Cam Ward continues to stack numbers, surpassing 15,000 yards for his career and throwing his 14th TD of the year. He met with reporters after the USF game to discuss the win:
On his performance: I missed a lot of easy throws. They played man coverage, which we knew they were going to play. They actually played more man coverage than we thought they would. That's just something I’ve got to hone in on. The O-line gave me enough time, but I didn't connect downfield. Receivers were winning early on. I didn't connect downfield.
I'm not worried about [the win]. These games really don't matter. The only games that matter are ACC play. We’ve got to watch film on VTech, and get ready to play them on Friday.
On playing from behind: It really didn't feel different from any other game. We stayed the course. Offensively, the one turnover we had really shot us in the foot. We knew going to the game that we couldn't help them. They are a defense that gets a lot of turnovers. That's something we emphasized going to this game.
After that play, we were able to hone in and get back to our brand of offense. And defensively, you saw they stepped up. They play every game the same way. They gave up a couple yards early on. But when they got to the red zone, the boys were locked in. We know they're always going to be there for us. Meesh Powell getting the pick, Mooyoung getting the pick. Whenever you've got a good defense, it makes our job easier.
On whether USF is the toughest opponent they’ve faced so far: Yeah, I believe so, just because they're so physical. It's a physical team over there, and they showed it today. But at the end of the day, we’ve just gotta worry about ourselves and what we have to do to execute plays.
That's something Coach Dawson preaches to me: “Routine plays win games.” We did a lot of good stuff today, but we did a lot of bad stuff in the quarterback room.
On Isaiah Horton: Big strides from since I got here. The plays that he made today, I’ve seen him make better plays in spring ball and fall camp. I'm not surprised that he made those plays today. He wins versus man coverage. He knows what I like to get to versus zone. You saw the dig, he went low and caught it for me.
That boy’s a ball player. He lives in the film room with me. That's all he wants to do: go to class, play football and watch film. When you’ve got guys like him in the receiving room, he makes me want to play better and also play better for the team.
On responding after the INT: It goes back to the fall camp scrimmage with our defense. We had turnovers then, but at the end of the day, how are you going to come out the next drive? Turnovers are going to happen. We're going to have another turnover throughout the season. It’s how we're able to respond the next drive. We were able to respond well on offense.
On the success of the offense through four games: We're being consistent, from pass game to run game. And that all has to do with the O-line. They're moving boys left and right. The trenches are the reason why we're 4-0, on both sides of the ball. They bring intensity every day of practice. They emphasize that during the week. They emphasize that in the games. As long as we're playing good up front, we’ve just got to do our job on the back end and on the perimeter and we'll be able to win some more games.
On how good this team can be: I think it'll be really good. We left plays out there on the field, especially in the passing game. I'm pretty sure the defense left a couple of plays on the field that they wanted back. We’ve just got to watch the tape. The only thing that can stop us is us. We’ve just got to keep on progressing forward and take every opponent like they're the number one team in the country. That has to be our mindset every week. We’ve just got to go out there and play Miami football.
On spreading the ball: That's a key for us every week. You can't be one-dimensional in college football. Even in high school football, you can't be one-dimensional. If you are one-dimensional, they can key on specific players. We spread the ball around in the pass game and the run game, checking it down to Dame [Martinez]. He was explosive in the pass game as well. It makes our job easier. It makes my job easier, especially when we have the rushing attack to set up play-action shots.
We weren't able to take shots like that where we wanted to, but we moved the ball consistently. If you constantly get first downs, live trying to get first downs every time, you eventually score some points.
On his message to Jacolby George after his drop: Don’t worry about it. I told him he’s got to make up for it throughout the end of the season. He got to give me one back. J.G., he's one of the best receivers in the country.
I'm going to come back to him next week. He's probably going to be in that same position. We might run the same play. He's going to catch it. He's going to score it. So I'm not really too worried about that. The only thing that matters to us is the win. At the end of the day, we got it. That's all you can be thankful for.
On the passing game: We did real good, especially in the trenches. Zach [Carpenter] gets those guys right with the points and protection. On the perimeter, we’ve just got to continue to see space. Tonight was more of a man coverage night for us. With the high safety that they play, you have to hold him a little longer. Then it really just comes down to the receivers winning versus man. And they did that all night. That's the reason why I think we were able to be explosive.
