QB Beck gets his chance to win a title as a starter with UM, but falls short
Carson Beck’s dream was to play for a national championship — and win it as the starter.
On Monday night, the University of Miami quarterback got his chance.
But for the third time in three losses this season, the Hurricanes’ final offensive play was a Beck interception. The sixth-year senior finally entered the media room around midnight with dazed, red-rimmed eyes.
“It really hurts,’’ Beck said. “It’s hard the way it ended.’’
Beck and the Hurricanes had their chance with a final drive that began on their 25-yard line with 1:42 left in the game. But Hoosier Jamari Sharpe intercepted a first-down pass at the Indiana 41-yard line and No. 1 Indiana defeated the No. 10 Hurricanes 27-21 for the national title on UM’s home field.
Sharpe, a Miami Northwestern alum, is the nephew of Glenn Sharpe, the player who was called for the fateful pass interference that led to Ohio State’s double-overtime national championship victory against the Canes in the Fiesta Bowl after the 2002 season
. Indiana became the first FBS team to go 16-0. Miami finished 13-3.
Beck completed 19 of 32 passes for 232 yards, a 22-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Toney with 6:37 left and the underthrown interception that was intended for Keelan Marion but picked off at the 6-yard line. Beck started the drive with two incompletions but got a huge break when Mario Landino was flagged for roughing the passer, giving the Canes an automatic first down.
Beck completed consecutive passes of 11 yards to Marty Brown, 7 yards to Toney and 6 yards to CJ Daniels at the Indiana 41.
Timeout Indiana, with 51 seconds remaining. Then, the interception
.UM’s other two losses with game-ending picks were against Louisville and SMU. In the seven games before Monday’s, he threw two, both in wins.
“It’s really tough — especially to battle the way we did in the second half after not coming out too strong in the first half,’’ Beck said. “But for a group that faced adversity early on and battled our way back to even have a chance to win the game at the end says a lot about this team. Just super proud of these guys and super thankful for them.”
Beck, who played his first five seasons at Georgia but was the backup during the Bulldogs’ national title runs in 2021 and 2022, finished the season completing 338 of 467 passes (72.3%) for 3,813 yards and 30 touchdowns, with 12 interceptions.
The pain of overcoming surgery after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of his right elbow during Georgia’s 2024 Southeastern Conference Championship victory — he wasn’t even cleared to throw again until a week after spring practice ended — was long gone by Monday.
The pain of his career-ending college game will linger for quite some time.
“It’s going to sting for a while,’’ he said.
Canes receiver Daniels, who finished the night with four catches for 62 yards, called Beck “a great player willing to overcome anything.’’
“The whole world wrote him off,’’ Daniels said. “He got us here.”
Next comes the NFL Draft, in which Beck is projected to be chosen on the second or third day. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said last week that Beck “could be a career backup.’’
Beck didn’t discuss his NFL future, but said he was grateful to have played for coach Mario Cristobal, who told his players that he loved them after the loss. The quarterback said it was the best year of his life
.“For me, my entire life changed — 365 days ago I was in a really dark place and trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel was a difficult thing. Just a lot going on mentally, physically and emotionally. To be able to fight through the roller coaster that life is, I really couldn’t have done it without all these people around me. This university truly saved me and helped me rebuild into the man I am today.
“It hurts really bad, but it was a hell of a season.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 2:44 AM.