How Cam Ward got ‘dialed up’ to lead Miami Hurricanes’ improbable comeback vs Cal

Cam Ward knew the mistake he had made as soon as the ball left his hand. The Miami Hurricanes’ star quarterback was rolling to his right trying to avoid pressure from the Cal Golden Bears defense when he threw across his body trying to make a play near the middle of the field.

But the ball floated a little too much. It didn’t appear to have a clear target, with three Hurricanes and three Golden Bears in the vicinity of the throw. It landed in the arms of Cal’s Nohl Williams, who returned the interception 40 yards for a touchdown to extend the Golden Bears’ lead to 18 early in the third quarter on their way to eventually leading by as many as 25 points midway through the quarter on Saturday night.

At that point, the Hurricanes seemed all but done. The road to the upset defeat seemed all but inevitable. Perfect season done. A hit to their College Football Playoff chances taken.

Except...

“When 1 has the ball in his hand,” wide receiver Xavier Restrepo said, referring to Ward’s jersey number, “the game’s never over.”

Sure enough, not long after his biggest mistake of the Hurricanes’ season, Ward went on to lead his most impressive masterclass performance of the campaign.

Ward led the Hurricanes’ offense to touchdown drives on each of their final four possessions — after not finding the end zone before that since midway through the first quarter — to key an improbable 39-38 win over the Cal Golden Bears and keep Miami’s record at an umblemished 6-0 (2-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play) and move them up two spots in the AP poll to No. 6. It’s the second-largest come-from-behind victory in school history, behind only a 31-28 win over Boston College on Oct. 16, 1999, when the Hurricanes erased a 28-point deficit.

“Just keep playing,” said Ward, who completed 35 of 53 passes for a season-best 437 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown. “You can’t win and can’t come back from 25 trying to get it in one drive. Just take it play by play and have belief. When you’ve got the right guys on the team like we do, you can do some some good stuff.”

Ward, who leads the country in passing yards (2,219) and passing touchdowns (20) while completing 69.2 percent of his passes, has shown both nerves of steel and a flair for the dramatics through his first six games in a Hurricanes uniform after transferring to Miami from Washington State. It has led Miami to just its third 6-0 start in the past 20 seasons, the others being 2017 and 2013, and has them in the thick of the College Football Playoff discussion despite have to rally from double-digit deficits in both of their conference games to this point.

Saturday was just the latest example — and it served as a microcosm for how this entire Hurricanes team operates. Things aren’t always going to be perfect, but when it matters the most, he finds a way to rise to the occasion.

Ward struggled mightily early against Cal (3-2, 0-2 ACC). He completed 12 of 18 passes in the first half but only had 109 passing yards and was sacked three times. He failed to connect on some deep passes — sometimes due to inaccuracy, other times because of drops. Couple that with defensive lapses that led to the Golden Bears ripping off big plays, and Miami went into halftime down 21-10.

And then came the third-quarter interception that could have been the backbreaker. Ward is aggressive, a “gunslinger” as he calls himself. He’s going to take risks. This one backfired.

“Live by the sword, die by the sword,” Ward said. “I just threw it too high. I knew as soon as it left my hand that I floated it.”

While Ward’s confidence is rarely, if ever, shaken, his teammates gave him words of encouragement on the sideline.

“We went up to him,” Restrepo said, “and told him, ‘Bro, we already know you’re gonna lead us to a comeback.’”

After that, Ward finished the game completing 23 of his final 34 passes after the interception for 328 yards and two touchdowns while running for a third.

He led touchdown drives drives of 75, 75, 70 and 92 yards while the defense held Cal to just a field goal in that span.

A 5-yard touchdown pass from Ward to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds left on the clock put Miami ahead for good. That final drive also included a 77-yard catch-and-run from Restrepo to get Miami into the red zone, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that forced them back 15 yards with less than a minute left to play, and a 22-yard catch-and-run from Damien Martinez on third and 20 to set up the touchdown.

Overall, Ward completed 4 of 5 for 109 yards on the go-ahead touchdown drive.

“Cam is a dog. He is a dude,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “In his eyes, he was 1,000 percent convinced he was going to get it done. People will say ‘Ah you just say that.’ No. All week long, he knew that this game was going to be a challenge because of what they would do coverage wise. He had this look in his eyes that he was going to rip it. When he threw that pick that they ran back, it got dialed up and turned up even more. I have said it a million times, but I have complete and utter faith in that guy and everything he represents and stands for.”

That includes taking ownership for his mistakes and wanting to be the one to rectify them. Even if that means having to rally his team from a 25-point deficit. It’s an opportunity he relished, a chance to show hit mettle.

“I would say so,” Ward said, “especially if you put yourself in that situation. At the end of the day, guys are playing for everything. I’m just grateful to be in this position. Grateful to to get a win out of here.”

That said, Ward would also be perfectly content with smoother games down the road. The euphoria of the comeback wins are nice — and the team isn’t going to diminish any victory they get — but they don’t want to be living on the edge every week either.

They squeaked out a win last week against Virginia Tech and did the same against Cal on Saturday.

The Hurricanes have a bye week now before they prepare for the second half of their schedule.

“We have to lock in,” Ward said. “It’s good to get a win. We’re not going to complain. An ugly win is better than a good loss.”