Carson Beck called Louisville’s game-sealing interception a miscommunication between him and his tight end, resulting in Miami getting its first loss of the season as the No. 2 ranked team in the AP top 25 poll. While that may be true, pointing the finger at the tight end on one play isn’t fair considering that final interception was Beck’s fourth of the game.
This loss wasn’t because of a miscommunication; this loss is on a quarterback that returned to college football and has already hit his peak. He came back to college, transferred from Georgia to Miami and had all the pressure to make Miami a championship contender. For six games, he did just that.
And just like that, in a matter of one game, the old Beck that was jettisoned from Athens has resurfaced in South Beach. And Beck not taking accountability or even responsibility for ruining Miami’s perfect season up to this point speaks volumes.
Miami is facing same reality UGA had with inconsistent Carson Beck
Georgia didn’t necessarily want to run Beck out of Athens, but they certainly weren't mad they had to change their quarterback this season either. Beck’s miserable game against Louisville is exactly why Georgia came to the realization that maybe Beck has already peaked in college. Entering Friday’s game, Beck was a Heisman favorite. I’d be shocked if he has anything inside the six best odds after the weekend.
Last year, Beck was irresponsible with the ball throughout the season. He went through a four-game stretch last year where he threw nine interceptions and five touchdowns, including two games during that stretch where he didn’t record a single touchdown pass. While he did end the season without an interception in the final four games, his inconsistency is a liability.
Those same issues he faced at Georgia are returning at Miami and that’s why the Hurricanes didn’t get the upgrade at quarterback they thought they were getting. Beck had all eyes on him this season and his progression. He’s not progressing from good college quarterback to NFL prospect.
Just like this time last year, Beck isn’t an NFL quarterback prospect right now and transferring to Miami was supposed to put him in the same category Cam Ward was in a year ago. The fact that Beck isn’t taking responsibility for a four-interception game is proof he hasn’t improved much from last year.
That harsh reality is at the forefront with Miami and now Mario Cristobal has to deal with the roller coaster that is Beck’s consistency.
Did Carson Beck just throw Miami’s shot at College Football Playoff stardom away?
This is either a one-off or the beginning of a pattern and downfall of Miami’s strong start to the season. Fortunately, Miami has just one loss this year and they’re still the consensus No. 1 team in the ACC as of now. That said, did Beck just give Miami an unnecessarily tough road to staying in the CFP conversation? A top 10 team has gone down just about every week this season and most of the top 10 teams that lose to unranked teams get shoved to the bottom of the AP poll.
Miami might get the benefit of the doubt with ranked wins over Florida State, South Florida and Notre Dame this season. That said, if they do get a significant bump down, it could ultimately mean they may not get in without an ACC title. Truthfully, they should be fine for now, but their margin of error is a whole lot slimmer now.
Beck nearly threw UGA’s chances away when the Bulldogs needed eight overtimes to beat Georgia Tech in the final game of the season. There’s no way he does it again this year right? He landed at Miami with the opportunity to not face the best defenses in college football each week and elevate Miami’s offense in a crucial way.
In one game, he might have just cost them a golden opportunity. As of now, Miami doesn’t have a ranked game in the final six games of the season. Then again, Louisville wasn’t ranked and Beck blew that game.