As the Miami football team prepares for the Ball State Cardinals Saturday afternoon amidst a hot streak, it has mostly been off the back of transfer quarterback Cam Ward. As the Hurricanes signal-caller in Ward continues to improve, there is no doubt that he has brought some excitement back to the program as former Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen spoke about the change he's bringing.
Ward is in the midst of playing in his fifth season in college football and first with the Miami football team after stints with Incarnate Word and Washington State. Mullen was on ESPN's SportsCenter where he said that Ward has “brought The U's swagger back” according to On3 Sports.
“Cam Ward, I think, has looked the most impressive so far this season,” Mullen said on SportsCenter Friday night. “You know what Cam Ward brings. He’s gonna run around, extend plays, make some throws, take risks. But he’s completing 75% of his passes, so those risks are really being cut back. Most importantly – he went into The Swamp and dominated the Gators – but what he has brought is The U’s swagger back.”
“You look and you’ve been watching Miami, and the talent they’ve had the last couple years, you’re saying, ‘Something’s gonna go wrong. They’re gonna mess it up.’ He’s a guy that has brought the swagger of The U back, and that’s what’s made him the most impressive so far.”
Miami football's Cam Ward on where the team is at the moment
Ward's first impressive showing was against Mullen's former team in the Gators where he threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns. He would keep up the hot streak into Week 2 against FAMU throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns as while the Hurricanes are playing exceptionally well, Ward says they are not “close to playing our best football.”
“No. We’re not even close to playing our best football,” Ward said. “If you go back and really watch the tape from the first game, I would say there was a minimum of ten bad plays just from a quarterback and receiver standpoint. And from this last game, the biggest takeaways were the fourth downs, and that was us just not doing little things. So, that’s something we have to clean up.”
Miami football's Mario Cristobal impressed with Cam Ward's tenacity
It has been an underwhelming stint so far for Miami football head coach Mario Cristobal, but he has finally found a quarterback that expects a ton from himself and is “nitpicky” with his game according to The Miami Herald.
“Having urgency with every drop that I take and ball placement,” Ward said. “Being real nitpicky with myself I would say is the biggest thing and make sure the whole offense as a team has the same type of urgency. If we have urgency, that’ll take care of a lot of stuff and we just have to have the will to keep playing. The hardest days of practice are Tuesdays and Thursdays. We know that at the end of the day, nobody cares how your body feels. Nobody cares what your mind-set is like. You’ve just got to bring it every day. That’s something we’re sticking to.”
“The exciting part about a guy like that is you find ways to challenge him,” Cristobal said on Ward, “because there is so much more that is in him and that he wants to do for the team. … Certain guys bring a spark and it catches with everybody. He’s that guy.”
The Miami football team faces the Ball State Cardinals Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the hopes of being 3-0.
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