Miami quarterback Cam Ward didn’t take the field for the second half of Saturday’s Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, but Hurricane fans shouldn’t be worried. Miami backup quarterback Emory Williams started for the team to open the third quarter and immediately led the Hurricanes on a touchdown drive.

Ward completed 12 of 19 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the first half before giving way to Emory Williams.

Miami’s quarterback has drawn plenty of heat for sitting out the second half of Saturday’s Pop-Tarts Bowl — a game his Hurricanes lost by just one point — but he’s got at least one defender in former NFL quarterback-turned-analyst Robert Griffin III.

Miami Hurricanes head football coach Mario Cristobal is declining to explain why quarterback Cam Ward only played one half in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Ward only played the first half in Saturday’s match-up against Iowa State as the Hurricanes lost the game 42-41.

Cam Ward's decision to only play the first half of Miami's 42-41 loss against Iowa State in this year's Pop-Tarts Bowl proved to be extremely

The two bowl games — the No. 23 Buffaloes’ Alamo Bowl matchup against No. 17 BYU and the Miami-Iowa State Pop-Tarts Bowl — featured the two top-rated quarterback prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. It was a surprise to many that both Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward played in their bowl games.

As great as Cam Ward's one and only season was at the University of Miami, it ended on a sour note. After narrowly missing out on the College Football Playoff, the Hurricanes settled for an appearance in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Iowa State.