Breaking down Cam Ward’s dominant performance vs Florida
Quarterback Cam Ward had his welcome to Miami moment this weekend in his first career start with the Hurricanes after joining the team this offseason from the transfer portal. Helping lead Miami to a dominant 41-17 win over Florida on Saturday on the road in a hostile environment.
Ward’s sensational performance took the nation by storm and gave Miami fans hope for what could be a breakout season for the program. A performance that CaneSport‘s Gary Ferman recently discussed at the On3 Roundtable.
“I mean wow,” Ferman said. “You take a kid that was a .500 quarterback at Washington State, who obviously had the ability to do what he did on Saturday, and then you put him on a better team with a better plan. And Cam Ward from day one is getting everything out of what he wanted by coming to Miami through the transfer portal. He was just unlike anything we’ve ever seen at Miami.”
Miami has a strong lineage of strong quarterback play, but not in recent history, regarded by many as the position that’s held the Hurricanes back from regaining national success. But after Ward threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns against Florida in dazzling fashion, some believe that he could be one to take Miami to new heights in this era.
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“We’ve had great quarterbacks at this program, Bernie Kosar, Jim Kelly, Vinny Testaverde, Gino Torretta , Steve Walsh, you could go on and on and on with the history of Miami greatness in college football at the level of quarterback play that the Hurricanes have benefited from,” Ferman explained. “But we’ve never seen anything like what we saw Saturday.”
Ward’s stat line alone doesn’t do his performance justice on Saturday, showing an elite level of composure on the road as he directed Florida’s defense. Completing passes to 10 different pass catchers and doing so with a variety of different throws. Using different arm angles and showing an impressive command of Miami’s offense.
“Just the way he did it, the confidence, the swagger, the variety of ways that he delivers the football to his receivers. The way that he just stands there and is so calm, cool, and collected,” Ferman said. “I mean there were times, I didn’t have a stopwatch on, it had to be 10-15 seconds at times when he’s just standing there and he’s just looking around, seeing what everybody’s doing, taking it all in, and then snapping the ball and executing the play for perfection.”
If Saturday was just the beginning of what Ward will be this season, there’s no question it could be a historic year for the Hurricanes and one that could land the transfer QB in New York during December.
“His mental game was phenomenal, his physical game was phenomenal, and we’re seeing what Cam Ward can be with a better-surrounding cast. And if Miami can sustain this level of play and hopefully even improve it, because I think they’re going to need to improve it, Cam Ward’s going to be Heisman Trophy candidate,” Ferman concluded.