Miami Hurricanes quarterback, Cam Ward, came up just short in winning the Heisman Trophy, as he was invited to the ceremony in New York as a finalist and placed fourth to winner Travis Hunter. However, Ward can lay claim to something that neither Hunter nor anyone else in the history of college football can claim, and that’s college football’s all-time touchdowns mark.
With the CFP no longer in front of him, there was question as to if Ward would even play in another game and have a chance to have the outright record. But he decided to join his teammates for Miami’s Pop-Tarts Bowl matchup against the Iowa State Cyclones, and Ward didn’t waste much time in making history. He connected with Jacolby George on a 4-yard pass in the first quarter to set the record in front of lots of Miami fans, with the game taking place in Orlando, Florida.
Ward has accumulated his touchdown passes over five years at three different schools in two different levels of competition.
After being a zero-star prospect out of high school, he began his college career at the lone school that offered him a scholarship. In 2020, Ward enrolled at the University of the Incarnate Word, which is in San Antonio, and whose football team competes at the FCS level. After two years there, Ward then transferred to Washington State, formerly of the Pac-12, and also played there for two seasons. After graduating from WSU in December, he then transferred again, this time to Miami as a graduate transfer.
Ward also entered the Pop-Tarts Bowl leading the ACC in yards per attempt, yards per completion and passer rating. For his efforts, Ward has racked up a litany of awards, including the ACC Player of the Year, the Davey O’Brien Award—presented to the nation’s top quarterback—and he’s been named a consensus All-American.
While it took Ward five seasons to reach the mark, the same also went for Keenum to establish the record. The latter actually spent six years in college at Houston, redshirting one year and then playing in five seasons. Although Keenum spent his entire college career at the FBS level, he also never played in a Power Conference. Houston was in Conference USA at the time—a Group of Five conference—while Ward has spent three years in a Power Conference, plus two years in FCS.
Keenum can take solace in the fact that another one of his records won’t be overtaken by Ward. The former Cougar, and now NFL journeyman, passed for 19,217 yards in his college career, while Ward entered the Pop-Tarts Bowl with 17,999 passing yards, leaving him over 1,219 passing yards behind. Had Miami made the College Football Playoff, and played in three or four games, then Ward would have had a legitimate shot at breaking that record as well.
Speaking of the College Football Playoff, that could be where Ward’s record gets broken, giving him just a few days to bask in the spotlight of being the all-time passing touchdowns leader. Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, who is on his third team and has played six college seasons, enters the CFP with 153 passing touchdowns.
Gabriel could play three more games, and as the quarterback for the No. 1 team in the country, there’s a good chance that happens. Gabriel also finished one spot ahead of Ward in Heisman voting, placing third, so he could get the better of his counterpart yet again.
After setting the Division I record in Miami’s bowl game, Ward’s next stop is the 2025 NFL Draft. He is under heavy consideration to be the No. 1 overall player selected and trails only Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders in terms of shortest odds of being the top pick.
