CANES POSTCAST: Cam Sits Out 2nd Half, 'Canes Blow 10+-pt Lead to Iowa St, Lose Pop-Tarts Bowl 42-41

Locked On Canes - Daily Podcast On Miami Hurricanes Football & Basketball

Heisman Trophy Finalist Cam Ward sat out the 2nd half- watching from the sideline but not re-entering the game- as the Iowa State Cyclones (11-2) rallied past the #15 Miami Hurricanes (10-3) 42-31 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl

Iowa State capped off the comeback courtesy of a 15-play, 84-yard drive that ended with QB- and game MVP- Rocco Becht scoring from the one-yard line in 4th and goal with under 1:00 left in the game.

Ward (12/19, 190 yards, 3 TD’s) played great in his final college game, before choosing not to return to after breaking the NCAA career record for touchdown passes.

The Hurricanes dropped their sixth straight bowl game, but worse than that, they lost three of four games to end the season- with those three losses by a combined 10 points.

The Canes were 50-0 since 2000 when scoring 38+ points and gaining 500+ yards. They're 50-2 now- the loss to Syracuse that cost Miami a spot in this year’s CFB Playoffs, and this game today, in spite of the fact that they put up 41 points and gained 524 yards.

Rocco Becht (MVP) scored from a yard out on fourth-and-goal with 56 seconds remaining for No. 18 Iowa State, capping the best season in school history. Becht threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns for Iowa State (11-2), a program that entered this season — the 133rd year of Cyclone football — never having won more than nine games in a year.

Miami was up by 10 points in the second half, with Damien Martinez running for a career-high 179 yards. Miami ran for a season-high 339 yards.

Martinez lot up the scoreboard with a 75-yard touchdown run, and Mark Fletcher Jr ran for a score for Miami. Elijah Arroyo, Jojo Trader and Jacoby George had TD catches for the Hurricanes.

Miami fumbled the ball away on the game's first snap, and the next eight drives all ended with touchdowns, with neither team being able to stop the other.

The teams combined for 625 yards — 358 for Miami, 267 for Iowa State.

With Emory Williams in for Ward, the Hurricanes managed only three points on their final three drives. The ‘Canes got the ball back with :50 left down by a point, and Ward still chose not to return.

Miami opens the 2025 season at home against Notre Dame on Labor Day weekend.

----- LIVE' Instant Reaction from The U Alum + Veteran Miami Sportscaster Jim "GRIES" Grieshaber -----

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