Cam Ward picked up right where he left off with the Miami offense in the Pop Tarts Bowl, scoring 31 points. But when the Hurricanes got the ball to start the second half, head coach Mario Cristobal decided to make a quarterback change. Ward is out as Emory Williams has taken over to finish the game vs. Iowa State.

As the ESPN broadcast said when the decision was made, nobody would have blamed Ward if he had decided to opt-out of the bowl game. The quarterback is likely going to be one of the top players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, potentially in the top five. An extra game against Iowa State was not going to change the evaluation of Ward at this point of the process.

Avoiding injury is usually the main reason why players decide to opt-out of the bowl games. Ward got through the first half healthy but decided to not test his luck anymore. The final two quarters will be in the hands of Williams.

Ward finished the game completing 12 of 19 passes, going for 190 yards and three touchdowns. Miami was scoring at will with him out there, a common theme for the program this season. Some history was even made along the way.

The job, now, for Ward is to cheer on his teammates from the sideline. Just one season is going to be spent with Miami, may as well soak it all in before his main focus in life becomes preparing for the next level.

NFL scout explains why teams will ‘fall in love’ with Cam Ward

Ward is expected to be one of the first quarterbacks to hear their name called in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft.

ESPN’s Matt Miller, an NFL Draft analyst, has strong thoughts on the Hurricanes’ signal-caller. Ward isn’t his top quarterback in the cycle, but Miller believes Ward’s explosive and exciting brand of football will be attractive to NFL teams during the pre-draft cycle.

“Cam Ward is going to be the player that scouts, the general managers, coaches, fall in love with,” Miller said during an appearance on SportsCenter on Saturday morning. “He is my No. 2 quarterback, but he is just a smidge behind Shedeur Sanders.

“They’re completely different players, though. Cam Ward is a playmaker. He has a big-time arm, he’ll move around in the pocket to find ideal passing windows, he’ll rip it with velocity down the field, and if it’s there, he’ll beat you with his legs as well.”

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report