That’s how fast the night changes for athletes. Miami Hurricanes star quarterback Cam Ward had till now been hailed as the hopeful Heisman candidate. While love and support poured in for him, looks like Ward has already lost one of his biggest supporters. But what happened suddenly? Well, the struggle was real when the QB had been all quiet and came with occasional wrong moves against Georgia Tech. However, if you think that who cares, Ward still has his HC’s back, then you must worry a little. Even Mario Cristobal is no longer including his fav signal-caller in his comments.  

The name Georgia Tech must be stinging Miami right in their heart now. After all, Brent Key’s army handed Hurricanes the first loss of the 2024 season. Plus, it also left Cristobal with a bitter feeling since even after losing their top two running backs and their QB operating as a runner, the Yellow Jackets had the chance to emerge victorious. That’s when Ward took a backseat after being pressured and threw an incompletion on fourth-and-3 from Georgia in the second quarter. This was enough for the signal caller to lose one of his biggest admirers, analyst Blake Ruffino. Even after having the best running backs like Damien Martinez, this was not expected from Ward, who faltered at running the pigskin. So a frustrated Ruffino addressed his co-host Joe DeLeone and said, “Joe, I love Cam Ward more than anybody you know this.”

But mind you, the analyst’s love is not blind. As he clears out his basic demand, “But you got to start being a more complete team.” Ruffino then pointed out how Ward had all the backups that he needed a WR like Martinez, Air Raid offense. So Ward needs to change the way he plays, “You gotta control the games a little bit more, you gotta lean on teams, you want to get that pass rush away, lean on them more.” However, Hurricanes HC Cristobal is like, ‘Doubt? What’s that?’ But there is a catch. 

Cam Ward overlooked in HC’s praise parade

Coming off a fresh loss, Miami no longer is brooding over the fall. Instead, they are gearing up for their return to action against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. They are making the most use of their bye week to mend the loopholes in their roster and are all set to stay alive in the hunt for the ACC championship. And this would not be possible without Hurricanes’ best of the best talent coming forward. Well, it’s quite natural that Ward occupies the top position in Cristobal’s list of favorites. After all, it’s a tough task not to like him after the hearty gestures he comes up with. However, there is also another one who adds up to the QB’s talent.

That’s none other than Xavier Restrepo, Miami’s No.1 wide receiver. Looks like the second-year senior and Ward is like a match made in heaven. At least their stats say so. Through ten games in the NCAA season, the duo have connected for 55 receptions, 934 yards, and 10 touchdowns. So how could Cristobal not hype them up before they host the Demon Deacons on November 23? But looks like the HC’s speech was all about the WR and not Ward.

“He [Restrepo] means the world of the program, and the program means the world to him…He is the epitome of hard work. I think he’s grown up a ton. That’s the biggest thing, the maturity levels of X, over the past eight, nine, ten months,” said Mario Cristobal. Well, the HC could have easily sprinkled some good words about Cam Ward too. But he didn’t do that. Does that mean he too has started to see cracks in the image of the signal-caller’s potential?