Cam Ward had a record-setting day completing 12 passes in 19 attempts for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, Miami ran for a program record 308 yards in a bowl game and still lost 42-41 to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday. Ward played only in the first half.
Miami has lost six consecutive bowl games and 12 of its last 13. The last bowl win for the Hurricanes was a 31-14 victory in the 2016 Champs Sports Bowl which is the same game as the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Miami scored its most points in a bowl game since beating North Carolina State 46-23 in the 1998 Micron PC Bowl.
The blame for the loss will mostly fall on the Miami defense, but the offense was stagnant in the fourth quarter. Miami began the game with a fumble on the first play that Iowa State recovered on the 22-yard line. Iowa State went 22 yards in seven plays in 3:30 to take a 7-0 lead.
Miami answered on the first play of their next drive when Damian Martinez ran 75 yards for a TD. Martinez's TD run began a stretch where Miami and Iowa State combined to score TDs on nine straight drives. The run ended when Miami stopped Iowa State on fourth and four from their own 34-yard line.
Final: Iowa State 42, Miami 41
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Miami went 12 plays, 55 yards in 3:30 on their final drive of the first half, but stalled at the Iowa State seven and Andres Borregales made a 30-yard field goal to put Miami in front 31-28 at halftime. Miami finished with 358 yards in the first half. Ward had the 190 passing yards and Miami ran for 168 yards in the first half.
Miami was able to continue dominating Iowa State on the ground in the third quarter. The Hurricanes ran for 103 of their 111 total yards in the third quarter. Emory Williams relieved Ward in the second half and was 1-3 in the third quarter for eight yards. Williams finished 5-14 for 26 yards and an interception.
After playing well on the final two drives of the first half and two of the first three of the second half, the Miami defense allowed Iowa State to go 15 plays and 84 yards over the final 5:38 for the game winning TD drive on a one-yard run by quarterback Rocco Becht with 26 seconds remaining.
As great as the Miami offense was throughout the game, they were stagnant in the fourth quarter. The inability of Williams to make an impact allowed Iowa State to focus on the run. Miami ran for 271 yards through three quarters but had only 37 rushing yards in the fourth quarter and 55 total yards in the final 15 minutes.