Carson Beck led his Miami to beat Texas A&M in the No. 7 vs. No. 10 College Football Playoff game last week. Though the Hurricanes moved on with a 10-3 win against the Aggies, Beck faced heavy criticism for his performance in Miami’s CFP debut.
Beck will now look to lead the Hurricanes against No. 2 seed Ohio State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic quarterfinal on Wednesday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Urban Meyer’s Warning Puts Pressure on Carson Beck Before Ohio State Battle
In the win over Texas A&M, Beck finished with 103 passing yards and one touchdown on 20 throws, as he helped Miami become the lowest-scoring team ever to win a playoff game. After that performance, ESPN analyst Booger McFarland went as far as saying Miami has no shot at beating Ohio State in the next game with Beck at quarterback.
In his “The Triple Option” podcast, former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer also predicted the Buckeyes to beat Miami in the upcoming game, with a challenging note for Beck.
‘Well, last time we saw the Buckeyes, they lost to Indiana,” Meyer said. “I’m just concerned about Miami’s offense. I’ve kind of been concerned about them all year. Carson Beck is as talented as there is. I made a comment that that was going to be the most important game of his career.
“I’m going to follow up with the most important game of his career. This is going to have a draft status being determined here. I just don’t know how Miami’s going to score points against the top defense in the land. On the other side, Miami’s defense is legit. This could be a low-scoring game. So I have Ohio State cover.”
Beck has recorded 3,175 passing yards and 26 touchdowns while completing 74.5% of his passes over 13 games this season. According to the PFSN QB Impact Metric, he earned a B grade with an 83.3 impact score.
The game against Ohio State will be a true measure of Beck’s ability, and it won’t be an easy task, as the Buckeyes held the top spot in the AP Poll for most of the season. Ohio State’s lone setback came in a 13-10 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game, costing them a projected No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. Still, they remain just as dangerous as ever.
Beck has been studying film to get a feel for Ohio State’s defense, as he knows that the outcome will depend on him and the offense’s execution.
“I just kind of tried to get a general culmination of their run-downs and things of that sort,” Beck said. “I haven’t really dived into the specifics of third downs, red zone, situational football. Kind of just watched a couple of games and seen what they do. Obviously, they’re a very, very talented defense. In the back end, the front seven.
“I mean, they can run all over the field, sideline to sideline. They attack the ball well. They swarm. Their DBs are really, really good. So it’s going to be a challenge for us offensively, but it’s a challenge that we’re looking forward to. But we do recognize how talented they are, and we’re going to have to come and execute. And at the end of the day, it will be about us.”
If Beck can lead Miami to beat Ohio State and No. 3 Georgia defeats No. 6 Ole Miss, he would earn a matchup against his former program. As for his NFL draft outlook, draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said that Beck possesses the tools necessary to develop into a successful NFL quarterback.
