Cam Ward steps up to break Hurricanes records – and uses NIL to take care of teammates

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward has repeatedly said that his successful season – one that includes a Heisman Trophy – would be nothing without his teammates.

And he made sure to repay them for it through some deals regarding his name, image and likeness.

Ward recently provided the entire team with a pair of Bose headphones. On Wednesday, Adidas announced it had signed Ward, who will represent the company on and off the pitch in various brand campaigns.

The notoriety of his performances for the Hurricanes this season – he led Miami to a seven-game undefeated record and put the team at the center of the College Football Playoff conversation – helped build those endorsements.

“Miami has always had a lot to do with it,” Ward said. “Just because of the brand Miami has. This is the most important thing I would like to say, but I am happy that I can do things like this for my team and for myself. I wouldn’t trade this position for anything.”

However, Ward continues to demonstrate a knack for keeping his primary goal – winning football games – at the top of his priority list, even as outside obligations and commitments begin to come to the surface.

“It doesn’t bother me one bit,” Ward said. “All this has already been done. Now he’s finally getting there. My thoughts are always focused on football. I want to play football for a living and I know what I have to do on the pitch.

And he certainly lived up to expectations on the field.

Heading into Saturday’s game between the No. 6 Hurricanes (7-0, 3-0 ACC) and Florida State (1-6, 1-5 ACC), Ward is completing 68.7% of his passes (169 of 246) for 2,538 yards and 24 touchdowns and five interceptions. So far, he has thrown for at least 300 yards in all seven games, which is already a school record. He was named ACC Quarterback of the Week in five of the seven weeks that UM played.

Consider this: based on his weekly performances this season, statistically Ward’s last outing was a mid-tour outing.

All he did was complete 21 of 32 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, and the Hurricanes’ 52-45 victory over the Louisville Cardinals kept UM undefeated.

“I think we’re going to have to live on average,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal joked.

It’s been a breakout season so far for Ward, who is not only entrenched in the Heisman Trophy conversation, but is also on track to break several Hurricanes school records in a single season.

Here’s where Ward already ranks in the Hurricanes’ single-season history and what he needs to do to finish the season in first place in various categories…

▪ Passing yards: With 2,538 yards in seven games, Ward already ranks 22nd in UM history for most passing yards in a single season. He needs just 462 more yards to become the 11th Hurricanes quarterback (15th overall) with 3,000 passing yards in a season and 1,105 yards to pass Bernie Kosar in the 1984 season in which he threw for 3,642 yards.

▪ Touchdown passes: Ward’s 24 passing touchdowns are 10th in UM history. Only seven quarterbacks in Miami history have scored at least 25 touchdowns in a season: Steve Walsh (school record 29 in 1988), Ken Dorsey (28 in 2002 and 25 in 2000), Brad Kaaya (27 in 2016 and 26 in 2014), Malik Rosier (26 in 2017), Vinny Testaverde (26 in 1986), Bernie Kosar (25 in 1984) and Tyler Van Dyke (25 in 2021).

▪ Percent complete: Ward’s 68.7% completion rate is tied for the best in school history for players who have completed at least 246 pass attempts (the number Ward threw this week). The current record for players with this amount of work over a full season is 65.8% for Van Dyke in 2023.

▪ Pass attempt percentage: Ward throws touchdowns on 9.8 percent of his passes. Like his completion rate, that pace is on par with the best in school history for players who completed at least as many passes as Ward entered this week. Testaverde’s current record for a full season in 1986 is 9.4%. No one else in school history has achieved a rate higher than 7.8%.

▪ Capture percentage: Ward intercepted about 2 percent of his passes (five of 246). The same goes for Van Dyke’s 2022 season, which ranks as the 10th-lowest in school history. Kayaa holds the school record with just five interceptions on 390 pass attempts, good for an interception rate of 1.3%.

▪ Yards per pass attempt: Ward is averaging 10.3 yards per pass attempt this season, a full yard higher than Testaverde’s mark of 9.3 in 1986.

▪ Yards to complete drive: Ward’s mark of 15 yards per pass now ranks fourth in Testaverde school history for the 1985 season, behind Stephen Morris’ 15.3 in 2013, Dorsey’s 15.2 in 2002 and Gino Torretta’s 15.1 in 1991 r.