Carson Beck fell out of favor at Georgia last season and is already considered a hero after one game at Miami.
That’s what happens when a quarterback guides his team to a 27-24 victory over No. 6 Notre Dame in his program debut.
The No. 10 Hurricanes never trailed Sunday night but saw a 14-point, second-half lead slip away before Carter Davis drilled a game-winning 47-yard field goal with 1:04 to play.
Beck completed 20 of 31 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns. He connected on 12 consecutive passes at one point and didn’t throw an interception.
Let’s get this part straight: He’s not going to be Cam Ward, last year’s Miami quarterback who was selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft[1].
But it will be a huge boost for the Hurricanes if Beck resembles the 2023 version of himself, when he passed for 3,941 yards and 24 touchdowns while completing 72.4% of his throws with only six interceptions.
Beck’s interception total doubled last season, and his completion percentage dropped to 64.7%. The criticism mounted, and Georgia fans weren’t crushed when he sustained a season-ending elbow injury on the final play of the first half in the SEC Championship Game win over Texas.
So Beck moved on to Miami in the offseason, frequently saying football is fun again.
Of course, so is winning. And the Hurricanes made enough plays on both sides of the ball to show they’ll be a serious national contender this season.
“I got out there and felt surprisingly comfortable,” Beck said afterward[2]. “I’m not in this alone. I have teammates around me that make plays. I just have to get them the ball.”
Miami’s path is manageable. The only currently ranked teams left on its schedule are No. 15 Florida and No. 16 SMU.
The Hurricanes are trying to wipe away the sting of last season, when they started 9-0 but lost three of their final four games to miss the College Football Playoff.
Beating Notre Dame makes for an awfully good start.
The Fighting Irish showed resilience with a 17-point fourth quarter after struggling to get in sync offensively.
Redshirt freshman CJ Carr played better in the second half of his first career start and finished 19-of-30 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Carr needed time to settle in early[3] but displayed poise well beyond his experience during a 7-yard touchdown pass to Micah Gilbert early in the second quarter. He retreated nearly to the 30-yard line before scrambling forward and spotting Gilbert on the run.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman admitted he was thinking, “Throw it away!” as Carr drifted backward before turning it into a score.
“We don’t draw them up like that,” Freeman said. “But those are plays that CJ Carr can make.”
Freeman chose Carr over third-year sophomore Kenny Minchey in a tight fall camp competition.
He felt he made the right decision then, and what he saw Sunday night reiterated his confidence.
“His ceiling is so high,” Freeman said. “He’s going to have to take this loss and not let it eat at him too much. He’s a gamer. He performs when the lights are on. He prepares his tail off. He’s going to do great things. It’s just the start for him.”
Notre Dame has a bye next weekend, giving the Irish time to assess the positives and negatives of Carr’s debut. But he looks like a quarterback who can develop into a star.
Consider Beck among the impressed observers.
“First start at quarterback, and CJ Carr came out and played a hell of a game,” Beck said.
The Irish play No. 19 Texas A&M in two weeks and will need star running back Jeremiyah Love (33 yards on 10 carries) to regain his 2024 form.
Notre Dame surely wants to avoid an 0-2 start. The Irish lost to Ohio State in last season’s title game and intend to make another run this season.
Based on first impressions, Carr looks like he’s up to the task.
References
- ^ who was selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft (deadspin.com)
- ^ Beck said afterward (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ Carr needed time to settle in early (deadspin.com)