FINAL: No. 8 Miami Hurricanes 42, Wake Forest Demon Deacons 14

It wasn’t pretty, just like so many of their games this season.

But in the end, the No. 8 Miami Hurricanes found a way to beat Wake Forest 42-14 on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.

And in the end, the Hurricanes’ hopes of making the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game and hopes of getting a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff remain alive going into the final week of the season.

With the win, Miami (10-1, 6-1 ACC) now just needs to win its final regular-season game against Syracuse next Saturday to secure a spot in the conference title game on Dec. 7 in Charlotte. The winner of that game is assured a spot in the CFP field.

Read the full story here.

And now this should be comfortably in Miami’s hands

Miami forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, recovered and then Jordan Lyle ran for an 18-yard touchdown.

Just like that, it’s 35-14 Miami with 6:24 left to play.

Hurricanes with some wiggle room

After a scoreless third quarter, the Hurricanes extended their lead with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Cam Ward. Mark Fletcher Jr. had a big 30-yard run to start the drive and set things up.

The two-point conversion attempt is good.

It’s 28-14 Miami over Wake Forest with 7:58 left to play.

Defense with strong start to second half

The Hurricanes defense opened the second half with a three-and-out. A needed stop to set the tone.

Miami caps first-half scoring with another field goal

The Hurricanes get a 25-yard field goal from Andres Borregales with 4 seconds left in the first half.

It’s 20-14 Miami over Wake Forest going into the break.

Cam Ward makes more UM history

With a 13-yard pass to Damien Martinez to open Miami’s final drive of the second half, Cam Ward has set the Hurricanes’ record for most passing yards in a single season. That completion put him at 3,643 passing yards, breaking Bernie Kosar’s record from the 1984 season (3,642).

Cam Ward interception

The Hurricanes marched down to the Wake 27 ... but Cam Ward threw his seventh interception of the season.

Wake Forest, down 17-14, has the ball back at its 26 with three minutes left in the first half. The Demon Deacons will also get the ball back to start the second half.

Wake Forest’ kickoff return touchdown

Aaaaaaaaaaaand Wake Forest’s Demond Claiborne immediately responds with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

It’s the second kickoff return touchdown Miami has allowed this year (also Louisville).

Miami’s lead is back down to three, 17-14, with 7:35 left in the second quarter.

Meesh Powell pick-six

Safety Mishael “Meesh” Powell added 77-yard pick-six. It was Powell’s career-high fifth interception of the season and his second career pick-six (also Oct. 21, 2023 against Arizona State while he was at Washington).

It’s 17-7 Miami over Wake Forest, 7:50 left in the second quarter.

Costly penalty turns seven points into three for Miami

Cam Ward hits Xavier Restrepo for a 7-yard touchdown, but Jacolby George was called for offensive pass interference.

A third and goal from the 7 then became third and goal from the 22. After an incompletion, UM settled for a 40-yard field goal attempt, which Andres Borregales nailed it.

10-7 Miami, 1:57 left in the first quarter.

The field goal was the 70th of Borregales’ Hurricanes career, making him one of three to hit that many in Hurricanes history (also 77 by Michael Badgley and 73 by Carlos Huerta).

Wake Forest responds

The UM defense is still UM defense-ing. Wake Forest went 75 yards in 7 plays on its opening drive, capped by a 36-yard TD pass from Hank Bachmeier to a wide-open Micah Mays Jr.

It’s 7-7, 5:31 left in the first quarter.

Canes turn methodical opening drive into seven points

Cam Ward capped the Hurricanes’ opening drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jacolby George. Miami is up 7-0 early on Wake Forest, with 8:32 left in the first.

It was a methodical, lengthy first drive for the Hurricanes — 13 plays to cover 84 yards over 6:22.

Ward went 6/6 for 59 yards on the drive. George caught three of the passes for 28 yards.

Injury updates

Cornerback Damari Broown, who hasn’t played since sustaining an injury in the team’s season-opener against the Florida Gators on Aug. 31, was a full participant in warmups and is slated to return for the No. 8 Miami Hurricanes when they play their final home game on Saturday against Wake Forest.

Defensive end Elijah Alston and offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez, meanwhile, were both in street clothes and will once again be sidelined.

Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal on Monday said all three players have been practicing and would be “game-time decisions.”

Read the full story here.

