The Miami Hurricanes are one of the best teams in the country and have plenty of players on both sides of the ball that have contributed to a 9-0 start. It starts with the quarterback position for the Hurricanes who have one of the best players in the country and stability at the position that they have lacked for a long time. Here are some players to watch on Saturday for the Hurricanes.

QB Cam Ward- The Heisman candidate has been spectacular this season in his first year as a starter in Miami, leading the Hurricanes to a perfect 9-0 record. Ward has thrown for 3,146 yards and 29 touchdowns and he leads the country in both categories. He completes his passes at a 67.1% clip. Saturday against Duke marked his third game throwing for 400+ yards. Ward was 25-41 for 400 yards passing and five touchdowns. He has already started several stunning comebacks against California, Louisville and Virginia Tech where he showed his will to win. He has led Miami to five 50+ point games this season. Ward is one of the best players in the country and definitely one of the best quarterbacks. He is never out of a game no matter what adversity he faces. He became just the 13th player in college football history to pass for more than 15,000 yards in a win against USF. Here’s what Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key said about Ward earlier this week:

“Yeah, it’s challenging, but it’s exciting, too. Like I said, he’s probably the leading Heisman Trophy candidate right now. I mean, not only do they hand out those swag, but he does. I mean, I think in the duke game he had 11 scrambles two of those 11 were converted into touchdowns i think duke did a good job on a lot of the others but two of the 11 around so that’s man should be careful. They do a good job of staying active at receiver to give him places to go. He does a good job of looking away. So you can’t really follow his eyes and see where he’s looking because he’ll look here at the last second and whip it to the other side. So we’ve got to be disciplined. We’ve got to keep everything in front of us on defense, which is challenging to say because you look at him sometimes with all the free throws they have and you want to jump up and press them. At the same time he gets those crazy scrambles and you have to keep it in front of you and tackle the ball. You have to be disciplined with our cadence and we have to be sure tacklers.

RB Damien Martinez- The junior back has put together another fine season. Martinez leads the team in carries, rushing yards and touchdowns. His best game this season came against Florida State where he rushed for 148 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 9.9 yards per carry in the win. He also had his longest run of the season in that game with a 53-yard run. In 2024, he has rushed for 595 yards and eight touchdowns. He is averaging 5.7 yards per carry. The transfer from Oregon State has given Miami a consistent threat in the running game that can go off for a touchdown at any time. In his career, Martinez has been named Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, two-time first-team All-Pac 12 and a Doak Walker Award semifinalist. The Yellow Jackets must be ready to limit him in the running game if they are to have a chance at an upset.

WR Xavier Restrepo- In the illustrious history of the Miami Hurricanes, Restrepo can say he was the best receiver to ever come through the program. He now holds the all-time rushing yards record (2,573), surpassing former record holder Santana Moss. Restrepo is also tied for most catches in program history with Mike Harley (182), surely a record he will soon break. The Hurricanes have had historic wide receivers through the program such as Reggie Wayne, Santana Moss, Michael Irvin and more. In the win against Duke, he had eight catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns. None was more memorable than his game-breaking 66-yard touchdown catch as he zoomed past multiple defenders. Restrepo leads the ACC in receiving yards (856) and touchdowns (9). He has five games with 100 or more yards receiving for Miami in 2024. What’s most impressive about his game is that he’s a do-it-all receiver. Restrepo can cause problems in the hatch with the possibility of always being open. On the edge, he is an excellent route runner and is good at creating separation. In the open field when the ball is in his hands, Restrepo is a big play waiting to happen.

Additional links

Georgia Tech Football: Yellow Jackets reveal uniform combination for Saturday vs. Miami

ACC Football: Predictions for each Week 11 game

Georgia Tech Basketball: Big Takeaways from the Yellow Jackets’ season-opening win against West Georgia