New Miami Hurricanes starting quarterback Cam Ward has officially inked a new NIL deal.

Ward was rated among the top quarterbacks in the Transfer Portal after throwing for 3,735 yards with 25 touchdowns to 7 interceptions at Washington State last season. His arrival at Miami has helped raise the expectations for Hurricanes football in 2024. Miami, along with Florida State and Clemson, are considered co-favorites in the ACC according to the projected win totals.

Canes Connection, Miami’s official NIL collective, announced this week that Ward has signed his deal. While there is no public record of what Ward’s actual NIL earnings will be, On3 Sports has given Ward an estimated NIL valuation of $934,000.

The collective also announced the signing of other Miami newcomers, including transfer center Zach Carpenter, transfer edge rusher Elijah Alston, freshman quarterback Judd Anderson, freshman offensive lineman Deryc Plazz, freshman linebacker Adarius Hayes, freshman defensive lineman Armondo Blount, freshman edge rusher Marquise Lightfoot and several others.

Last season, the Miami Hurricanes fell just short of their projected win total from Las Vegas.

In both 2022 and 2023, the sportsbooks had set Miami’s over/under at 7.5 wins. They fell short, only managing five victories in ’22 and seven wins in ’23.

For the upcoming 2024 football season, the bar has been set considerably higher. According to Fanduel, the Hurricanes’ over/under will be set at 9.5 wins next season. In other words, if you bet on the over, Miami would need to win ten or more games for you to cash in your ticket.

The Hurricanes are in a three way tie for the highest win total in the ACC. Clemson and Florida State are also tabbed at +/- 9.5. Louisville, NC State, and North Carolina check in at +/- 8.5.

Those odds reveal that handicappers consider Miami a legitimate contender to win the conference. Expectations have risen thanks in part to the addition of top transfer quarterback Cam Ward. Other standouts like defensive end Rueben Bain, receiver Xavier Restrepo and linebacker Kiko Mauigoa can also play starring roles in a successful season.

In recent years, betting the under has been profitable when it comes to the Hurricanes. Will Miami break that trend in 2024?

The Miami Hurricanes went 7-6 last year despite drastic improvements in most areas of their offense.

The Hurricanes had a plus-120 point differential compared to minus-34 from their 5-7 season in 2022. From ’22 to 23, the Hurricanes jumped from 99th in the country in yards per play all the way to 22nd. Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said that’s the biggest jump he’s seen from one year to the next in any program he’s coached.

So, why didn’t Miami win more than they did last year? Dawson reflected after the Hurricanes second spring practice on the areas the Hurricanes failed in 2023.

“Turnovers were glaring,” Dawson said. “Not only were they glaring, but they were glaring when they happened. The two situations we didn’t get better in, where it stayed the same or went down a couple notches, were turnovers and red zone offense. They go together. When you look at the red zone offense, we got down there about top 35 in the nation, but we turned it over seven times down there. Two of those at the one yard line.”

Dawson noted that the teams who were top ten in the country did not turn the ball over when they got there.

“What that does is, it takes points off the scoreboard. Not only does it crush your morale and all the rest, it takes points off the scoreboard. Ultimately, we’ve got to do a better job protecting the football.”

Miami quarterbacks combined to throw 14 interceptions last season, with former starter Tyler Van Dyke responsible for 12 of those. Miami hopes for more efficiency this season with Cam Ward behind center. The Hurricanes lost 8 fumbles. They finished minus-4 in turnover margin. Not good enough. No matter how well you move the football, sabotaging yourselves in the red zone and with overall turnovers is a recipe for a 7-6 season.