Cam Ward should help with shocking stat given by ESPN ACC beat writer

The Miami football team was first in the ACC with 94 rushing attempts versus an eight-man box in 2023 per ESPN ACC beat writer David Hale. That was 20 more than any other ACC team. Hale ended his tweet about Miami versus eight-man boxes in 2023 with "Welcome, Cam Ward."

Miami added Ward as a transfer at quarterback from Washington State during the 2024 offseason. Former Oregon State running back Damien Martinez gives Miami a combination of speed and power to balance Ward in the passing game. Martinez performed well versus eight-man boxes in 2023.

Per Sports Information Systems via David Lake of Inside the U, Martinez had 54 rushing attempts versus heavy boxes (eight defenders) for 285 yards and two touchdowns. The 54 attempts were second nationally only to Blake Corum of National Champion Michigan.

Martinez was third in rushing yards versus eight-man boxes behind Antario brown of Northern Illinois who had 349 rushing yards and three TDs and Audric Estime of Notre Dame who ran for 308 yards and two TDs versus the Octobox. Mark Fletcher led Miami with 20 attempts for 108 yards and one TD versus eight-man fronts.

Conversely, Washington State threw the ball on 62.9 percent of their offensive plays with Ward primarily at QB per SIS via Lake. That was the third-highest percentage of pass plays nationally. Ward faced the opposite problem at Washington State with opponents using light boxes.

Per SIS, via Lake, Ward had 3,077 passing yards in 2023 against a box of six defenders or less. That was the fourth most passing yards nationally in 2023 versus a six-man box or less. Heisman Trophy finalists Bo Nix of Oregon and Michael Penix of Washington and Georgia Southern QB Davis Brin were the only QBs ahead of Ward in that category.

Martinez and Ward will make it difficult for opposing defenses to stack the box versus Miami or load their defense with defensive backs. Miami should continue to show significant improvement offensively under coordinator Shannon Dawson in his second season in 2024.