Anyone who watched the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday between would have witnessed some unsettling things. Last year, they ate a mascot. This year, they resurrected that mascot, then ate another mascot. The mascot victims in both cases were selected by the winners and then toasted in a giant toaster. It was great, if not a little uncomfortable. But the most unsettling thing that happened on Saturday wasn’t anything related to the ritual sacrifice of bipedal breakfast items. It was end of the actual football game that doesn't feel right.
The game itself was a match up between two of the best teams to miss the actual College Football Playoffs: the #18 Iowa State Cyclones at the #15 Miami Hurricanes. Typically at this point in the season, the top players on these teams view these games as a meaningless exhibition matches and will opt out of playing in them at all if they believe they have a chance at being drafted in April. For most, it's just not worth the risk of injury if there is no chance at a national championship. So when it was announced that Miami quarterback Cam Ward would be playing in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, it marked a surprising decision for a young man who seems destined to be either the first or second quarterback drafted in the upcoming NFL draft.
Ward played great in the first half of the game. He completed 12 of his 19 pass attempts for 3 touchdowns and 190 yards. No interceptions, no fumbles, no sacks, nothing to blemish the statline but a handful of barely missed throws. That last touchdown was the 156th passing touchdown of his 5 year college career, breaking the all-time record for Division I Career Passing Touchdowns that was previously held by Case Keenum with 155. Out of all the ways you could possibly start your final college game, this was about as good of a first half as you could ask for. Miami took a 31-28 lead into halftime.
When the Hurricanes offense took the field for the first time in the second half, Cam Ward wasn't with them. He had been replaced by backup quarterback Emory Williams. Cam Ward stayed seated on the sideline bench for most of the rest of the game. Speculation was rampant. Did Ward get hurt? Was he benched? Was this in coach Mario Cristobal's plan? The answers still aren't entirely clear.
With their backup quarterback now under center, Miami struggled to move the ball through the air. Emory Williams completed 5 of 14 passes for 26 yards, no touchdowns. Thanks to a rushing touchdown from Mark Fletcher and a field goal by Andrews Borregales, Miami was able to add 10 more points, but Iowa State kept up their scoring pace from the first half and managed to take the 42-41 lead with just under one minute left to play. On that final drive, the camera kept panning to Cam Ward, standing on the sidelines, as he watched his team fail to move the ball down the field without him. With his team needing just one point and having almost one minute to get into field goal range, Cam Ward chose not to participate. Emory Williams, despite his best efforts, couldn't get Miami to the finish line after Cam Ward decided not to.
After the game, head coach Mario Cristobal was cryptic and vague when asked why Ward didn't play in the second half. "Those conversations are private" he told one reporter as he declined to disclose anything further. Cam Ward got his individual career record and then quit on his team. Whether or not it was a pre-planned quit is irrelevant, because if there was ever going to be a situation that caused a change in plans, a one-point deficit in the final minute of the final game of the season seems like the ideal time to make it happen.
To quote Todd McShay:
"I appreciate that Cam Ward, in this day and age in [College Football], played at all. But I just can't imagine starting any game with teammates, especially as a quarterback, and electing to pull myself out while my teammates are still trying to finish the job in a back-and-forth battle. I'm a realist. I know the climate. I'm not even knocking Cam here. It's just different."
