Former Miami QB Malik Rosier breaks down Cam Ward on The Lamar Thomas Show: "Really relaxed and very calm but locked in and focused"
Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward’s Week One performance has caught the attention of many across the college football world. After throwing for 385 yards and three touchdowns in Miami’s 41-17 win over the Florida Gators, Ward has been the talk of the town, and for good reason.
On Tuesday evening, former Miami quarterback Malik Rosier spoke on Ward during CaneSport’s Lamar Thomas Show, and the former Canes gunslinger believes Ward has the tools to carry the Hurricanes far this season.
“The first thing I thought was really relaxed and very calm but locked in and focused,” Rosier said. “I had a football coach who was in the military who would say you could tell when someone understands their mission and knows what to do no matter what happens. He also talks about being relaxed and also locked in because when you’re uptight and tense, you can make a bad decision.
“Same thing with the quarterback position; you want to be very calm and relaxed but still locked in and focused. I feel like at any point that was what Florida was waiting for. That moment when he panicked or for our team to panic, and you can tell because of his poise and he’s been in situations like this, it allowed him to be ready for this.”
Throughout the matchup, Ward made several impressive throws … perhaps none as outstanding as his third quarter touchdown to Miami wide receiver Jacolby George.
After being forced out of the pocket, Ward scrambled to the left and threw a pass on the money across the field, finding George in the back of the end zone.
“The pass physically is hard to make, and one thing is, I think he made it harder because he was drifting going left,” Rosier said. “To me to have the confidence to make that decision because the game is moving so fast, but to me the way he threw that ball was him knowing he’s done that a lot of times and something he does routinely in practice. To me, that looked like a routine play Cam has made consistently.”
As far as what Rosier will want to see moving forward from Miami’s new QB1, he mentioned the new helmet communication that allows coaches to speak with payers up until 15 seconds remaining on the play clock.
Rosier believes the new system may bode well for Ward and Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson throughout the year and potentially take the Canes offense to another level if used correctly.
“I’m going to be interested to see the more we get to use the helmet communication. I’m interested to see how many people snap the ball before 15 seconds,” Rosier said. “If you break the huddle real fast, it gives Dawson (time) to let Cam know if he’s seeing quarters, cover 2, or if the safety is not going to blitz. Dawson can talk to him in the headset up until 15 seconds on the play clock. I want to go look back and see how many snaps were snapped before 15 seconds. I think that’s going to be something that I’m interested to see being used.”
