The offseason has become a dangerous hype machine that relies heavily on numbers. That doesn’t take into account chemistry, fit and continuity. We are crazy about the transfer and automatically believe that if he has performed at his former school it will translate immediately.
It often doesn’t work that way. Often, patience is necessary.
But in the case of Miami and quarterback Cam Ward, the opposite has been true. There isn’t a more valuable player in the entire state, the senior quarterback has led the Hurricanes to their second 4-0 start since 2018. In a soft conference that has seen preseason contenders like Clemson, Florida State and NC State struggle, Miami has been dominant. Ward, a former Washington State star, has thrown for 1,439 yards, 14 touchdowns and completed 72.4 percent of his passes as Miami has outscored the opposition 209-41. A transfer class that also includes Damien Martinez (Oregon State) and defensive linemen Tyler Baron (Tennessee) and Elijah Alston (Marshall) has been produced immediately.
Consider this: Miami is four wins away from its most wins in a single season since 2017, finally reaching double figures. The schedule is littered with winnable games, the biggest test is still the visit to undefeated Louisville on October 19. Miami is likely to be favored in other ways.
It seems no more than Ward how the program that combined 12-13 two seasons ago under Mario Cristobal, and closed last year losing six of the last nine games, has apparently been flipped overnight. Ward comes with extensive experience – he has now played in 48 college games – and a desire to make a name for himself at a big-name program. He quickly made his mark, becoming the first quarterback to start his school career with four consecutive 300-yard games.
In Saturday’s 50-15 rout of South Florida, Ward became the 13th college football player to throw for 15,000 yards in a career. Coaches and teammates have spoken of his maturity, calling him an “alpha leader.” He has raised the bar for the Hurricanes. After a dominant Week 1 win over in-state rival Florida, they showed how Miami can get better. He has deferred credit to the team’s linemen who have controlled the line of scrimmage.
“He continues to prove that he is dynamic and a game-changer for us,” Cristobal said after his latest win.
Behind him, the wrong Pac-12 quarterback and the wrong ACC school were lauded in the offseason, considered favorites in the conference. Turns out, we should be paying more attention to Ward and Miami than DJ Uiagalelei and Florida State. Ward is the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy and Miami is the team to beat in the ACC. No one could have written a better first month of marriage this year.
It took six years for Greg Schiano in the first Go-play at Rutgers to breakout 11-win season in which the Scarlet Knight rose to the seventh-ranked team in the country at one point. It might happen faster the second time in Piscataway, NJ
In his fifth year, Schiano has Rutgers off to a 3-0 start after a 26-23 win at Virginia Tech, a one-sided victory for most of the afternoon. The Scarlet Knights have a star running back in Kyle Mongai, just got standout linebacker Tyreem Powell back from injury and have a relatively soft schedule that doesn’t include the Big Ten big three Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan. It’s not crazy to see Rutgers remain undefeated in late October, with Washington, Wisconsin and UCLA at home sandwiched around a trip to Nebraska. The program actually went on a nine-game winning streak, which hasn’t happened since 2012.
Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. is just the beginning. First major game in the SEC. The powerhouse conference has six of the top seven ranked teams in the country. The two of them will meet next weekend when No. 4 Alabama hosts No. 2 Georgia in the SEC championship game rematch. Georgia follows that up with a visit to No. 1 Texas on October 19. The same, Alabama meets No. 6 Tennessee, which passed Oklahoma on Friday, and a week later takes No. 7 Missouri. In November, No. 5 Ole Miss hosts Georgia and Tennessee visits Georgia. What a challenge from the league.
