnovers than Miami last season.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball better,” Dawson said, “and really if we take care of the ball better, everything else will fall into place.”

Explosive plays

One stat in particular Dawson is prioritizing is yards per play. The Hurricanes averaged 6.4 yards per play last season, which ranked 24th nationally.

“We can be in that top 10 or top five,” Dawson said.

For context, Oklahoma was 10th in yards per play last season at 6.77 yards per play. Liberty was fifth at 7.18 yards per play.

As for specifics on big plays, here’s where the Hurricanes ranked last season in long plays from scrimmage...

▪ Plays of 10-plus yards: 194 (tied for 40th nationally)

▪ Plays of 20-plus yards: 68 (tied for 35th nationally)

▪ Plays of 30-plus yards: 25 (tied for 70th nationally)

▪ Plays of 40-plus yards: 14 (tied for 57th nationally)

Dawson said the focus in practice, however, isn’t the end result. Rather, his priority is on the setup that makes these type of plays possible.

“I look at it simply as ‘Hey, we’ve gotta make more plays down the field,’” Dawson said. “That deal with the 20-, 30-, 40-[yard gains], a lot of that stuff is what it is. It happens in a game, but I do think the things you can get better at — like catching the ball and getting vertical quicker — that turns into explosive plays. .... Stressing the fact that playing fast, getting up the field and making that guy miss is who we need to be. If you want to be more explosive on offense, the plays are what the are. The touches are what they are. Once you get the ball in the hand, make a play. Have great ball security, get up the field and make the first guy miss.”

Red zone offense

And then there’s the matter of finishing drives, especially when the Hurricanes get into the red zone.

Miami in 2023 scored on 44 of 52 trips to the red zone, an 84.62-percent success rate that ranked tied for 66th nationally and was eighth in the ACC. However, they only scored touchdowns on 30 of those 52 trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, a 57.69-percent clip that ranked tied with Louisiana-Lafayette for 90th nationally and was 10th in the conference.

“Some of the turnover stuff happened in the red zone,” Dawson said, “so that’s double bad. That’ll take points off the board.”