GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Quarterback Cam Ward walked toward the Miami tunnel as green-and-orange-clad Hurricanes fans screamed for his attention.

Coach Mario Cristobal stopped him and then referred him to a large contingent of players who spent the entire game behind the bench yelling for Ward to wave and high-five.

No one could blame the Hurricanes for hanging around on the field after the game, or for Cristobal wanting his players to salute the fans. This win meant a little more, away against an in-state rival, in a stadium where Miami last won 22 years ago.

Ward was easily the difference-maker in a dominant 41-17 win over Florida on Saturday, a statement that all the hype surrounding the Hurricanes over the past nine months was justified. Chants of “Let’s Go Canes” could be heard in the Swamp in the third quarter.

“A word of advice to the fans: if you want to be loud, you have to be loud when we’re huddled. You can’t just be loud when we break the huddle. By that point, there’s no point. We hear the game. We’ve communicated. But it was a good atmosphere to play in. And I’m just happy we were able to get a win now.”

Miami QB Cam Ward

More than 90,000 fans packed the stands at the start of the day, but Ward silenced them with his escapism, intelligence and laser-like accuracy, throwing for 385 yards, the most yards in a debut game in program history: three touchdowns and one interception.

Ward was clearly shaken when it turned out that one of the biggest storylines of the game was that the Canes had never played in such a loud environment before. He had a message for the Gator fans.

“I played at USC,” said Ward, who transferred from Washington State to Miami. “USC wasn’t full, but it was louder than this. I played at Oregon, it was louder than this. The Pac-12 gets mislabeled. Word to the fans: If you’re going to be loud, you have to be loud when we’re huddled. You can’t just be loud when we break the huddle. By that point, it’s no good. We hear the game. We’ve communicated. But it was a good atmosphere to play in. And I’m just glad we were able to get a win.”

Ward was one of the biggest reasons why. His surprise arrival from the portal in January, after initially declaring for the NFL draft, served to fuel hopes that the Hurricanes could have a breakout season in Year 3 under Cristobal. Miami also signed other key players from the portal, including Damien Martinez, Tyler Baron and Meesh Powell, but Ward got all the attention after his standout spring performance.

He showed why the Games really matter now.

“Yeah, he’s not bad,” Cristobal said with a smile during his postgame press conference. “All the things you guys probably wondered during camp: ‘Man, they talk about Cam Ward a lot. Is he really that good?’ He’s just scratching the surface. Real accuracy, improvisational, extended plays. Every team has a spark plug. Every game has a spark plug. He was the guy today.”

There were plenty of highlights, but perhaps his best came in the third quarter. Ward was forced out of the pocket and ran left. From there, he saw Jacolby George in the back of the end zone. Ward fired a pass and George caught it, tiptoeing to stay in bounds for the 23-yard score.

“He’s one of the best receivers in the scramble drill, and when you have a receiving corps like that, you have a tight end court like we have, it’s tough to play man and play zone because at some point someone’s going to break the defense,” Ward said. “We really didn’t get the opportunity to get in the bag as an offense (like) we really wanted to. Routine plays win games, and that’s something we did.”

Was that touchdown pass to George really a routine pass?

“I’ve made plays like that before, so it’s a routine play for me,” Ward said. “Great catch by him. He had good spatial awareness in the back of the end zone.”

For the fifth time in his career, Ward had 350 passing yards while completing at least 70% of his passes. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the only two FBS quarterbacks with more such games since 2022 are Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix.

Florida rarely pressured him — just nine times on 38 dropbacks. What unfolded looked and felt different, not just because of Ward but because of physical, dominant play up front.

Cristobal, a former offensive lineman, has worked hard to get the Hurricanes in the trenches, saying, “We’re playing Miami football now.” Naturally, Miami fans were filled with hope after a big non-conference win that could potentially help spark a championship season. Even last year, Miami defeated Texas A&M in Week 2 en route to a 4-0 start. But a botched knee-jerk reaction against Georgia Tech left the Hurricanes reeling, and they finished 7-6.

Cristobal wasn’t planning on making any statements after Saturday, but the enormity of the victory wasn’t lost on him. Now Miami must build on it.

“We worked really hard,” Cristobal said. “A convincing win like this is great, but the main thing we talked about was that Miami had the chance for the first time in a long time to play a big game to start the season, and now we have to show that we can handle that success and get better. Today was a very, very big step.”

Or as Powell said: “This is just one game. We plan to play 16 more.”