The Hurricanes’ loss to SMU was a brutal defeat. Miami effectively lost the game when quarterback Carson Beck threw an overtime interception, allowing the Mustangs to win with any score on the subsequent drive.

UM is still feeling the ramifications of that loss — it could potentially cost the Hurricanes a shot at the College Football Playoff — but there was one bright spot that might have escaped most observers.

“I saw it in the SMU game. We didn’t play well. We got beat,” UM offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “But I left that game and I’m like, ‘(Carson Beck is) about to start playing his a– off because the balls were going to the right place at the right time, his comfort level in the pocket, the lay of the way everything was going.

“I was very pleased with the way that game unfolded with him, other than a few plays. I mean, obviously, we lost the game, but I’m just talking about his progression in our offense. Like that game. I was like, ‘All right, now he’s about to start taking this and running with it.’”

In Miami’s two games since losing to SMU, Beck has done well. His performance against N.C. State last week was arguably his best game of the year. And UM will need him to keep rolling as they enter their final two games, which could determine whether the Hurricanes will make the playoffs.

The veteran quarterback is near the end of his one season as a Hurricane after transferring from Georgia. He has had his ups and downs this season. High points include a four-touchdown game against Florida State and a season high in passing yards against USF. But he also had a four-interception game that proved costly in a loss to Louisville, which was the worst game of Beck’s long career.

Beck had 291 yards and three touchdowns in Miami’s win against N.C. State last weekend. He completed 77.8 percent of his throws, and two of the passes he threw were dropped, giving him an adjusted completion percentage of 85.2 — his best mark of the season against FBS competition — according to Pro Football Focus.

PFF gave Beck a 91.8 passing grade in the win, which is his best grade in a game this season by far. The site credited him with a season-best four “big-time throws” (defined as “a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window”).  Dawson said UM receivers caught every 50-50 pass sent their way, which is rare.

Beck had, by far, his best day when throwing deeper passes. According to PFF, he completed 75 percent of his passes between 10-19 yards and two-thirds of his passes of 20 yards or more. Against FBS competition, his completion percentage on deep balls was a season high, and his completion percentage on medium-range passes was his second-best mark of the year (behind his game against SMU). Both marks from the win over the Wolfpack far outpaced his season average.

After the win, Beck said that it took time for him to fully feel like himself again after undergoing offseason elbow surgery and missing spring practice.

“I didn’t play football for eight, nine months and went through a whole elbow reconstruction,” Beck said. “And again, not only is that a mental thing, that’s a physical thing.”

“We knew that coming into this, it was going to be some type of work in progress. And I knew that, mentally, because it’s such a big mental hump. The last time that I went to go throw a football (at Georgia), I got hit, and my elbow tore. So every time I throw the football, it’s like that’s what my mind is thinking about.”

Beck has overcome that feeling during the season. On Wednesday, he clarified that by the time the season began, he felt comfortable in the pocket again. But it was still an adjustment process when playing live football where opponents were trying to hit him.

“From Week 1, (I felt comfortable),” Beck said. “I think more of what I was trying to say is that it takes time to settle back into it. Not necessarily that I didn’t feel comfortable, if that makes sense. Like, I mean, Week 1, Notre Dame, I played a bunch of football. I felt comfortable out there. I was with the guys. We got the reps. I knew the offense. I knew the reads. I knew what Notre Dame was going to do against us. And then obviously, so on and so forth. But when you don’t play football for a long time, and they’re able to hit you, it’s a lot different of a game than when it’s in practice.”

Beck’s overall performance this season has been solid, if not a Heisman-worthy campaign like his predecessor, Cam Ward, had last year. Through 10 games, Beck has 2,485 yards and 18 touchdowns with nine interceptions. Pro Football Focus gives him an 80.8 passing grade, which is 25th out of 120 quarterbacks nationally and fifth out of 17 ACC quarterbacks with 200 dropbacks this year.

If he keeps getting better, he could keep the Hurricanes rolling through December and potentially into January.

“So (the performance against SMU) just instilled confidence in me,” Beck said. “To be able to perform like that and go back and watch the film and be like, ‘OK, dang, I played pretty good. This is good. Moving forward, we can build on this. We can add to that performance.’ So, again, it all started to click, and again, it’s just trying to get better each and every week.”

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/20/hurricanes-beck-clicked/