Season recap

▪ Miami 41, Florida 17: Cam Ward threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns, Mark Fletcher added two scores on the ground, the defense held its own despite one of its top players exiting the game early with injury, and the No. 19 Hurricanes made quick work of the Florida Gators with a season-opening win at Gainesville’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to kick off a critical Year 3 under Mario Cristobal.

▪ Miami 56, Florida A&M 9: That one went as expected. Cam Ward threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth before turning the game over to the second-string offense midway through the third quarter. The defense held the Rattlers to just three field goals.

▪ Miami 62, Ball State 0: The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes waited through nearly two-and-a-half hours of lightning delays before throttling Ball State 62-0.

It’s the most points Miami has scored in a shutout of a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent in program history.

▪ Miami 50, USF Bulls 15: Fueled by three Damien Martinez rushing touchdowns, including two in the second half, and another stellar performance from quarterback Cam Ward, No. 8 Miami pulled away from USF in the second half and left Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium with a 50-15 road win.

▪ Miami 38, Virginia Tech 34: The No. 7 Hurricanes overcame a pair of 10-point second-half deficits to hold off Virginia Tech at Hard Rock Stadium to improve to 5-0 and 1-0 in ACC play.

Cam Ward led touchdown drives of 89, 70 and 57 yards in the second half, and Miami survived a final-play Hail Mary attempt from Virgnia Tech that was ultimately ruled incomplete after a lengthy review.

▪ Miami 39, Cal 38: The No. 8 Hurricanes erased a 25-point second-half deficit for a 39-38 win over the Cal Golden Bears on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 52,428 at California Memorial Stadium on the day ESPN’s College GameDay came to Berkeley for the first-time in the show’s history.

Miami trailed Cal 35-10 with 8:06 left in the third quarter before it ripped off four consecutive touchdown drives while holding the Golden Bears to just a field goal to secure the win.

▪ Miami 52, Louisville 45: The Miami Hurricanes — once again — had to hold their breath and wait to see if a late call would fall in their favor.

Cam Ward was hit as he threw in the fourth quarter Saturday with Miami holding a one-score lead over the Louisville Cardinals. The ball wobbled out of his hand, a Louisville defender charged for it and ran the length of the field for what was initially ruled a game-tying fumble return for a touchdown.

After the review was completed, the Hurricanes were able to exhale. Forward pass. Incomplete pass. Miami maintains possession and the lead.

The sixth-ranked Hurricanes scored two plays later on a Damien Martinez 30-yard rushing touchdown to pull away for a 52-45 win over Louisville on Saturday at L&N Financial Credit Union Stadium to keep their perfect record intact.

▪ Miami 36, Florida State 14: The No. 6 Miami Hurricanes had to pivot from their customary ways of winning football games on Saturday.

But they still found a way to keep their perfect season alive with a 36-14 win over Florida State Seminoles at Hard Rock Stadium for their first win in the rivalry since the 2020 season.

Quarterback Cam Ward had a rare subpar outing, completing 22 of 34 passes for 208 yards and no touchdowns while being sacked four times — although he did catch a 7-yard touchdown pass from Elijah Arroyo in the fourth quarter to put Miami up 29-7.

It was Ward’s first time this season not throwing for at least 300 yards and the first time without multiple touchdown passes, let alone going without finding the end zone at all.

Instead, Miami (8-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) relied on the run game to build its lead in the first half and its kicking game and defense to pull away from the Seminoles (1-7, 1-6 ACC).

▪ Miami 53, Duke 31: The Hurricanes (9-0, 5-0 ACC) overcame an 11-point third-quarter deficit in their eventual route of the Blue Devils.

Cam Ward threw for five touchdowns, three of which went to Xavier Restrepo.

▪ Georgia Tech 28, Miami 23: After playing with fire all season, the Hurricanes couldn’t put together their fourth comeback win of ACC play after falling behind by double digits in the second half to the Yellow Jackets.

The defense gave up 271 rushing yards and the offense sputtered early.

▪ Miami vs. Wake Forest (today)

▪ Miami at Syracuse (Nov. 30, 3:30 p.m.)

Pregame Hurricanes reading

Need to catch up before kickoff? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past few days.

▪ How Mario Cristobal is keeping Miami Hurricanes focused on task at hand after first loss

▪ Restrepo and Borregales, Hurricanes from the start, ready for emotional ‘last one in the Rock’

▪ ‘I wouldn’t have changed my journey’: UM’s Cam McCormick reflects on college football career

▪ As he nears return, how Hurricanes’ Damari Brown has handled being sidelined by injury

▪ Ten people inside the University of Miami football program who must step it up