Canes Shine in Annual Spring Game

And all of it played out in front of more than a few Hurricanes greats who returned to campus this weekend, including Devin Hester and Andre Johnson, who were honored before the scrimmage as two of the newest members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“I mean, we have 300 alumni in town, right? Many of them have never seen all the advances campus has made, you know? I remember playing this game here and practicing here and just the energy that came with the community was something we felt we had to do for the student body, for the community, for the university, for our fans [and] for our players here to feel that,” said Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal, an alum and two-time national champion at Miami himself. “And I’ll tell you, in a short amount of time with what we had, they did a really good job setting up a really good environment and our players enjoyed it.”

There certainly was plenty for those alumni and fans to enjoy throughout the afternoon, too.

Ward, who came to Coral Gables after two seasons at Washington State, led the offense down the field on several drives and was 17 of 23 for 260 yards with a pair of touchdowns in the first half, which allowed for tackling and followed more of a traditional game format.

Understandably, the quarterback – who was fourth in the nation last season with an average of 311.3 passing yards per game – earned praise from both Cristobal and his teammates once the spring game ended.

“I thought all the quarterbacks did some good things, but Cam, it’s obvious he’s a guy,” Cristobal said.

Added receiver Isaiah Horton, who caught Ward’s first touchdown pass of the day, “His leadership, his confidence on the field, off the field, the way he sees the field and then just him as a person, he’s a great person and he’s a great friend.”

Several players on the defensive side of the ball delivered big plays as well Saturday, including Lightfoot, who notched four tackles and a sack, Bissainthe, who had four tackles, including a key fourth-down stop, and linebacker Raul Aguirre, Jr., who had three tackles and a sack.

After the game, Lightfoot – who noted he’ll be returning home to Chicago soon to attend both his high school graduation and his prom – said that enrolling early and competing in spring drills made a huge difference in his ability to compete.

“I feel like enrolling early is a real important thing … I’m fresh out of high school and I’m working with…