The Hurricanes have a true headliner in sophomore Malachi Toney, but offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson keeps making one thing clear: Miami does not want its attack built around feeding him over and over.
Toney has already stacked up plenty of production. He is a preseason AP All-American, he owns several program records, and he set Miami’s single-game receiving yards mark against Stanford in Week 1. Through two games, he leads the Hurricanes with 16 catches for 330 yards and four touchdowns.
Still, Dawson wants the ball moving to more than one name.
“We don’t want to be a throw-the-ball-to-Mali offense,” Dawson said. “He’s going to get his.
We understand that. But we want the ball to be spread around, and a lot of times that is dictated by the defense.”
That distribution has shown up early. Cooper Barkate is second on the team with six receptions, and Josh Moore ranks second in receiving yards with 91.
Barkate has found the end zone in each of Miami’s first two games, while sophomore Daylyn Upshaw scored in the opener against Stanford. Moore added his first touchdown of the season against Florida A&M.
The rotation widened even more against the Rattlers, when transfer Vandrevius Jacobs and freshmen Vance Spafford and Somourian Wingo each caught their first touchdown passes of the season.
“It’s really good to see other people making plays,” Dawson said, “because that’s when you’re much harder to stop on offense, when there’s a number of people making plays and the defense can’t focus on one particular guy.”
Dawson said Miami does script some plays for a single target, often on screen passes that get quarterback Darian Mensah the ball quickly. Most of the time, though, Mensah is working through his reads and following the progression of the play.
“My coach calls the plays, and I try to go out and execute as best as possible,” Mensah said. “We’re in the progression-based on offense, and I really just go to where the defense is telling me to go, so it doesn’t really matter.
Obviously, Mali runs great routes and he’s open a lot, so he gets the ball. But it’s not like he’s the first read on this play.
… I’m just going out there and trying to execute the play as best as I can.”
Even with that approach, Toney’s presence changes everything for Miami. Pro Football Focus lists him as the nation’s top receiver, with a 92.9 receiving grade, the best mark among all receivers.
“We run a system that I call a pass play, and it could go to a lot of different spots,” Dawson said. “And it’s truly a progression offense.
… Mali just seems to get open a lot, which, when you get open a lot, you typically get the ball. And obviously, the quarterback looks for players that are high-level players.
That’s part of playing quarterback, (knowing) who your players are. You’ve got to get the playmakers the ball.
He understands that. But the ball is getting spread around in a nice way, and I do pay attention to that and I do appreciate that.”
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One date stands out right away: Wake Forest is set for Friday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, giving Miami another primetime spot on a night stage. Cristobal has already talked about the teams preparation and practice schedule, a reminder that even with the calendar still well ahead, the Hurricanes are thinking about how to manage the work required for a schedule that does not look forgiving from the start. [Read more 🡒]