Miami quarterback Cam Ward did not play a single snap during the second half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday. Everybody seems to think that he personally decided to opt-out as soon as he broke a college football record but new information about the unusual sequence of events raises questions about Mario Cristobal.
Neither Ward nor the Hurricanes gave a definitive answer as to what happened, which makes it even more suspicious.
Hayden Bannick currently serves as a college football scout with Sports Info Solutions at Coastal Carolina. And when he’s not working, he travels to as many different games as possible— including the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
By Bannick’s account, Ward had his helmet taken away from him during warmups after halftime. That is something the broadcast did not mention. At no point was that nugget previously disclosed.
Here’s my take on the Cam Ward situation
— Hayden C. Bannick (@hcbannick_25) December 31, 2024
– I watched him warm up at halftime (pics to prove it)
– I watched his helmet get taken away from him
– Cam was the furthest player/coach on the sideline during the 2nd half (on the field basically)
– 1st person to greet any player during… pic.twitter.com/7KvMTwJ5Iu
This is where the alternative theory about Ward’s second half comes to exist.
Why would a quarterback warm up after halftime if it was already established that he was not going to play during the second half? Why would a staffer take his helmet away from him in any situation?
To further this train of thought, Cristobal was not willing to address what happened with his star quarterback. He said the decision was made in private. That was it.
I think all meetings with players and decisions like that, we make them in private and we keep them in private. So I’ll prefer not to answer questions as it relates to that. I know he played his best while he was in there.
— Mario Cristobal
Notice how he would not say whose decision it was. Perhaps that was a way of protecting Ward. Perhaps it was his way of protecting himself.
Mario Cristobal and the Miami staff might’ve decided to bench Cam Ward to get a better look at Emory Williams against one of the best defenses in the country. But to admit to that coaching decision after losing the game by one point because of the quarterback play would not go over well with the fanbase. Especially when the head coach already has a history of losing close games because of dumb decisions.
To go even one step further, ESPN said that Ward was at one point warming up during the fourth quarter prior to what would’ve been a potential game-winning drive. And yet, he never went in the game. Why?
Maybe Cam Ward did take himself out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl during the second half after breaking the NCAA record for most touchdowns in a single season. Maybe Mario Cristobal took Cam Ward out of the game. We may never find out the full story.