ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Cam Ward missed out on the College Football Playoff, the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and the Heisman Trophy.
He’s not missing one more chance to play for Miami.
Ward and the 15th-ranked Hurricanes (10-2) take on 18th-ranked Iowa State (10-3) in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday, both teams looking for an 11th victory — something Iowa State has never done and something Miami hasn’t done since 2003.
And for the most part, both teams expect their full rosters to play Saturday. It’s not a meaningless game to either side.
“I think both programs are built on values and principles and team — and the reality is team is all the way until the end of the season, not till halfway through the season,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “I know we are very fortunate that we’ve got a great senior class that has stood for the right thing for multiple years in our football program. I think when your seniors believe in those values, it really trickles down from the top down, and so we are really fortunate to have great leadership.”
Ward has thrown for 4,123 yards and 36 touchdowns this season, both of them Miami school records. But Miami lost two of its final three games, missing out on the ACC title game and CFP field, and Ward finished fourth in the Heisman voting.
It seemed like Ward had nothing more to accomplish. The modern trend would have been for him to opt out of the bowl game and begin preparing for the NFL draft. Ward is bucking that trend.
“Modern-day conventional wisdom sometimes clashes with principles and values of what is right,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “Nowadays in college football, we are compensated at all levels — coaches, players, administrators — and to do a job, you must finish the job. I think Cam’s DNA, his upbringing, everything that he is made of and stands for is the right kind of stuff, the stuff you want your team made of. … He understands the importance of finishing.”
The Cyclones were in line for a playoff spot as well but lost in the Big 12 championship game to No. 10 Arizona State.
Miami went 4-0 against fellow Florida schools this season, 3-0 against FBS-level opponents from the Sunshine State. And a win on Saturday would give the Hurricanes 11 wins this season, which would be one more than rivals Florida and Florida State had combined.
“Over the last three years, there’s been a ton of progress,” Cristobal said. “First time Miami has been undefeated at home for a long, long time. First or second 10-win season in maybe 20 years. State champions for the first time in a long time. A lot of things accomplished and a lot more to accomplish.”
The Cyclones have two of the nation’s best receivers, a third-team AP All-American in Jayden Higgins (1,183 yards) and Jaylin Noel (1,077 yards).
That made them the first pair of Iowa State receivers with 1,000 yards each in a season and the only pair to hit that mark nationally this season.
To put that in some perspective: Iowa State has had only one other receiving duo both reach 800 yards in a season before. That would be last year — when Higgins and Noel did it.
While the headlines will center on the high-powered offenses and passing attacks from these two schools and teams, their defenses will be under the spotlight, too.
With both the Hurricanes (359.3 pass yards per game) and the Cyclones (254.6 pass yards per game), among the top passing teams in their respective conferences, their pass defenses will have a lot of pressure to perform. But they are not so easy to crack either.
Iowa State led the Big 12 giving up 161.7 pass yards per game. Meanwhile, Miami was third in the ACC giving up 209.8 pass yards per game.
The Pop-Tarts Bowl made headlines last year by promoting an edible mascot. The winning team indeed saw the mascot lowered into a giant toaster before the machine popped out a giant pastry for Kansas State to devour.
This year, not only will the winning team get the chance to eat a giant Pop-Tart after the game, but the bowl game unveiled that the trophy is an actual working toaster — should the winning team want to eat a traditional version on the ride home.
Cristobal and Campbell were presented with freshly toasted Pop-Tarts out of the trophy Friday morning.
Iowa State and Miami have never played and the coaches were asked Friday if they’d like to see the schools schedule one another.
“It would obviously be great to look at those particular options,” Cristobal said.
With a caveat.
“Except for late November up there,” he added. “Aside from that, I think it would be a great idea.”
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