On Saturday night, Miami’s Cam Ward led the eighth-ranked Hurricanes to a 50–15 victory over South Florida. Ward became the 13th player in NCAA history to surpass 15,000 career throwing yards. Ward also ran for 404 yards and three touchdowns.
Three touchdown throws from Ward were completed by Isaiah Horton for six yards, Xavier Restrepo for five yards, and Sam Brown for seventy-six yards. Brown’s score placed Miami (4-0) up late in the second quarter. In the third quarter, Damien Martinez scored three touchdowns on the ground, including two 1-yard runs that completed lengthy drives that put the score at 36-15.
For USF (2-2), receiver Sean Atkins caught 11 passes for 125 yards and also found quarterback Byrum Brown for a 12-yard touchdown throw.
With 2:36 left in the first half, the Bulls led 15–14. Nico Gramatica and John Cannon had made field goals of 58 and 51 yards and 45 yards, respectively, to instil hope in the 58,616 spectators that an upset was imminent.
Late in the first quarter, Ward completed a 22-yard pass to Horton to bring his career total to 15,000 yards, surpassing his pre-game need of 89 yards. Shortly after, he completed an eight-play, ninety-yard drive with a touchdown pass of six yards to Horton, giving the Hurricanes a 14–9 lead.
Dillon Gabriel of Oregon is the only other active college quarterback with more than 15,000 throwing yards; as of this Saturday, he had 15,779 yards in 53 games at three separate schools. In his 48th game of a career that started at FCS Incarnate Word, where he threw for 6,908 yards in two seasons, Ward accomplished the milestone.
The last two years, the 6-foot-2, 223-pound quarterback played for Washington State, where he passed for 6,968 yards. In Miami’s first four games, he has thrown for 1,439 yards, increasing his career total to 15,315 and making history as the first player to begin a tenure at the institution with four straight 300-yard games.
In the first quarter of the game on Saturday night, Ward completed 24 of 34 passes with one interception on a toss that slid past Restrepo’s fingertips. In the final minutes, Jordan Lyle ran a 90-yard touchdown run to round up Miami’s score.
In its most recent three games, USF, in its second season under head coach Alex Golesh, caused challenges for a team ranked in the Top 10. The Bulls attracted notice from Miami when they played close to No. 4 Alabama, losing 42–16 as a result of a breakdown in the fourth quarter.
Nonetheless, the Crimson Tide led 14–13 heading into the fourth quarter, and on Saturday night they only fell behind 22–15 after Cannon missed a 31-yard field goal that would have cut the margin to four points right before halftime.
In the previous week’s 62-0 annihilation over Ball State, Miami set a school record with 750 yards of total offence, led by five touchdown passes from quarterback Ward. With his three touchdown passes versus USF, he now has 14 for the season.
The Takeaway
Miami: The Hurricanes, who had opened the season with decisive victories over Florida (41-17), Florida A&M (56-9) and Ball State (62-0), had passed what amounted to their first genuine test. They now focus on the opening of play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
USF: After taking over a team that finished with a 1-11 record two years ago, Golesh has the Bulls, who start play in the American Athletic Conference next week, going in the right direction. The former offensive coordinator for Tennessee oversaw a six-win turnaround to finish 7-6 in 2023.
Poll implications
Miami, which has scored 209 points in its first four games, is expected to maintain its Top 10 ranking.
Up Next
Next Friday is Miami’s ACC opener against Virginia Tech.
Next Saturday, USF plays Tulane in its AAC debut.
