Cam Ward on pace to shatter Hurricanes records — and using NIL to take care of teammates

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward has said on multiple occasions that his successful season — one that has him in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy — would be nothing without his teammates.

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

Ward recently supplied the entire team with a pair of Bose headphones. On Wednesday, Adidas announced it has signed Ward and he will represent the company on and off the field in various brand campaigns.

The exposure of his performance for the Hurricanes this season — he has led Miami to an undefeated record through seven games and has them in the thick of the College Football Playoff conversation — has helped with landing these endorsements.

“Miami always had a lot to do with it,” Ward said. “Just because of the brand that Miami has. That was the biggest thing I would say, but I’m blessed to be in this position to do stuff like this for my team and for myself. I wouldn’t trade this position for nothing.”

But Ward also continues to show a knack for keeping his main focus — winning football games — at the top of his priority list even as external obligations and commitments begin to surface.

“It doesn’t bother me one bit,” Ward said. “All that stuff has been done. It’s just finally getting out there now. My mind’s always on football. Football is what I want to make a living on with my life and I know what I have to do on the football field.”

And he’s certainly has lived up to expectations on the field.

Entering 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 percent of his passes (169 for 246) for 2,538 yards and 24 touchdowns against five interceptions. He has thrown for at least 300 yards in all seven games so far, which is already a school record. He has been named the ACC Quarterback of the Week in five of seven weeks in which UM has played.

Consider this: When going by the standards of how he has performed on a weekly basis this season, Ward’s most recent performance statistically was a middle-of-the-road outing.

All he did was complete 21 of 32 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in the Hurricanes’ 52-45 road win over the Louisville Cardinals to keep UM undefeated.

“I guess we’ll have to live with average,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal quipped.

It’s been a revolutionary season so far for Ward, who is not only entrenched in the Heisman Trophy conversation but is also on pace to shatter several Hurricanes single-season school records in the process.

Here’s where Ward already ranks in Hurricanes single-season history and what he has to do to finish the season in the top spot in various categories...

▪ Passing yards: At 2,538 yards through seven games, Ward is already 22nd all-time in UM history for most passing yards in a single season. He needs just 462 more yards to become the 11th Hurricanes quarterback (15th total instance) with 3,000 passing yards in a season and 1,105 yards to supplant Bernie Kosar’s 1984 season in which he threw for 3,642 yards.

▪ Passing touchdowns: Ward’s 24 passing touchdowns are tied for the 10th most in UM history. Only seven quarterbacks in Miami history have thrown for at least 25 touchdowns in a season: Steve Walsh (a 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).

▪ Completion percentage: Ward’s 68.7-percent completion rate is on pace to be the best in school history for players who have thrown at least 246 pass attempts (the number Ward has thrown entering this week). The current record through a full season for players with that volume of work is 65.8 percent by Van Dyke in 2023.

▪ Passing touchdown percentage: Ward is throwing touchdowns on 9.8 percent of his pass attempts. Like his completion rate, that is on pace to be the best in school history for players who have thrown at least as many passes Ward has thrown entering this week. The current record through a full season is 9.4 percent by Testaverde in 1986. No one else in school history has a rate higher than 7.8 percent.

▪ Interception percentage: Ward has thrown interceptions on about 2 percent of his pass attempts (five of 246). That’s tied with Van Dyke’s 2022 season for the 10th-lowest in school history. Kayaa has the school record, throwing just five interceptions on 390 pass attempts — a 1.3-percent intercaption rate.

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

▪ Yards per pass completion: Ward’s 15 yards per pass completion currently ranks tied with Testaverde’s 1985 season for fourth in school history, behind Stephen Morris’ 15.3 in 2013, Dorsey’s 15.2 in 2002 and Gino Torretta’s 15.1 in 1991.