CaneSport Roundtable: Will Cam Ward break Miami’s passing records?
No Miami Hurricanes quarterback has thrown 30 or more touchdown passes in a season, with the record holder Steve Walsh at 29 in 1988 followed by Ken Dorsey in 2002 with 28. The passing yards record for a single season at Miami? That’s Bernie Kosar’s 3,642 yards in 1984 (with 25 TDs) followed by Brad Kaaya’s 3,532 yards (and 27 TDs) in 2016.
Which brings us to this season, and the very real possibility that Miami QB Cam Ward breaks one or both of those records.
Heck, last year at Washington State in 12 games (with no bowl berth) he threw for 3,732 yards with 25 TDs. The prior year he passed for 3,231 yards with 23 TDs. In 2021 at Incarnate Word he broke records with 47 TD passes and 4,648 yards.
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In the national picture Ward has +2200 odds to win the 2024 Heisman Trophy, the 10th best in the nation; no Miami player has won the Heisman since Gino Torretta in 1992.
The hype surrounding him is very real, and he looked the part throughout the spring.
Today the CaneSport staff shares its take on whether Ward will indeed break the Miami passing TDs and/or passing yards records:
GARY FERMAN
Cam Ward is being hyped more than any new Miami Hurricane player in a very long time. Time is going to tell if he is able to live up to the grandiose expectations. But I am not sure that breaking Miami’s passing records is fair to include on that list. The biggest reason I could give would be the fact that Miami picked up Oregon State running back Damien Martinez in the transfer portal. Martinez is going to command touches and make the offense less reliant on throwing the ball every down. And we already know the affinity the head coach has for being able to physically overmatch opponents and pound the football. So I don’t see Ward being the overused new toy. He will get plenty of opportunities to shine, no question. But I still think Miami will seek offensive balance. Dawson’s 2021 offense at Houston ran the ball 53% of the time. The other thing I would point out is that Miami does not have a proven No. 1 Alpha receiver. There is no Michael Irvin, no Andre Johnson. That is a big deal when you are talking about a quarterback being able to set records. Now here is the counter argument to my argument. Ward threw for 3,732 yards at Washington State last year, which would be a Miami record if he is able to replicate it. But I’m going to stick by my guns here and predict he comes up just short.
MATT SHODELL
While Ward’s talent is unquestioned, assuming a 13-game season he’d have to average 2.3 passing touchdowns per game. While I’d love to sit here and make fans happy and say of course he’ll break the passing TDs record, I just think in a 50/50 run-pass offense in which Mario Cristobal loves to pound the ball near the goal line it’s going to be a bit tough to hit that number. Ward also is likely to run in 5-10 scores himself, by the way, given his scrambling ability. So I can see in the neighborhood of 25 passing TDs in 13 games with the team running in more scores than it passes for. Now, with that said, I think the more attainable Miami record for him is the all-time passing yards mark. In a 13-game season he’d have to average 281 passing yards per game to set it. I think Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George will both be pushing 1,000-yard seasons (Restrepo had that last year and George was close), and when you include the ability of the other receivers like Isaiah Horton, Sam Brown and Ray Ray Joseph plus tight ends Elijah Arroyo and Elija Lofton … and the expectation that the running backs will have a significant role in the passing game … well, it seems pretty easy to hit that 281 yards per game number in my opinion.
IZUBEE CHARLES
When writing this, I went back and forth for some time, and I’m split down the middle with this one. While the easy answer would have been to say ‘Yes! Both records will be shattered by Ward!.’ I don’t think that will be the case (I hope I’m wrong). Looking back at Ward’s 2023 campaign at Washington State, he threw for 3,732 yards, which would have broken the Hurricanes record. What you also have to look at is the Cougars run game, which was almost nonexistent last season, with their leading back rushing for 321 yards and the team rushing for a total of 1,020 yards. That simply won’t be the case in Miami next season with Damien Martinez in the backfield alongside Ward. On the other hand, I do think Ward will have an impressive year throwing to guys like Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George, Sam Brown and Isaiah Horton out wide, and tight ends Elijah Arroyo, Riley Williams and Elija Lofton. With that being said, I do think he does break Miami’s record for most passing touchdowns in a season but comes up short on the passing yards record.
STEPHEN WAGNER
First off, I’m not debating or questioning Ward’s talent level. I was vaguely familiar with his game at the FCS level and watched him elevate a very bad roster at Washington State, and I truly believe he was the best player available in the December portal period (I liked him more than Will Howard). But there’s no way he breaks Miami’s passing records, because passing attack and quarterback play have never been part of the offensive identity for Cristobal’s teams. Cristobal wants to lean on his offensive line as much as he can and has typically used quarterbacks in a much more complementary role. Even Justin Herbert at Oregon never threw for more than 3,471 yards, and he was unanimously agreed upon as an elite NFL draft prospect. Kosar, meanwhile, threw for more than 3,600 yards in a time where passing offenses were far less sophisticated and quarterback-friendly and largely relied on rushing attacks and defense to win games. If this offense was closer to the air raid system he ran at UIW and Washington State, I’d probably say Ward would throw for 4000 yards and 35 touchdowns. But given the investment Miami has made in its offensive line and run game, I don’t think Ward will have the number of drop backs needed to break Kosar or Walsh’s records.
The post CaneSport Roundtable: Will Cam Ward break Miami’s passing records? appeared first on On3.
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