BERKELEY, Calif. — The Hurricanes were left for dead.
Trailing by three scores in the fourth quarter and by as much as 35-10 earlier in the game, it looked like their undefeated season was due to end.
Tell that to Cam Ward.
The Miami transfer orchestrated three touchdown drives, putting the No. 8 Hurricanes (6-0, 2-0 ACC) a hair ahead of Cal (3-2, 0-2 ACC) with a 39-38 win at California Memorial Stadium.
Ward tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Horton to cut the deficit to two touchdowns. He scrambled for a 24-yard touchdown to make it a one-score game. He found Elijah Arroyo for a 5-yard touchdown with 26 seconds left to put Miami ahead, giving the Hurricanes the victory. Linebacker Francisco Mauigoa sealed the game with a fourth-down interception.
Cal hosted ESPN’s College GameDay, amping the crowd for Saturday’s game. Miami appeared to dampen Cal’s excitement early, as Mark Fletcher Jr. put the Hurricanes on a board with a 3-yard rushing touchdown, which opened the scoring Saturday night.
After a three-and-out on its first drive, Cal struck back with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Fernando Mendoza — a Miami Columbus High grad whose father was a high-school teammate of Mario Cristobal’s — to tight end Jack Endries.
The Golden Bears swung the momentum in their favor after stopping the Hurricanes on a fourth-and-2 play where a pass to Elijah Arroyo came up short. On Cal’s first play of the subsequent drive, Mendoza hit Trond Grizzel for a 51-yard pass that put the Bears at the Miami 5. Two plays later, star running back Jaydn Ott got around the edge of Miami’s defense and put Cal up 14-7 early in the second quarter. The Golden Bers never surrendered the lead from there.
After Andy Borregales kicked a 46-yard field goal to cut Cal’s lead to four, the Golden Bears jumped out to a double-digit lead. Cal had fourth and short in its own territory. Miami sold out to stop the run, but Mendoza swung a pass to Ott for a 66-yard touchdown to put the Bears ahead 21-10 with eight minutes left in the first half.
The Hurricanes struggled to get any momentum, with several ill-timed drops and a long Cam Ward sack sabotaging drives. Ward’s first drive of the second half went even more poorly: After the Hurricanes forced a three-and-out on the Bears’ first drive, Ward escaped the pocket and floated a pick-six to Cal’s Nohl Williams. The interception and score put the Hurricanes in an 18-point hole early in the second half.
After Cal escaped a third-and-15 deep in its own territory with a 56-yard pass, backup quarterback Chandler Rogers scored on a 7-yard run to put the Golden Bears up 35-10 and effectively deliver the knockout punch.
Miami got another score on the board late in the third quarter when Damien Martinez punched in a 1-yard touchdown, and Ward found Isaiah Horton for a fourth-quarter touchdown. It looked like it might be too little and too late, but then the Hurricanes mounted a comeback for the ages.
Five takeaways
1. UM defense gives up big plays
Missed tackles were Miami’s defensive issue against Virginia Tech last week. This week, it was explosive plays.
The Hurricanes entered the game 29th in the nation with opponents notching 15 plays of 20 yards or more. Cal did not get the memo, as the Bears had passing plays of 51, 57 and 66 yards on the first half, scoring on two of them. They had another 56-yard pass play in the third quarter.
2. Cam Ward regresses — but still gets by
Ward has been excellent for the Hurricanes in their first five games. Game 6 was his worst by far.
Ward finished the game 35 of 53 for 437 yards and two touchdowns. Some of his incompletions came on deep pass attempts when other players were open for shorter passes.
His wide receivers did not help him, as they dropped multiple catchable balls. But Ward’s worst decision of the night sapped any momentum Miami had to start the second half, throwing across his body and floating a pick-six to a Bears defender.
But like last week against Virginia Tech, the veteran quarterback stepped up when it mattered most. He led the Hurricanes on late scoring drives to cut their deficit and get Miami back into the game. He orchestrated the comeback and improbably led Miami to its sixth straight win.
3. Hurricane’s pass-defense issues crop up
Miami’s defense excelled at stopping the run on Saturday, holding Cal to X rushing yards. Midway through the third quarter, the Bears had just 6 rushing yards.
But Cal lit Miami’s secondary up. Mendoza completed 11 of 18 passes for 285 yards, hitting big plays repeatedly and bailing his team out of several poor field positions.
4. Bain returns
Miami got one of its best players back from injury for Saturday’s game. Defensive lineman Rueben Bain, who played just three plays in UM’s season opener, returned for this week’s game.
Bain had a tackle for loss on Miami’s first defensive play.
5. Restrepo moves up all-time list
Hurricanes standout Xavier Restrepo continued his climb up Miami’s all-time receiving yard list.
The fifth-year senior finished the game with 163 yards, He moved past Travis Benjamin, Mike Harley Jr., Leonard Hankerson and Stacy Coley to climb into fifth place in UM history.
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