Is Carson Beck Dooming Miami Football’s National Title Dreams After Louisville Collapse?

So, Miami just took its first spill of the season against Louisville, and wow – it wasn’t just a fluke. The game was a cocktail of defensive flubs and, well, Carson Beck’s nightmare on the field. You gotta wonder: can Miami dream big and actually clinch a national title with Beck steering the ship? His track record, sprinkled with interceptions galore, begs the question if he’s the quarterback to carry the Hurricanes over the hump. Meanwhile, the supporting cast and coaching mojo look a bit… underwhelming compared to his Georgia days. With Miami now scrambling behind in the ACC race, the reality is dawning fast — this team might already be looking at a long shot at playoffs. Buckle up, because the road ahead looks rocky, and Beck’s interceptions might just be the tipping point. LEARN MORE.

Miami is coming off its first loss of the year after falling to Louisville last Friday night. Multiple factors worked towards Miami falling 24-21, and falling behind in the race to make the ACC championship game. One of the biggest factors was Carson Beck. Not only was he horrible in the game, but he also showed that Miami will not win a national title with him at quarterback.

The game was marred by spurts of bad defense and poor play from the quarterback position. Louisville scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the game before Miami made it a one-touchdown game at the end of the first quarter. The defense started clicking in the second quarter, forcing punts on all four drives by Louisville. Still, Beck led his team to a field goal and two interceptions.

The third quarter was a defensive battle, with both teams kicking a field goal, but Louisville opened the fourth with a touchdown. Miami was picked off again on the next drive. The defense forced a fumble, and Miami scored on the next play to make it a three-point game. The touchdown was a run by wide receiver Malachi Toney, who also threw the pass for the two-point conversion. Miami then forced a punt and had a chance to drive the field to tie or win the game, but a fourth interception from Beck ended that hope.

Carson Beck does not have the support around him

Beck has won two national titles before, both while sitting on the bench at Georgia. When he took over as the starting quarterback, Georgia was primed to win a third national title. He had Brock Bowers to throw to as well as Ladd McConkey and Dominic Lovett. Behind him were Daijuan Edwards and Kendall Milton running the ball, plus Georgia has the ninth-best defense in the nation. Even then, he could not win it all.

Beck does not have the same supporting staff this year as he did with the 2023 Georgia team. Miami is 17th on defense, but does struggles against the pass more than Georgia did. Meanwhile, Mark Fletcher has been solid running the ball, but not nearly as productive as the run game for Georgia. Malachi Toney may be the best receiver he has thrown to, but there is no Bowers on this team.

Not only is the cast around him not as strong, but his coach is not either. Kirby Smart finally proved he could overcome Alabama in the SEC and win the big one. Mario Cristobal has yet to prove he can avoid slipups, even with a star quarterback. Cristobal was the head coach of the 2019 Oregon Ducks, with Justin Herbert playing quarterback. After an opening game loss to Auburn, the Ducks got back into playoff contention. Then, at 9-1, the team had its last road test of the year. A win, plus a conference title, could have secured them a playoff berth. No. 6 Oregon lost to an unranked Arizona State 28-31.

It happened again last year with Cam Ward, a future number one overall pick in the NFL Draft. Miami was undefeated and ranked fourth in the nation, but lost on the road to Georgia Tech. Still, they remained with a chance to make the playoffs after the team rebounded to be Wake Forest. With a win on the road over Syracuse, Miami would have gone to the ACC title game. They lost on the road to Syracuse 42-38. Until Cristobal proves he can win on the road in games he is expected to win, it will not matter who the quarterback is.

The quarterback cannot win the big game

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck (11) carries the football against Louisville Cardinals linebacker T.J. Quinn (34) during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. — Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Cristobal is not the only one to blame for failure in big spots. Beck shares some of that blame as well. He has struggled in big moments in his college career as well. In 2023, Georgia was undefeated and the top team in the nation. A win over Alabama in the SEC Championship would have sent them to the playoffs. Beck threw for 243 yards, but did not have a touchdown pass as the team lost 27-24.

He also did not play well against Alabama in 2024. Georgia was ranked second in the nation at the time. While Beck threw for 439 yards and three touchdowns, he was also intercepted three times in the game as the team lost 41-32. He then struggled against Ole Miss in their second loss of the year. Beck completed just 20 of 31 passes for 186 yards and an interception. He also took five sacks in the game.

It was more of the same against Louisville. Beck has consistently shown he will throw interceptions in bunches. He had three games in 2024 in which he threw three interceptions. Georgia was good enough to win two of them. This Miami team is not, and if Beck is throwing picks, the team is going to lose.

Miami may have already blown its chance

The ACC got two teams into the College Football Playoff last year, but it almost did not happen. Clemson defeated SMU in the ACC Championship game, giving the conference two teams, their champion and an 11-2 SMU team. If SMU had won that game, they would have likely had a first-round bye, and Alabama would have made the playoffs instead of Clemson.

Unless Miami runs the table and the ACC gets two teams into the playoffs again, Miami may have already lost its shot to make the playoffs. At 1-1 in conference play, Miami is currently in eighth place in the ACC. Georgia Tech is already 4-0 and has a light schedule. This could easily place them in the ACC title game.

This means Miami needs to pass Virginia and Louisville to have a shot at playing for the conference title. To begin with, Miami has no margin for error and needs to win out. That would give them the tiebreaker over SMU and let them pass Pitt in the conference race.

Virginia still has both Cal and Duke on the schedule, and both on the road. Miami would need UVA to lose twice in the final five games, plus win out to pass them. If Virginia and Miami are tied in the conference standings at the end of the regular season, both with just one loss, Virginia will have the tiebreaker due to their win over Louisville. The lone loss for UVA would be to NC State, but that was a non-conference game.

Further, Louisville now has the tie-breaker over Miami, and they would need to lose again for Miami to make the ACC title game. There are also Duke and Cal, who both still have one loss in conference play. If either of them wins out, they could also have the tiebreaker over Miami. The loss to Louisville may reign large for Miami, and while Carson Beck does not think he is to blame, he will be the reason Miami misses out on the playoffs.

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