ARLINGTON, Texas — The move that helped spring the biggest play in the biggest Miami win in two decades was so small you probably missed it.
Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson didn’t. A week and a half later, he’s still raving about it as the kind of high-level decision outsiders overlook when they criticize the player who made it — the lightning-rod, seven-figure transfer whom coach Mario Cristobal calls one of the “most misunderstood” people he’s ever been around — quarterback Carson Beck.
It happened with four minutes left in the College Football Playoff first-round slugfest at Texas A&M. Before the snap, Beck saw an Aggies safety creeping toward the line of scrimmage. He flashed a quick gesture to wide receiver Keelan Marion, bringing him from the left side of the formation to the right.
That one flick of Beck’s non-throwing arm put Marion in position to block the safety and allowed running back Mark Fletcher Jr. to burst into the void where the defender could have been. Without that adjustment, perhaps Fletcher gets stopped after 5 or 6 yards. With it, Fletcher powered 56 yards to set up Malachi Toney’s game-winning score in Miami’s 10-3 triumph.
“To me,” Dawson said, “that’s as good as throwing an 80-yard touchdown.”
Granted, 80-yard touchdown passes were part of the expectation when Beck transferred from Georgia last offseason. He didn’t receive a compensation package in the $3 million range — enough to make him one of the nation’s highest-paid players — because he knew when to motion a receiver a few yards to the right. He got it because he displayed first-round talent while leading one of the SEC’s most explosive passing attacks for the Bulldogs two years ago. The Hurricanes were willing to bank on him rebounding from an inconsistent 2024 and the elbow injury that ended his Georgia tenure in last year’s SEC title game.
His performance at Miami has been somewhere in the middle — good but not as gaudy as you’d expect for a blue-chip talent in his third season as a starter, especially when compared to last year’s portal addition, No. 1 draft pick and Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward.
Beck ranks in the top 20 nationally in touchdown passes (26), yards per attempt (8.5), passing yards (3,175) and passing efficiency (163.83). The only player with a better completion percentage than Beck (74.5) is the quarterback on the sideline in Wednesday’s Cotton Bowl, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin (78.4).
Beck has also thrown another 10 interceptions; over the past two seasons, only five players have tossed more than Beck (22). His Georgia replacement, Gunner Stockton, has only five picks in his 14 career starts.
However, the plays Beck makes (or doesn’t make) with his surgically repaired right arm might not be the best way to judge him. The number Dawson prefers is 11: The wins Beck has led Miami to, the highest mark for the Hurricanes since 2003.
“Shoot, to be in this position in the Playoff, winning our first Playoff game, getting to this opportunity to be in the quarterfinal, I would say up to this point it’s been a successful season,” Beck said.
And Beck deserves at least some credit for making it happen, in part by avoiding the invisible pitfalls that could have derailed this promising season before it began.
Adding a one-year patch at quarterback — especially one who used to roll in a Lamborghini — can taint a locker room. The speed-dating nature of the portal that gave Cristobal and his staff little time to vet Beck added another layer of questions.
Eleven and a half months later, the Hurricanes know Beck as a goofy but stabilizing voice with the right intangibles to lead one of the eight remaining championship contenders.
“He loves to just be around the guys,” wide receiver CJ Daniels said. “That kinda helped our chemistry on and off the field.”
Beck and the Hurricanes also could have spiraled after their two defeats because of how they played out. Beck threw four interceptions against Louisville and two more at SMU; Beck’s picks were Miami’s final offensive snap in both games.
Dawson didn’t know what to expect after the first one because of how demoralized quarterbacks can get after throwing an interception that effectively ends a loss. He found out the next morning when Beck was in the football building on an off day and already rebounding.
“I was like, ‘Damn, this kid’s a pro,’” Dawson said.
Dawson saw it again at Texas A&M with another flash of what he calls his quarterback’s superpower: A refusal to get frustrated.
On a windy day at Kyle Field, Beck had 31 passing yards in a scoreless first half. Younger players would have been flustered. Beck focused on the big picture. He saw the Aggies’ defense wearing down, so he told his coach on the sidelines that the Hurricanes could run through A&M’s front.
“Coach, just run,” Beck said. “Let’s go straight at them.”
Beck didn’t harp on it, but his input tilted Dawson’s calls. Miami’s final six plays: run up the middle, run up the middle, run up the middle, run up the middle, run up the middle, then Beck’s game-winning jet sweep toss to Toney.
“Ultimately,” Dawson said, “he was right.”
For Dawson, it was a reminder that the most important stat for Beck wasn’t his passing yards (103 in Round 1), completion percentage (70.0) or even interceptions (0). It’s winning — something Beck has done in 35 of his 40 career starts for one of the highest winning percentages (.875) of any active quarterback.
“There’s not too many quarterbacks that’s played this level of football that’s gonna end their career with the record he’s got,” Dawson said. “He’s won a lot of football games and a lot of big ones.”
With the chance Wednesday to win the biggest one so far.