As Miami Hurricanes move on to Pop-Tarts Bowl, a budding question: Will Cam Ward play?
With the Miami Hurricanes missing out on the 12-team College Football Playoff and instead finishing their season in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, have we seen the last of Cam Ward in a Hurricanes jersey?
Maybe. Maybe not.
In a FaceTime call posted on social media Sunday night by Deion Sanders Jr., Ward indicated that he plans to playing in UM’s bowl game against Iowa State on Dec. 28.
“I’ve got to get ready for the Pop-Tarts Bowl,” Ward said on that call, later adding “you’re gonna see the best thing that’s ever happened in the Pop-Tarts Bowl — the Canes, baby.”
However, Ward’s father Calvin Ward told CaneSport, the Hurricanes-based site for recruiting outlet on3, that Ward hasn’t made a decision and that it’s a “50-50” chance that Ward does play in the game.
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal did not directly answer if any players have opted out of the bowl game when asked on a conference call Sunday but did say he feels they “have a group that wants to play, that is excited to play.
“We’ve really worked hard at culture around here, and it has improved tremendously over the last few years,” Cristobal said, adding “certainly if there was any news I would get that to you guys, but I feel really strongly about that opportunity. I think it’s important that our guys, anyone playing and closing out the season, understands the importance of that next step for a program like ours, and I think our guys do. I’m looking forward to get on the field with our players.”
Ward, who transferred to Miami after spending his first two college football seasons at FCS level Incarnate Word and then two more at Washington State, had a record-setting year in his lone campaign with the Hurricanes. He set the single-season school records for passing yards (4,123) and touchdowns (36). His 67.4 percent completion rate stands to be the UM single-season and career record as well (Tyler Van Dyke holds both of those marks — 63.7 percent for his career, 65.8 percent in the 2023 season).
But Ward made it known that his goals for his lone season with the Hurricanes were teamcentric, not personal. He wanted to win championships, not set individual records.
The Hurricanes fell short of that. They went 10-2, including losing their regular-season finale 42-38 to Syracuse after building a 21-0 lead to just miss the cut of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Ward, who orchestrated the nation’s top offense in terms of yards per game (538.3), yards per play (7.60) and points per game (44.2), plead his case after the Syracuse loss about why the Hurricanes should still be in the field.
“If they knew what was up, they’d put us in the playoffs,” Ward said. “We are that team. It’s not in our hands anymore, but go look at the stats. We are that team. So you know, every winner’s gotta lose someday. If we get the chance to go in the playoff, we’re gonna make the most of it. We don’t care if we’re a top-eight seed or we’re the 12th seed. In the playoffs, it’s anybody’s chance. We just hope we can get a shot.”
They didn’t get that shot.
Instead, Miami will play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl and hope to turn its fortune of bowl game struggles around. The Hurricanes have not won a bowl game since their 2016 win against West Virginia in the Russell Athletic Bowl, which was also held in Orlando. Dating to 2005, Miami is 2-12 in bowl games.
If Ward does indeed play on Dec. 28, he made one final declaration about how the game will unfold.
“This the last game … We’re going to throw that ball,” Ward said on the FaceTime call. “You best believe in my last game, I’m going to throw that damn ball.”
More honors for Ward, UM teammates
Ward on Monday was named the AP’s ACC offensive player of the year and newcomer of the year.
The quarterback was also one of eight players named to the AP’s All-ACC teams.
Along with Ward, wide receiver Xavier Restrepo, kicker Andres Borregales, defensive tackle Simeon Barrow and safety Mishael Powell earned first-team honors. Offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa, linebacker Francisco Mauigoa and tight end Elijah Arroyo landed on the AP’s second team.
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 11:51 AM.
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