In last week’s win over Wake Forest, Ward – who has thrown for 3,774 yards this year – became Miami’s all-time leading passer in a single season, surpassing the mark set by Bernie Kosar in 1984.

His 34 touchdown passes also set a new Miami record, surpassing the mark of 29 set by Steve Walsh in 1988. And Ward is the first signal-caller in program history to start a season with seven consecutive 300-yard performances, no small feat given the quarterbacks who played at Miami.

Despite all the success, however, Ward hasn’t particularly focused on the recognition he’s received or the numbers he’s put together.

For him, it’s the wins that count, and right now Saturday’s win counts the most.

“He gets so much attention from the Heisman Trophy and the O’Brien Trophy and all those things, and it’s like he doesn’t even try to pay attention to all those things. … He’s just focused on the football,” said Xavier Restrepo, who became Miami’s career leader in both receptions (191) and receiving yards (2,696) earlier this season. “Me and him watch a movie every morning at 5:00 or 6:00. He’s just trying to get better and dominate every single week. … He’s been the same guy every day since he arrived in January. Just a relentless leader and just a super competitor.”

Ward said: “I think you block it by, I would say, really not worrying about it, and what I mean by that is, firstly, you pick up the phone and secondly, by putting it through one ear and out lets go of the ear.” others. Ultimately, a lot of things can change week to week. So you have to be consistent. I think that’s why I’m up for some of these (awards). The receiving corps, the O-line, they helped me a lot. These guys were consistent. I was consistent. (But) none of that means (anything) if you can’t win football games.”

Ward won’t be the only high-profile, record-setting quarterback playing in Saturday’s game.

Syracuse’s Kyle McCord enters Saturday’s game with an impressive resume of his own.

In the Orange’s 31-24 win over Connecticut last week, McCord threw for a career-high 470 yards, which ranks second on Syracuse’s single-game rushing record list. Last week, he also became Syracuse’s all-time leading passer in a season with 3,946 yards, surpassing the previous mark of 3,749 set by Ryan Nassib in 2012.

Containing him will be a job for the Hurricanes defense. However, this unit put together one of its most impressive performances of the season in last week’s 42-14 victory over Wake Forest.

After allowing a touchdown on the Demon Deacons’ first drive, the Hurricanes held the Wake offense to no points in the second half.

Miami limited Wake Forest to just 193 total yards and the defense managed a touchdown of its own when defensive back Meesh Powell had a 76-yard interception return in the second quarter.

Building on that performance will be crucial against McCord and a Syracuse offense that averages 454.0 yards per game, a number that ranks 11th among FBS programs.