Cam Ward Opts-Out of Fun in a Spectacular Pop-Tarts Bowl

The Pop-Tarts Bowl produced jaw-dropping fun. It was only the second iteration of the game at Camping World Stadium and I don’t know how we made it this long in life without it.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl is a Gonzo version of bowl season. They take every facet of this silly sport and exaggerate it to a degree that we didn’t know was possible. It’s football meets the Farrelly Brothers inside of a Hunter S. Thompson drug-induced nightmare.

The mascot shenanigans on the sidelines are the 21st-century edition of The Three Stooges. That’s just a small part of the equation. Cole Cubelic was dressed as a Pop-Tart for a serious pregame sideline report, then demolished three like he was Joey Chestnut staring down a dog on Independence Day.

I’ve never been more proud of him pic.twitter.com/0qYmX8Yb9G

— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) December 29, 2024

Things did get a little weird. (You’re probably thinking to yourself, “We haven’t gotten to the weird part yet?”) The Pop-Tart mascots are cannibals. They want to be eaten. It’s kind of funny, but you have to do some mental gymnastics to get to that point.

The tradition is that the mascot will be put into a toaster and then eaten by the winning team. Well, they resurrected the strawberry Pop-Tart that was eaten a year ago. He stood over the stadium like he was Michael Jackson performing at the Super Bowl. Later on, he appeared in the upper deck, looking on as the Iowa State Cyclones ate his fellow Pop-Tart.

The corpse of Frosted Strawberry watches the Pop-Tarts Bowl trophy ceremony/the sacrifice of Frosted Cinnamon Roll from an empty upper deck pic.twitter.com/RgBRfcsOpF

— Steve Helwick (@s_helwick) December 29, 2024

The Pop-Tarts Bowl Didn’t Get the Cam Ward Finish It Deserved

In the middle of The Pop-Tarts Bowl chaos, two 10-win teams were duking it out in a wildly entertaining shootout. Thanks to Cam Ward, we were robbed of an all-time postseason finish.

Many were surprised to see Ward suit up at all for the Canes, but he bucked a trend and decided to play one more game with his team. The future first-round draft pick looked incredible, completing 12-19 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.

Miami led 31-28 when Ward said, “I’m good.” After all, he had surpassed Case Keenum to set a new Division I passing touchdown record. Why should he play another half of football?

Miami led by as many as 10 in the second half thanks to an impressive ground game. If you’ve watched Miami play football this year, you knew they were going to blow that lead and they did just that. Iowa State scored on fourth and goal with just under a minute to play. Instead of plugging Ward into the game to win it, Emory Williams stayed in at quarterback. He was just 2-6 in the second half. As you might suspect, the Canes didn’t make it past midfield when Williams threw the game-clinching interception.

Bowl opt-outs take the fun out of the postseason, yet we had come to accept it as a norm. Cam Ward somehow found a new low. Either play or don’t play. This half-ass effort was infinitely worse.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl makes the most fun out of Bowl Season. It’s hard to believe that someone could opt out of that fun, but that’s exactly what Cam Ward did in the second half.