Quarterback Carson Beck is ‘full go' as Miami Hurricanes prepare for pivotal season
'I texted him that I'm very, very grateful to be able to work with him,' Mauigoa said Tuesday on the Joe Rose Show from Charlotte as part of the 2025 ACC Football Kickoff, 'and I'm not gonna let anybody touch him.'
Beck and the Hurricanes certainly hope that statement holds true.
When the season begins on Aug. 31 with a marquee home matchup against Notre Dame, Beck will make his long-awaited Hurricanes debut. He was limited in spring workouts while recovering from surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right elbow sustained during the SEC Championship Game with Georgia.
But now that he's 100 percent — coach Mario Cristobal on Tuesday said Beck has 'been full go and completely cleared and has participated fully' beginning about two weeks after the team wrapped up spring ball — Beck now has the opportunity to show what he can provide to the Hurricanes. That starts Aug. 31 when the team begins fall practices.
'I'm really excited,' Beck said Tuesday on the Joe Rose Show, adding that he has felt 100 percent 'for a while now.' 'Obviously, the work that we've been able to put in over the summer since I've been able to start throwing again has been really good. I think the thing that I'm most excited about is the mindset and mentality of each one of these guys. ... Their mentality that they've come in with and their ability to learn and adapt very fast and on the fly is very impressive and I'm very excited to continue to work with them as the season goes on and as we go into fall camp, I think it'll be a really pivotal moment for us as we start to head into our first game.'
Miami will be leaning on Beck to keep the team in the College Football Playoff conversation. UM came close last year, starting the season 9-0 before dropping two of their final three regular-season games — at Georgia Tech and at Syracuse — to finish on the outside looking in of both the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game and the 12-team playoff field and ultimately going 10-3 after a loss to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
They excelled on offense last year with Cam Ward leading the offense on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy and eventually being selected No. 1 overall by the Tennessee Titans in the NFL Draft.
And now, they're hoping Beck can provide a quality encore act.
'Carson Beck has done an outstanding job since the moment he arrived at Miami,' Cristobal said, describing Beck as 'Extremely intelligent, [a] tremendous competitor [with a] super high football IQ, accurate arm, strong legs [and is a] strong runner.'
'Great human being, man,' Cristobal added, 'and we feel like we're getting the best version of Carson Beck.'
The best version of Carson Beck is arguably what he was in 2023 at Georgia. That year, he completed 72 percent of his passes for 3,941 yards and 24 touchdowns against six interceptions and it had him in the conversation to be a first-round pick heading into 2024.
He took a step back in 2024. In 13 games, he completed 65 percent of his passes for 3,485 yards and 28 touchdowns but also threw 12 interceptions — tied for the most among quarterbacks at Power 4 schools this season — before sustaining his elbow injury in the second half of the SEC Championship Game.
Beck knows there's outside noise about what he might be able to do for the Hurricanes. While he acknowledged 'everybody's entitled to an opinion,' Beck isn't focusing on that.
'At the end of the day all I really can do is just go in work every single day, try to get better with not only myself, but with my teammates,' Beck said. 'Start building those relationships and continue to try to lead this team as a new player. But as we go into fall. I'm really excited to just get in there with the guys start competing and then ultimately have a great season.'
Added Cristobal: 'Here's a guy that's really motivated, that's won a ton of games and let's call it what it is: Last year at this time, Carson Beck was a projected No. 1 quarterback in the draft, and Cam Ward was the fifth round projection. A lot of things could happen, and they only happen if you focus on doing the things you need to do to be successful and impacting those around you. Carson is 100 percent focused on making Miami better.'
While Beck provides stability at quarterback, the Hurricanes still have to replace a lot of talent from its offense that led the country last season in scoring (43.9 points per game), yards per game (537.2), yards per play (7.57) and third-down success rate (56.25 percent).
Gone are their top five pass-catchers from last season in wide receivers Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George, Isaiah Horton and Sam Brown along with tight end Elijah Arroyo. Those five accounted for 3,594 of Miami's 4,527 receiving yards last season — 79.4 percent — and 33 of 41 touchdown catches.
Replacing them are a slew of younger players looking to take a leap (namely returning receivers Joshisa Trader, Ny Carr and Ray Ray Joseph, plus freshmen Malachi Toney and Joshua Moore along with tight end Elija Lofton) and incoming transfers (notably CJ Daniels, Tony Johnson and Keelan Marion).
So far in player-led workouts, Beck likes what he sees.
'There's so much talent with the coaches and the players just all around the board,' Beck said. 'From what I've been able to pick up, these dudes just go to work, and it's been very exciting to be accepted into the culture in Miami. And not only that, but really build relationships and get around these guys more and more this offseason. The coaches are gone in July most of the time and we have a lot of player-led practices and things of that sort. So being able to just spend more time around the guys and then ultimately build those relationships is something that I'm really excited about, but there's talent all across the board that I'm really excited to play with.'
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