Iowa State beat the Miami Hurricanes in the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl. Cam Ward played the first half of his final college football game, throwing 3 TDs.

No. 13 UM (10-2) wraps up Year 3 of the Mario Cristobal era on Saturday in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against the No. 18 Iowa State Cyclones. Kickoff from Orlando’s Camping World Stadium is slated for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ABC.

In the new age of college football with the 12-team playoff, there were concerns over whether the bowl games would still mean anything.

Miami took a 31-28 halftime lead with a last-minute field goal before the break. It was the highest-scoring first half in a bowl game since LSU defeated Oklahoma in the 2019 Peach Bowl en route to a national title. The Tigers won that game, 63-28, in a first half that featured a combined 63 points.

Miami Hurricanes head football coach Mario Cristobal is declining to explain why quarterback Cam Ward only played one half in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Ward only played the first half in Saturday’s match-up against Iowa State as the Hurricanes lost the game 42-41.

Cam Ward's decision to only play the first half of Miami's 42-41 loss against Iowa State in this year's Pop-Tarts Bowl proved to be extremely

The Iowa State football team put together a big first half, but still trailed Miami at the half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl, 31-28. Rocco Becht directed the offense to four consecutive scoring drives to start the game,

The two bowl games — the No. 23 Buffaloes’ Alamo Bowl matchup against No. 17 BYU and the Miami-Iowa State Pop-Tarts Bowl — featured the two top-rated quarterback prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. It was a surprise to many that both Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward played in their bowl games.

As great as Cam Ward's one and only season was at the University of Miami, it ended on a sour note. After narrowly missing out on the College Football Playoff, the Hurricanes settled for an appearance in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Iowa State.