Mario Cristobal breaks down Cam Ward’s early interception vs. PHEW

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Miami led Florida 7-3 after the first quarter of action in the Swamp, but the lead could have been bigger if not for a costly mistake from quarterback Cam Ward.

Backed up into his own end of the field, Ward made a critical mistake when he threw back across his body and was picked off by Florida linebacker Shemar James.

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“Well you know we were trying to make something happen on the run, ball got out behind him, behind the receiver,” coach Mario Cristobal said on the ABC broadcast. “Got tipped, got picked off. They’re doing a nice job in coverage of mixing up the looks. “We’ve got to do a good job by establishing ourselves at the line of scrimmage and then go from there.”

Florida’s drive following the interception stalled, forcing the Gators to settle for a 41-yard field goal from kicker Trey Smack. That cut the deficit to 7-3.

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But Cam Ward and Miami mostly dominated the first quarter, particularly in the trenches.

The Hurricanes boasted a 93-57 edge in total yardage after the first quarter, rushing for 59 yards. At an average clip of 6.6 yards per carry, Miami was able to move the chains repeatedly on the ground, while Florida could not. The Gators averaged just 3.0 yards per carry in the first quarter.

Cam Ward was a big part of that rushing success, too. He got loose a couple times on scrambles to hurt Florida and extend drives. Florida also had a costly third-down penalty after coming up with a stop in the red zone, allowing Miami to get a fresh set of downs and eventually punch it in for a touchdown.

Rueben Bain heads to locker room hurt

Miami has suffered a potentially serious injury against Florida, with star defensive lineman Rueben Bain heading to the locker room in the first quarter.

It was unclear when Bain suffered the injury, but ABC reporter Katie George reported on his status during the game’s broadcast.

“Unfortunately for Miami, Rueben Bain, who emerged as their best defensive lineman a year ago and was looking to build on that this season, he was injured on the first drive coming out against Florida,” George said. “He’s been in the locker room ever since being evaluated for an injury. I’ll keep you updated as we go.”

Miami led Florida 10-3 at the time of this writing, midway through the second quarter. Cam Ward had 107 yards passing and a touchdown, as well as 36 yards rushing.