Over three thousand miles. That was how far the Miami Hurricanes had to travel for their week six matchup against the California Golden Bears.
The ACC home opener for the Bears started at 10:30 EST after a full day of college football upsets nationwide. Miraculous upsets like Vanderbilt over No. 1 Alabama, Arkansas over No. 4 Tennessee, and many others resulted in five top 15 teams losing to unranked programs.
Once the Canes went down 25 points with only eight minutes left in the third quarter, many thought Miami would join the list. However, Miami’s Heisman hopeful QB Cam Ward and the Canes thought otherwise.
The game started ugly for Miami, letting up a 57-yard touchdown pass to Cal TE Jack Endries, and right after letting the Bears complete a 51-yard bomb which ultimately led to a Jayden Ott rushing touchdown putting Miami down 14-7.
Miami’s Andres Borregales responded with a 46-yard field goal and things were looking bright for Miami when they had Cal on their own 34 facing 4th down. However, a bold decision by Justin Wilcox to go for it paired with terrible defense from the Canes generated Jayden Ott’s second touchdown of the game off a 66-yard slip-screen.
At 12:12 AM EST, the game entered halftime with the score being 21-10 Cal.
Cal would receive the ball at the half but punted after Miami forced a three and out. The Hurricanes offense was ready to take over at their own 24, but disaster would ensue for the Canes on their first and only play that drive after Ward chucked up a floater off his back foot trying to extend the play, and Nohl Williams intercepted it and took it back 40 yards for six. According to ESPN analytics, at this point in the game, the Golden Bears had a 92 percent chance of winning, up 28-10 over No. 8 Miami.
A weak drive from Miami gave the ball back to Cal, and after just a 5-play, 80-yard, and 2-minute drive, Cal students were throwing down the “U” at 1:00 AM EST, feeling like being up 35-10 against the Canes was more than enough to write this game off as a win.
But Cam Ward would not give up, and this game was far from over with 8:06 left to play in the 3rd quarter. Anybody on the East Coast still awake was in for an unbelievable show.
Ward and the Canes marched down the field for their first touchdown of the half coming from RB Damien Martinez, capping off a 12-play drive. The two-point conversion was good but Miami was still down 35-18.
Cal got the ball back and added three more points to the board after Ryan Coe knocked down his first and last field goal of the game from 37 yards out.
The Hurricanes offense would return to the field facing a 20-point deficit and little time to cut the margin. After converting a 4th and 6 at the fifty, the Canes would strike again as Cam Ward delivered a perfect ball to Isiah Horton for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Cal 38, Miami 25.
If you were in the California Memorial Stadium after Cal got the ball back and punted, you could feel the anxiety and stress seeping into the Golden Bear crowd.
Miami got the ball back with only 6:02 to go and still down two touchdowns, but Ward would not give up. 4th and 10 at their own 43, the Canes converted. Ward delivered a 13-yard strike to Xavier Restrepo to keep the drive alive. Time was winding down and the Hurricanes needed to score, and who else was it but Cam Ward to deliver? He dropped back to pass, then scrambled 24 yards and walked into the endzone. The Canes were only down six and the merely impossible felt more than possible with just 4:04 to play.
After Cal punted the ball to the Miami eight yard line
, all Cal needed was just one stop, but that’s easier said than done when you are facing a Miami offense that was ranked number one in explosive plays before this game.
One minute and 28 seconds was all the time the Hurricanes had to march down 92 yards and complete the mission they came to California to accomplish. On the very first play of the drive, Cam Ward dropped back to throw and connected with Xavier Restrepo who ran fifty yards after the catch to the Cal 15 for a total of 77 yards on the play. On this very play, Miami jumped from having only an 8 percent chance to win to a 45 percent chance, and they had all the momentum. The Canes finally took their first lead of the game since around the end of the first quarter after Ward connected with TE Elijah Arroyo for a 5-yard touchdown. The life was sucked out of that stadium, but it was returned for the city of Miami.
What a game for Cam Ward and the Canes. It was a roller coaster of emotions since kickoff but Cristobal and Co. got the job done. The final score in California was Miami Hurricanes 39 – California Golden Bears 38.
Next up for the Canes is an away game in Louisville after their bye. The Cardinals just lost in a close one to SMU. Meanwhile, the Bears have No. 22 ranked Pitt on the road, looking to bounce back after a heartbreak loss against Miami.