The Miami Hurricanes’s dreams of a picture-perfect season took a gut punch in the form of a 28-23 loss to Georgia Tech. While the Yellow Jackets celebrated their bowl game clinch, Miami now stares down a harsher reality. The loss not only darkened their hopes but has also thrown their quarterback’s seismic campaign into murky waters. Mario Cristobal’s promising and aggressive ambitions meet untimely setbacks. Is the Cam Ward comeback magic finally running out of spells?

Yahoo Sports’ analysts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz didn’t hold back, sharing on Instagram the Canes game plan didn’t just fail—it left Ward stranded. No player has seen their draft stock rise as dramatically as Cam Ward. The Hurricanes QB brought storm to the field with his play and led them 9-0 until now. “Keep the b-ll out of Cam Ward’s hands, and don’t let him work his magic,” was the vibe in Atlanta. But Miami seemed to do just the opposite. And the Yellow Jackets just recited 7’s table till the fourth quarter to gain the points. You do the math!

As Fitz noted, ultimately saying, “Miami was eventually going to fail Ward, and this happened to be the weekend.” Cam Ward is known for his superhuman ability to pull off clutch plays but wasn’t given the room to operate. By keeping him boxed in, the canes seemed to hurt their legs by pulling through their CFP hopes, a mistake that cost them dearly. Miami is still the ACC’s shining star; their undefeated run suggested a real shot at a playoff berth. But this Ramblin Wreck mishandling takes the once-held driver’s seat of their playoff run away.

Miami now risks losing the first-round byes which could hurt them in their road to the final prize. Not only does this loss hurt their playoff prospects, but it’s also taken some shine off Ward’s Heisman candidacy, which had been gaining traction. The Canes just couldn’t convert three different fourth-down plays throughout the game. Two of it ended up with incompletions from Ward and one ended in Georgia Tech sacking the QB.

Down Goes Cam Ward, and down goes his Heisman hopes with him

They didn’t just sack him in the game, they took down Ward’s Heisman hopes with it. Now behind Hunter, Jeanty, Sanders, and Gabriel in the race, Not to say that Ward played, it’s just at points, he had no answers for Georgia Tech’s defense. Miami’s defense failed to hold back the opposition, leaving the offense scrambling to catch up. Ward, however, had the uncanny ability to make even the most distant things feel close. With Miami trailing 21-10, Ward threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Horton and a 38-yard throw to Xavier Restrepo. The last TD, only for Miami to pull a 28-23 deficit.

That last was also the school’s record 30 touchdown in a season, the artist Mr. Ward. But of course, that wasn’t enough. He finally completed 25-of-39 pass attempts for 348 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. As they look forward, the Hurricanes will need to rediscover their swagger and build a game plan that allows Ward to work his magic. For now, though, their playoff dreams and Ward’s Heisman chances are hanging by a thread.