Davis Warren heads into Friday night carrying real momentum, but the test waiting for him is a different animal.
After his best college performance in week zero against Hawaii, the quarterback will try to keep that rhythm alive when Miami comes to town. Warren threw for 310 yards and a touchdown on 22-of-34 passing and added 16 rushing yards on five carries. Pro Football Focus gave him an 81.0 passing grade for the outing.
That game was the most productive and efficient of Warren’s career, and the numbers back it up. He was clean on 73 percent of his drop backs, finishing 18-of-25 for 269 yards and a touchdown when he wasn’t under pressure.
That works out to 10.8 yards per attempt. Once Hawaii got heat on him, the production dropped sharply: Warren went 4-of-9 for 41 yards in those snaps.
A lot of his success came in the short game. Warren completed 17-of-19 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown on throws that traveled fewer than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. He also attempted only two passes that went at least 20 yards downfield.
That style fits a pattern that has followed him for a while. Warren has long been a quarterback who takes time in the pocket before letting it go.
His average time to throw in 2024 was 2.80 seconds, and it ticked up slightly to 2.94 seconds against Hawaii. He also hasn’t been a high-volume deep-ball thrower.
Last season at Michigan, just 7.1 percent of his attempts were deep balls, the lowest rate in the country among quarterbacks with at least 15 deep ball attempts.
The issue for Warren is that he has not consistently solved Power Four defenses. In 2024, he started nine games at Michigan and spent much of the year trying to strike the right balance between big time throws and turnover worthy plays. He ended that season with six big time throws and nine turnover worthy plays, while averaging 5.7 yards per attempt.
He did have one huge moment, helping Michigan beat then No. 2 Ohio State. But even in that win, he finished 9-of-16 for 62 yards and threw two interceptions.
Miami now gets the version of Warren that looked sharp against Hawaii, and the question is whether that same short-game approach can hold up against a fast, athletic defense. The Hurricanes will be the toughest defense he sees during the 2026 regular season.
There’s also some uncertainty around the receiving group. Stanford wideouts Caden High and Nico Brown were held out against Hawaii, but were expected to play important roles in 2026.
Brown arrived from Yale after posting 1,085 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025, while High caught 37 passes for 414 yards and a touchdown last season. Both are listed as questionable on the latest ACC injury report for Friday night.
Warren is coming off the best outing of his career. The bigger question is whether he can bring that same poise and precision into a much tougher environment against Miami on Friday night.
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Miami Opens With One Big Test For Cristobals New-Look Offense
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Stanford offers the kind of first test Miami cant ignore, even with the Cardinals dealing with injuries up front and across the roster. The trip also brings a bit of history, since it is Miamis first visit to Stanford Stadium, a new setting for a team that wants to look sharper, faster and more complete from the start. [Read more 🡒]