Anti-Miami Bias Leads to Ward's Fourth Place Showing at Heisman Award Ceremony
Travis Hunter ran away with the Heisman Trophy Saturday night. No problem. He had the best season of any player in college football history. He was a two-way player who was the best player at each of his respective positions.
He deserves the honor and the respect which goes along with becoming the Heisman Trophy winner.
However, how do you snub Cam Ward with a fourth-place finish after the season he had? Ward executed a high-octane Miami offense that led the nation in total offense and touchdowns. He led the Hurricanes to a 10-2 finish and was clearly one of the best players in the country.
He finished as the second quarterback in the race, behind Oregon's Dillon Gabriel, who had statistics that were much inferior to Ward's.
He finished behind Gabriel for two reasons. One, Gabriel was undefeated at Oregon. He led the Ducks to the B1G Championship and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
That counts for something as a team, but his individual stats do not compare with Ward.
Second, and most importantly, Gabriel did not play for the Miami Hurricanes. There is still a negative perception which follows the University of Miami teams and athletes. If Ward was not going to win the Trophy, he clearly should have finished second behind Hunter.
Ward also had a better overall season than Boise State tailback Ashton Jeanty. No one saw Jeanty play. The voters would wake up in the morning and see the gaudy numbers he would post, most of which could come in garbage time. He also played in games with the score well out of hand, where Ward would be on the bench and the backups would be in. Jeanty had a good season, a great season.
However, he did not have the season Ward had. He also did not face the scrutiny and competition Ward faced in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Ward was the first Heisman Trophy finalist to go to New York since Ken Dorsey. He was first nationally in passing touchdowns, second to Kyle McCord in passing yardage, and fifth in overall passing rating. Ward led an offense that scored an NCAA-best 47 points per game.
Gabriel was clearly ranked behind Ward in just about every other passing category. He threw for fewer yards and fewer touchdowns. He was two career touchdowns away from passing the career record set by Case Keenum.
Wait a minute, Ward tied the Keenum record with his breakout 2024 season.
There is an anti-Miami sentiment out there, still. The anti-Miami sentiment is real and it is what kept the respect away from Ward he so richly deserves. Ward should have finished no worse than second to Hunter. Ward was robbed.
On Thursday night Ward was given his due as the winner of the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award. He was also named a member of the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-American team.
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Scott Salomon joined On SI in April 2024 covering breaking news and analysis for the Miami Dolphins site, and has since contributed to the Miami Heat, Back in the Day NBA, Miami Hurricanes and San Antonio Spurs sites. Scott is based in South Florida and has been covering the local and national sports scene for 35 years. He's covered and has been credentialed for the Super Bowl, the NFL Combine, various Orange Bowls and college football championship games. Scott was also credentialed for the NBA All-Star game and covered the Miami Heat during their first six seasons for USA TODAY. Scott is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Communication and the St. Thomas University School of Law. Scott has two sons and his hobbies include watching sports on television and binge watching shows on various streaming services.