Miami QB Carson Beck finally gets his Playoff moment — and might get his old team next
Beck admitted thinking about a hypothetical showdown with Georgia as he studied the Playoff bracket. Now, it's more possible than ever.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Miami head coach Mario Cristobal had already come and gone. So had a throng of Hurricanes wanting photos on the field in their new Cotton Bowl champion T-shirts.
Finally, 39 minutes after the game ended, one of the most unassuming heroes in Wednesday’s 24-14 College Football Playoff quarterfinal win over Ohio State found the victorious locker room and strolled in.
“Man,” quarterback Carson Beck said to no one in particular, “they started the party without me.”
The party, however, was worth the wait. Redemption always is.
Beck only passed for 138 yards Wednesday, with a lone touchdown pass on a screen to Mark Fletcher Jr. But stats don’t sum up Beck’s importance to the Hurricanes, his progress or what might be next — a showdown between Beck and the Georgia program he used to lead.
“For me individually, everything that’s happened and transpired over the past 12 months has been unreal,” Beck said.
Carson Beck vs. Georgia in the CFP semis? 👀
The Miami QB could face off against his former team in the next round 🍿 pic.twitter.com/9GD1bI1GJL
— ESPN (@espn) January 1, 2026
Beck’s career arc goes back even deeper. He was a blue-chip recruit who waited his turn at Georgia while Stetson Bennett led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national titles. He starred in his first season as a starter (2023) while drawing major NFL buzz, but he didn’t get a chance to play in the CFP because his Bulldogs missed the field. When Georgia made the quarterfinals last year, Beck couldn’t play in it again; he injured his elbow in the first half of the SEC title game.
He finally got the shot he envisioned on Wednesday, 373 days after his surgery.
“For me personally … it feels so good to have this opportunity,” Beck said.
He made the most of it. After missing his first two passes, Beck completed 19 of his final 24, including a Cotton Bowl-record 13 in a row. Beck passed 11 times on third or fourth down; he converted on seven of them. Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said Beck, again, made the right checks and moves in the run game to allow Miami to rush for 153 yards on a top-10 run defense.
“He really didn’t make any mistakes,” Dawson said.
Well, maybe one.
Dawson told Beck during the week that he’d have to run for a few conversions against an Ohio State defense that allowed a couple of opposing quarterbacks to slither through. That’s what Beck tried to do with a first-half scramble on third-and-3, but a replay review determined he fell a few feet short.
