Even in loss, Damien Martinez was the ‘hot hand’ for Miami Hurricanes in Pop-Tarts Bowl
The Miami Hurricanes’ 42-41 loss against the Iowa State Cyclones was disappointing indeed, but the Hurricanes did have bright spots including the performance of junior running back Damien Martinez.
The Hurricanes entered the game averaging 179 rushing yards per game with Martinez, in his first season at Miami after starting his career at Oregon State, sitting at 823 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the season.
Martinez finished the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday with a career-high 179 yards and another touchdown.
After a botched snap fumble on the first play from scrimmage for Miami, Martinez broke free for a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of Miami’s second drive.
Martinez’ touchdown run really set the tone for Miami’s offense as they scored touchdowns on their next three drives after that.
On the fifth drive of the game, Martinez ripped a 31-yard rush that helped set up a Cam Ward 33-yard touchdown pass to tight end Elijah Arroyo that tied the score 28-28.
“It means a lot that we were able to rush like we did today, but it would have been better with the win,” said Miami offensive lineman Jalen Rivers. “You’ve got to commend every single one of us, commend the running backs, commend everybody on the offense, really. I appreciate blocking for our running backs and blocking with my O-Line, too, and blocking for our quarterback and blocking for the receivers to get the ball.”
Martinez’ performance made him the first Hurricane running back with at least 1,000 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in a season since Mark Walton has 1,117 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2016.
Speaking of Walton, Martinez’ performance was the most rushing yards in a single game since Walton had 204 against Toledo on Sept. 23, 2017.
Late in the game Martinez was seen limping off the field and surely would have been useful on Miami’s final drive in an attempt to take the lead.
Hurricanes’ head coach Mario Cristobal said, “He was hot. He was a hot hand. I mean, from his first carry all the way to when he got banged up.”
With Ward out of the game for the second half and without Martinez in the fourth quarter, chances of a comeback were slim.
The Hurricanes lost their sixth straight bowl game and only has one victory in the last 13 post-season games dating back to 2008.
Now the Hurricanes wait to see if Martinez will return for his senior season or declare for the NFL Draft.
Regardless of his decision, Miami’s running back room appears to be in good hands with Mark Fletcher Jr. and Jordan Lyle both slated to return for the 2025 season. UM also signed four-star running back Gerald Pringle in their 2025 recruiting class.