ATLANTA (AP) — Miami quarterback and Heisman Trophy contender Cam Ward has another milestone on his resume.
Ward is now the Hurricanes' single-season record holder for touchdown passes, reaching that mark Saturday. His first scoring pass of the game — a 74-yard throw to Elijah Arroyo in the first quarter of the fourth-ranked Hurricanes' game at Georgia Tech — was his 30th of the season.
Ward, the first FBS quarterback to reach the 30-touchdown mark this season, entered Saturday tied with Steve Walsh for the school single-season record. Walsh had 29 touchdown passes for the Hurricanes in 1988.
A fifth-year player who spent his first two seasons at FCS member Incarnate Word and the past two seasons at Washington State, Ward is one of five players in NCAA all-division history to top 17,000 passing yards in a career.
He began Saturday at No. 5 on that list with 17,022 yards — and the 74-yard touchdown moved him into No. 3 on the list, ahead of Tyson Bagent (17,034) and Timmy Chang (17,072).
The only players on that list ahead of Ward now are No. 2 Dillon Gabriel (17,530 yards entering Oregon's home game against Maryland on Saturday) and No. 1 Case Keenum (19,217).
Ward began Saturday with 3,146 yards this season, the 10th most by any Miami player in a single year. He is on pace to easily break a Hurricanes mark that has stood for 40 years — Bernie Kosar passed for a Miami record of 3,642 yards in 1984.
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