Miami quarterback Cam Ward spent some time in offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson’s office earlier this week, going over the Hurricanes’ passing game and how things have worked through three games.
They talked about plenty. They didn't talk about 15,000 yards — a milestone Ward is on the brink of reaching.
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“I'd be surprised if he even knew, to be honest with you,” Dawson said.
Whether Ward is aware or not, he's on the verge of joining a very small club. The NCAA says only 12 players at any of its levels — FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III or any combination thereof — have passed for 15,000 yards in a career. Ward is 89 yards shy of that mark, and he could get there as early as Saturday when the eighth-ranked Hurricanes (3-0) visit South Florida (2-1).
“Offensively, the quarterback is making it really go,” USF coach Alex Golesh said on Tuesday of Ward. “He's really special. I mean, man, can make every throw on the field. Moves around in the pocket extremely well. Really confident. You watch all three games and it's a really, really confident young man. Without knowing him, it looks like he has incredible command of the offense.”
The numbers back that up.
Ward is the first Miami quarterback to throw for at least 300 yards in each of his first three games as a Hurricane. He's up to 1,035 so far this season and that's with taking most of the second half off in each of Miami's last two games. The only FBS quarterback with more yards so far this season is Mississippi's Jaxson Dart, who has passed for 1,172.
Ward's 11 touchdown passes so far lead the nation and he's firmly among the frontrunners in the way-too-early Heisman Trophy prognostications.
“The guy is restless," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “If it doesn’t have much to do with us winning and getting better, I don’t think he has any interest in it, frankly. And it’s the right mentality. It’s the right thing to do. He’s got this window to play college football, and he came to Miami for a lot of reasons. One of them is winning — and proving also that he can help a program be a winner.”
So far, so good. Very good, in fact.
Miami has posted wins by scores of 41-17 (Florida), 56-9 (Florida A&M) and 62-0 (Ball State). The 159 points through three games is a school record, and last weekend’s 750 yards of offense against Ball State was another record.
Ward already has 24 completions of 20 yards or more this season — in just 89 attempts. And he's still demanding more, both from himself and his team.
“We have to be more consistent,” Ward said. “We can't have lulls on one play. Every play has to be a statement.”
He's made plenty of statements through these first three games, with the Hurricanes looking very much like Atlantic Coast Conference favorites.
The only active quarterback with more than 15,000 passing yards is Oregon's Dillon Gabriel, whose career total is up to 15,779 in 53 games so far at three different schools; he spent parts of three seasons at UCF and the last two years at Oklahoma.
Ward has played in 47 games after spending his first two years at FCS member Incarnate Word (throwing for 6,908 yards there) and the last two years at Washington State (throwing for 6,968 yards there). The 1,035 so far at Miami has pushed that career total to 14,911.
At their current paces, both Gabriel and Ward could end this season with more passing yards than almost anyone in college football history. They're still a long way from Houston's Case Keenum — he's recognized as the NCAA's all-time leader with 19,217 yards — but realistically could catch Hawaii's Timmy Chang, whose 17,072 yards is No. 2 on the NCAA list.
“He’s got blinders on, and he thinks about the next play and thinks about the next game when that one’s over with," Dawson said. "He's one of those guys that are resilient. He tends not to care about those things.”
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