Miami Hurricanes 2024 Position Review: Quarterback

It was all Cam Ward all the time for the Canes at QB last year, and that was a very, VERY good thing.

As we move deeper into the offseason, it’s time to look back at the year that was in 2024 for the Miami Hurricanes. Today, we look back at the play of Miami’s Quarterbacks, which was 99% about the incredible excellence of one player.

The Superstar: Cam Ward

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

What more can we say about Ward and his singular excellence in 2024? The star transfer from Washington State (and FCS Incarnate Word before that) won a ton of awards. He was the first Miami player to be named ACC overall and Offensive Player of the Year; unanimous 1st team All-ACC; a Consensus 1st team All-American, Davey O’Brien Award winner, and Manning Award winner as best QB in the country.

Ward’s stat line on the season was incredible: 305 for 454 passing (67.0% completions) for 4,313 yards with 39 TDs and 7 interceptions. Ward also added 204 yards and 4 TDs rushing, and 1 catch for 7 yards and 1 touchdown.

In his time at Miami, Ward set the all-time career Division 1 (FBS/FCS) passing touchdown record (158 total), became the first Miami QB to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season, set the single-season passing yardage and TD records for a Miami program that has had 2 previous QBs win the Heisman trophy, set the single-season total yardage record, and set the single-season touchdowns created record.

Ward led Miami to their first 10 win season since 2017, and had the team 1 game away from the College Football Playoffs.

There were turnovers. There were lulls. But, overall, Ward was the kind of excellent performer at QB that Miami has been missing for many years, had the Canes within a game (or even a handful of plays) of the College Football Playoffs, and literally rewrote the record books.

What else do you want me to say?

Grade: A+

Rest of the Room

Emory Williams

Ward’s main backup, Williams was able to watch Ward work and learn how to go about the business of being a starting QB.

Williams played in 1 regular season game, going 11/12 against Ball State. That allowed Williams to get on the field for a game, and also enabled him to redshirt this year, which is key for his development.

Williams relieved Cam Ward for the 2nd half of the bowl game……and was an unmitigated disaster. 5/14 with an interception against Iowa State. I’ve long thought that Williams was a developmental player who needed 3 years at the college level before being anywhere near starter quality — if ever — and the bowl performance backed that up, I’m sorry to say.

While he can be a solid depth player, I don’t think Williams is of the necessary quality to start at Miami. He performed well against Ball State….a team that was among the worst in the FBS last year. But, when facing a quality P4 team in Iowa State, Williams was a fish out of water. It was painful to watch, honestly.

Grade: D-

Reese Poffenbarger

Brought in from the University of Albany, an FCS team for whom he set records, Poffenbarger was thought to be in competition for Miami’s starting job at the time of his transfer. Then Cam Ward decided to transfer to Miami and that went out the window.

While he took snaps in 4 games (according to the official stats page, but I don’t remember that many times it happened), Poffenbarger went 6/7 against FAMU and ran for 11 yards as well. Those were his only statistics of the season.

Poffenbarger was an older player brought whose role went from potential starter (if there was a competition between him and Williams) to bench bound backup. I’m sure Williams and Anderson benefited from having Poffenbarger around, but his impact on this season on the field was near zero.

Grade: C

Judd Anderson

Another developmental player, Anderson spent the entire season on the scout team while redshirting. He’s big (a legit 6’7”), athletic (former standout HS basketball player), and has plenty of arm talent, but like others in this room, he’s multiple years away from competing at this level.

Grade: Pass; Redshirt

We’ll be back for more awards and position recaps in the coming days.

Leave your thoughts and grades in the comments section to keep the conversation going.

Go Canes