CORAL GABLES — Shannon Dawson won’t be surprised to hear some recommendations from his players soon.
The second-year Miami offensive coordinator has been on social media, and he sees how a lot of his players are spending their summer: spending time on PlayStation or Xbox, playing College Football 25 — the first new college football video game in over a decade. So he would not be surprised to get some play-calling advice from Hurricanes who have spent hours gaming.
“Not yet, but I fully expect that’s probably going to be the case,” Dawson said. “I don’t play video games because I’m not good at them. But I have a Twitter account, and I watch the deals. We have a lot of players that are making a lot of plays out there on Twitter.”
The new video game has been hugely successful, taking over the college football internet since it first became available on July 16. Players have posted videos of themselves playing and of other people playing with their virtual likeness. For the first time ever, the game features players with their actual names.
Even some players who were not in the release-day rosters, like new transfer wide receiver Sam Brown Jr., freshman receiver Ny Carr, freshman linebacker Adarius Hayes and freshman defensive lineman Justin Scott, said they hope to be in the game when rosters are updated.
“I’m trying to get in,” Brown said. “I play every day, even though I’m not in the game.”
Running back Damien Martinez, wide receiver Xavier Restrepo and defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. were the highest-rated Hurricanes in the game’s initial roster release. But other players got shout-outs from their teammates for being fun to play with in the game. Tight end Elijah Arroyo was credited for frequently getting open in the game. Running back Chris Johnson Jr., who was a track star in high school, is a favorite to use because of his highly rated speed.
“Put CJ in, put him on a little option route,” fellow running back Chris Wheatley-Humphrey said. “He’s got 99 speed. You can’t beat that.”
There is no unanimous choice for which UM player was the best at the game. Arroyo got mentioned several times, as did offensive lineman Anez Cooper. Cornerback Jadais Richard and linebacker Raul “Popo” Aguirre Jr. also got plaudits for their skills with a controller.
“I’ve been hearing Coop is (the best),” defensive lineman Simeon Barrow Jr. said. “But look, I don’t know. I know he’s better than me.”
Ohio State (and running back Quinshon Judkins, whose spin move has become a common subject of viral videos about the game) and Texas were mentioned as teams some players like playing with. But naturally, many of the players on the Hurricanes enjoy playing with their own team.
“It’s cool to see us in the game,” tight end Riley Williams said. “You get to play as Cam Ward, you get to throw a pass to Xavier Restrepo or Jacolby George. It’s just like, ‘Wow.’ This is something you dream of as a little kid. I’m actually in a video game that a lot of people play.”
