Miami Hurricanes QB Cam Ward sees some issues with offense on Day 1 of fall camp: "If you don’t have effort you won’t win games"
With practice 1 in the books and sky-high expectations for the offense this year, star QB transfer Cam Ward said afterward that the offense came down to earth a little bit at this very early stage.
“We didn’t have a great first day, had a good enough first day,” Ward said. “We had a lot of guys out there not full speed, I believe, but that’s something that we can get better at as we get used to the heat. New guys coming in getting acclimated. A decent first day, not where we want to be as an offense.”
Ward said the offense wasn’t particularly explosive today and “we didn’t play our brand of football the whole time, had spurts of it here and there but you have to be consistent.”
In particular he pointed to effort as an issue.
“Looking at that, effort of guys – effort is a big thing,” Ward said. “If you don’t have effort you won’t win games. That’s things we have to clean up.”
Ward, of course, has talk of a Heisman Trophy this preseason – he’s eighth in preseason odds – and he could become the first Cane QB drafted in the first four rounds dating all the way back to Craig Erickson in 1992 (Ward was considered by many to be a fourth- or fifth-round pick had he gone pro this year).
And certainly Ward has the pieces around him to succeed, with top portal additions RB Damien Martinez, WR Sam Brown and center Zach Carpenter joining three returning OL starters (Jalen Rivers, Anez Cooper, Francis Mauigoa), top returning WRs Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George, and the team finally has a healthy TE Elijah Arroyo set to join freshman H-back standout Elija Lofton.
So the goal now is to get everyone working together to be an explosive group.
Ward says in addition to effort issues he thinks the “little stuff” caught up with Miami’s offense in today’s opening practice.
“What we lacked today was the little details, we didn’t emphasize it enough,” Ward said.
With the issues at hand, how does Ward attack that as a leader?
“I think it depends on the time and moment in practice,” he said. “But you have to emphasize it whether you get on a guy now or after practice. … We’ll just get better tomorrow.”
A final thought from Ward?
He says the O line is the key to it all.
“If we aren’t good in the trenches, we won’t be a good football team,” Ward said.
*Ward said second portal window additions WR Sam Brown and RB Damien Martinez both shined today. “They had real good days,” he said. “Sam can fly down the field. Damien, the way he sees holes, gets in and out of cuts. … They were two great late additions. They’ll really win some games for us this year.” Ward also said he has “great chemistry” with Brown, calling him “a great route runner.”
*Ward said true freshman WR JoJo Trader “will get a lot of reps.”
“He’s going against the 1 cornerbacks, 2 cornerbacks, is making plays,” Ward said.
