BERKELEY, California. – Halfway through his first season with Miami, Cam Ward has already shown a knack for the dramatic.

Ward threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds left and No. 8 Miami roared back from a 25-point deficit in the second half to beat California 39-38 on Saturday night.

A week after lifting the Hurricanes (6-0, 2-0 ACC) from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Virginia Tech, Ward went even further in pulling off Miami’s biggest comeback since also coming from 25 points to came down and defeated Florida in 2003.

“When 1 has the ball in his hands, the game is never over,” receiver Xavier Restrepo said, referring to Ward’s jersey number. “We have a lot of confidence in that man.”

With good reason.

Ward led four straight touchdown drives to end the game and spoil what seemed like the most monumental day in years for the Golden Bears (3-2, 0-2), who hosted ESPN’s “College GameDay” for the first time and on the on the eve of their second win over a top 10 team in the past 21 seasons.

Instead, Ward made the rare sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium go home unhappy after overcoming a 35-10 deficit in the third quarter. That gave the Hurricanes (6-0, 2-0) a second straight dramatic win after needing a replay review to hold off Virginia Tech last week.

“We just can’t put ourselves in these situations to come back,” Ward said. “That’s two games in a row, we had to do that. We have to hold on. …It’s good to win. We’re not going to complain. An ugly win is better than a good loss.”

Ward produced 277 yards of offense in the fourth quarter – the most for any player in seven years – and leads the nation in yards passing (2,380) and TD passes (20) in his first season since transferring from Washington State.

Ward threw an 18-yard TD pass to Isaiah Horton with 10:28 left to cut the score to 38-25 and then scrambled in from 24 yards out to make it a six-point game with 4:04 left to play.

The Hurricanes forced a punt after being spared a potential targeting call on instant replay, and Ward then hit Xavier Restrepo with a 77-yard pass on the first play on the ensuing drive to get Miami into the red zone.

A personal foul buoyed the Hurricanes, but Ward converted a third-and-20 on a short pass to Joshisa Trader who went 22 yards to the 3. Two plays later, Ward found Arroyo with a jump pass that gave Miami the lead.

Ward finished 33 for 53 for 437 yards with two touchdown passes and a TD run, overcoming a pick-6 that put Miami in the big hole in the third quarter.

Fernando Mendoza had several big games against the team he cheered for as a kid in Miami, but it wasn’t enough.

Mendoza threw a 57-yard TD pass to Jack Endries in the first quarter and had a 51-yarder to Trond Grizzell that set up Jaydn Ott’s 5-yard run that gave Cal a 14-7 lead.

Ott scored again on a 66-yard catch and run on a fourth-and-1 midway through the second quarter and Mendoza threw a 59-yard pass to Jaivian Thomas in the third quarter, setting up Chandler Rogers’ 9-yard TD run got going.

But Cal punted on its first two drives of the fourth quarter before Mendoza threw an interception in the final seconds to end it.

“Football is a humbling game,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “We obviously had every chance to win that match. We didn’t get it done, so everyone has to own it.”

The takeaway

Miami: The Hurricanes are off to their third 6-0 start in the past 20 seasons, having previously done so in 2017 and 2013, as they try to establish themselves as a championship contender.

California: The Bears have lost ten straight games against ranked teams since the start of the 2004 season and are 1-26 against top 10 teams, with the lone win coming in 2017 against Washington State.

Next

Miami: at Louisville on October 19.

California: Saturday in Pittsburgh.

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