GAINESVILLE — Twice on his first drive as a Miami Hurricane, Cam Ward did not see anyone open and decided to scramble for first downs.
Both times, the fifth-year veteran transfer reached the first-down line and strolled out of bounds to avoid being hit, ambling casually over the sideline like he was sauntering down Gainesville’s University Avenue.
Ward performed exceptionally, leading Miami to a season-opening win over Florida in a packed Swamp. The new Hurricane said after the win that he never felt more prepared for a game.
“Every team has a spark plug. Every game has a spark plug,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “He and a couple of those other guys — but him particularly — was the guy today.”
Ward ended the game with 385 passing yards and a 74 percent completion percentage. He had three touchdowns and one interception. Pro Football Focus gave Ward a 90.9 offensive grade for his performance, which was 10th in the nation for Week 1 through Sunday.
“He’s ridiculous,” said wide receiver Xavier Restrepo, who led UM in receiving yards Saturday and scored a touchdown. “He’s amazing. He’s a ballplayer. We’re super lucky to have him.”
Ward took the blame for the one blemish on his record on Saturday: the first-quarter interception.
“That was on me,” Ward said. “That was bad pocket movement by myself.”
One of the game’s highlights came in the third quarter on a third-and-11 play in the red zone. Ward escaped pressure from Florida’s defense, rolled to his left, squared his body and threw a dart to wide receiver Jacolby George in the back of the end zone. The score put Miami up by four touchdowns and effectively put the game out of reach.
“Really just a good pay by the O-line and Jacolby,” Ward said. “Me (being able) to extend the play, that’s something that feel like is one of my best traits. But I feel like what I got better at since last year is staying in the pocket more. Jacolby George, he’s one of the best receivers in the country. He showed that today. He’s one of the best receivers in the scramble drill.”
Incredible TD from Cam Ward to Jacolby George and the U is mocking the gator chomp pic.twitter.com/FVBUI5mSPR
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) August 31, 2024
Although the Hurricanes dominated the second half and were clearly on their way to a win, Ward stayed in the game until the final few plays. For the last two plays of the game, Cristobal substituted backup Reese Poffenbarger in for Ward.
“(I wanted to stay in) just so we can happily take that victory knee, run the ball out,” Ward said. “Just shows the hard work that we did since January, summer and fall camp. Him taking us out was a smart move and his decision. I’m not going to knock him for it. But you know coach Cristobal, he’s one of the best coaches out here in the country. He allows us to be ourselves and he really wants what’s best for each person on the team and also want what’s best for the team.”
Ward’s performance did not just prove to outsiders that he was capable of leading the Hurricanes’ offense in a big game. Ward said he proved to his younger self, who wanted to play in the SEC but wound up playing for FCS Incarnate Word out of high school, that he was capable of playing at this level.
“I had to prove it to myself, to my 17, 18-year-old self,” Ward said. “I wanted to be an SEC quarterback in high school. I am grateful to say that God put me in this position to play against an SEC team. It didn’t work out how I wanted early on, but He’s got a different plan for me. Just the things I had to go through, personally, recruiting-wise, led me to this moment.”
But Week 1 is over now, and the Hurricanes are onto their next opponent: Florida A&M in the home opener on Saturday evening.
“We’re only enjoying it for a short of amount of time,” Ward said. “I think that’s the biggest thing we’ve got to do to handle success. Really just being able to focus on the next thing, not necessarily looking to the past and the future but continuing to take it step-by-step.”