The offseason has become a dangerous hype machine that relies too much on numbers, without taking into account team chemistry, fit and continuity. We become obsessed with transfers and automatically believe that performance at previous schools will translate quickly.
Often it doesn't work out that way, and often it takes patience.
But the opposite has been true for Miami and quarterback Cam Ward. No player in the nation is more valuable than him. The senior quarterback led the Hurricanes to their second four-game winning streak since 2018. Miami has dominated in a weak conference where preseason favorites like Clemson, Florida State and North Carolina State have struggled. Ward, a former Washington State star, threw for 1,439 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 72.4% of his passes as Miami outscored opponents 209-41. A transfer class that also includes running back Damien Martinez (Oregon State) and defensive linemen Tyler Barron (Tennessee) and Elijah Alston (Marshall) has been paying off quickly.
Think about it. Miami is already four wins shy of its most wins in a season since 2017, the last time they won double digits. There are plenty of winnable games on the schedule, and the biggest test remaining is a trip to unbeaten Louisville on Oct. 19. Otherwise, Miami will be favored in their remaining games.
Ward is the reason for a seemingly overnight turnaround for a team that went 12-13 over the past two seasons under coach Mario Cristobal and lost six of its final nine games last year. Ward came into the team with plenty of experience (48 collegiate games) and a desire to make a name for himself on a big-name team. He quickly emerged, becoming the school's first quarterback to pass for 300 yards in four consecutive games to start his career.
Coming off Saturday's 50-15 win over South Florida, Ward became the 13th college football player to reach 15,000 career passing yards. Coaches and teammates have raved about his maturity, calling him an “alpha leader.” He's raising the bar for the Hurricanes. After dominating in-state rival Florida in Week 1, he pointed out ways Miami can get even better. He credited the team's linemen for controlling the line of scrimmage.
“He continues to prove he's a dynamic player and a game-changer for us,” Cristobal said after the latest win.
In retrospect, it was the wrong Pac-12 quarterback and the wrong ACC school that were praised in the offseason and seen as the favorites to win the conference. After all, more attention should have been paid to Ward and Miami instead of DJ Uiagalelei and Florida State. Ward is the Heisman Trophy frontrunner and Miami is the team to beat in the ACC. Neither could have painted a better picture for the first month of this year-long marriage.
In Greg Schiano's first season at the helm at Rutgers, it took six years for the Scarlet Knights to have an 11-win breakout season that elevated them to the seventh-ranked team in the country at one point, and that pace may be even quicker in his second season in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Fifth-year coach Schiano led Rutgers to a 3-0 start with a 26-23 win over Virginia Tech, a game that was one-sided for much of the afternoon. The Scarlet Knights have star running back Kyle Monangai and standout linebacker Tyreeme Powell just returning from injury. They also have a relatively easy schedule that doesn't include the Big Ten's big three: Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan. With home games against Washington, Wisconsin and UCLA and a trip to Nebraska, it wouldn't be surprising to see Rutgers remain unbeaten into late October. This team is certainly looking to win nine games, something they haven't done since 2012.
Saturday's game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is just the beginning. It's the first big showdown in the SEC. This powerhouse conference features six of the top seven teams in the country. Two of those teams will be in action next weekend, when No. 4 Alabama hosts No. 2 Georgia in a rematch of the SEC Championship Game. Georgia visits No. 1 Texas on Oct. 19. That same Saturday, Alabama plays No. 6 Tennessee, which beat Oklahoma, on Saturday, then plays No. 7 Missouri a week later. In November, No. 5 Ole Miss hosts Georgia, and Tennessee visits Georgia. What a tough league.
