As hype continues, Cam Ward’s focus is on ‘What’s next.’ For the Hurricanes, that’s Duke
The Miami Hurricanes went into halftime last weekend up by just 10 points against a floundering Florida State team. The Hurricanes did not play up to their standard in the first half despite having a lead through 30 minutes.
Quarterback Cam Ward made sure the team knew it.
“We’re not playing like that,” Ward said in an impassioned locker room speech. “We’ve got to pick ourselves up and whoop their ass, bro. We’re at home. We’ve got to beat their [expletive] ass. We restore order in this [expletive] state. We run this. Let’s go.”
The Hurricanes responded and won 36-14 to stay undefeated and keep their path toward spots in both the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game and 12-team College Football Playoff alive.
“Just trying to get us to play our best brand of football,” Ward said this week about the speech. “We’ve yet to do that do that this year. That was really my message with the guys. We came out, making plays on both sides of the ball. I feel like I just helped push give a little more energy into the game, and we came up with a win.”
So much talk about Ward has been on his otherworldly stats and his breakout year in his lone season with the Hurricanes that has him in the Heisman Trophy conversation.
But it’s moments like that halftime speech against Florida State that show where Ward’s focus truly lies.
“My goal is not to be a Heisman Trophy winner,” Ward said. “My goal is to win football games and play for a national championship.”
The opportunity to chase that goal continues on Saturday when the No. 5 Hurricanes (8-0, 4-0 ACC) host the Duke Blue Devils (6-2, 2-2 ACC) at Hard Rock Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for noon and the game will be televised on ABC.
Miami is listed as a 20.5-point favorite over Duke, which is led by former Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz.
But as UM has seen all season, no game in conference play is a gimme. The Hurricanes had to rally to beat Virginia Tech and Cal to start their ACC schedule, then held off a Louisville rally before beating Florida State.
“I’m just excited for the challenge to go against a good football team and now,” Ward said. “At this time of the year, you’ve got to really put on your big boy pants to play football. We’re just trying to go out there and execute.”
Ward has done that more often than not this season, and he’s a major reason this Hurricanes team is where it is at this stage of the season.
There are the on-field accolades that have been repeated ad nauseam: 68% completion rate, 2,746 passing yards, 24 touchdown passes against five interceptions, seven consecutive games with at least 300 passing yards and multiple touchdown passes (a streak that ended against FSU).
But what he does behind the scenes — his ability to rally and motivate his teammates, the knack to have an egoless drive to lead the team to its common goal — has been appreciated and respected by his teammates.
“He’s motivated,” defensive tackle Simeon Barrow Jr. said. “You see him do it on the field, so it makes you want to listen more to him.”
Added edge rusher Tyler Baron: “He’s a huge leader A guy that leads by example but also leads vocally. You definitely can respect that, and everybody just kind of corrals around it and follows that one message. I think it really puts us in a great spot to go accomplish what we want to as a team.”
After all, this is what Ward envisioned happening this season. He spurred the NFL draft for one final opportunity to make a mark in college football. Two years at FCS Incarnate Word after barely being recruited out of high school and then two more years at Washington State prepared him for this final stage of his collegiate career.
But as much as the past fuels him, he has to keep his mind on the present so he can have the ability to worry about the future.
“I really don’t have time for that,” Ward said when asked about reflecting on how he got to this point. “I don’t think we have time for that as a team. You always have to think, ‘What’s next?’”
Next is Saturday against Duke.
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