On his performance: I missed a lot of easy throws. They played man coverage, which we knew they were going to play. They actually played more man coverage than we thought they would. That's just something I’ve got to hone in on. The O-line gave me enough time, but I didn't connect downfield. Receivers were winning early on. I didn't connect downfield.
I'm not worried about [the win]. These games really don't matter. The only games that matter are ACC play. We’ve got to watch film on VTech, and get ready to play them on Friday.
On playing from behind: It really didn't feel different from any other game. We stayed the course. Offensively, the one turnover we had really shot us in the foot. We knew going to the game that we couldn't help them. They are a defense that gets a lot of turnovers. That's something we emphasized going to this game.
After that play, we were able to hone in and get back to our brand of offense. And defensively, you saw they stepped up. They play every game the same way. They gave up a couple yards early on. But when they got to the red zone, the boys were locked in. We know they're always going to be there for us. Meesh Powell getting the pick, Mooyoung getting the pick. Whenever you've got a good defense, it makes our job easier.
On whether USF is the toughest opponent they’ve faced so far: Yeah, I believe so, just because they're so physical. It's a physical team over there, and they showed it today. But at the end of the day, we’ve just gotta worry about ourselves and what we have to do to execute plays.
That's something Coach Dawson preaches to me: “Routine plays win games.” We did a lot of good stuff today, but we did a lot of bad stuff in the quarterback room.
On Isaiah Horton: Big strides from since I got here. The plays that he made today, I’ve seen him make better plays in spring ball and fall camp. I'm not surprised that he made those plays today. He wins versus man coverage. He knows what I like to get to versus zone. You saw the dig, he went low and caught it for me.
That boy’s a ball player. He lives in the film room with me. That's all he wants to do: go to class, play football and watch film. When you’ve got guys like him in the receiving room, he makes me want to play better and also play better for the team.
On responding after the INT: It goes back to the fall camp scrimmage with our defense. We had turnovers then, but at the end of the day, how are you going to come out the next drive? Turnovers are going to happen. We're going to have another turnover throughout the season. It’s how we're able to respond the next drive. We were able to respond well on offense.
On the success of the offense through four games: We're being consistent, from pass game to run game. And that all has to do with the O-line. They're moving boys left and right. The trenches are the reason why we're 4-0, on both sides of the ball. They bring intensity every day of practice. They emphasize that during the week. They emphasize that in the games. As long as we're playing good up front, we’ve just got to do our job on the back end and on the perimeter and we'll be able to win some more games.
On how good this team can be: I think it'll be really good. We left plays out there on the field, especially in the passing game. I'm pretty sure the defense left a couple of plays on the field that they wanted back. We’ve just got to watch the tape. The only thing that can stop us is us. We’ve just got to keep on progressing forward and take every opponent like they're the number one team in the country. That has to be our mindset every week. We’ve just got to go out there and play Miami football.
On spreading the ball: That's a key for us every week. You can't be one-dimensional in college football. Even in high school football, you can't be one-dimensional. If you are one-dimensional, they can key on specific players. We spread the ball around in the pass game and the run game, checking it down to Dame [Martinez]. He was explosive in the pass game as well. It makes our job easier. It makes my job easier, especially when we have the rushing attack to set up play-action shots.
We weren't able to take shots like that where we wanted to, but we moved the ball consistently. If you constantly get first downs, live trying to get first downs every time, you eventually score some points.
On his message to Jacolby George after his drop: Don’t worry about it. I told him he’s got to make up for it throughout the end of the season. He got to give me one back. J.G., he's one of the best receivers in the country.
I'm going to come back to him next week. He's probably going to be in that same position. We might run the same play. He's going to catch it. He's going to score it. So I'm not really too worried about that. The only thing that matters to us is the win. At the end of the day, we got it. That's all you can be thankful for.
On the passing game: We did real good, especially in the trenches. Zach [Carpenter] gets those guys right with the points and protection. On the perimeter, we’ve just got to continue to see space. Tonight was more of a man coverage night for us. With the high safety that they play, you have to hold him a little longer. Then it really just comes down to the receivers winning versus man. And they did that all night. That's the reason why I think we were able to be explosive.
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