Carson Beck makes Lane Kiffin’s offseason quip look foolish after lifting Miami to national championship game
The Canes’ starting QB got the last laugh over the Rebels and their former coach on Thursday night.
The Miami Hurricanes made some waves last offseason when they secured quarterback Carson Beck out of the transfer portal from Georgia. While NIL figures aren’t revealed publicly, the belief was that he was being paid in the neighborhood of $4 million to come play for the Canes.
Some notable individuals scoffed at that. One year later, it’s Beck who got the last laugh.
Beck earned Fiesta Bowl MVP honors on Thursday night in Miami’s thrilling 31-27 win over Ole Miss in the first College Football Playoff semifinal. He was 23/37 passing for 268 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also trotted in the end zone from three yards out with 18 seconds left for the game winner.
Now, Beck has proven that he was worth every penny of the NIL compensation he got to go to Miami. And those who doubted him seem a bit foolish, including the former head coach of the team he just beat in Lane Kiffin.
Lane Kiffin made a joke about Miami giving money to Beck, referencing Ole Miss’s win over Beck and the Bulldogs
During the offseason, Kiffin went on the “The Pivot Podcast” with Channing Crowder, Fred Taylor and Ryan Clark, and the topic of Beck came up. Kiffin, in typical Kiffin fashion, took a dig at Beck, Miami, and the deal.
“Miami gave him 4.3 million dollars?” Kiffin asked. He followed that up with, “did they watch his game against us?”
Kiffin is referencing the 2024 game between Georgia and Ole Miss, which the Rebels won in Oxford 28-10. The Georgia offense struggled, with Beck completing 20/31 attempts for 186 yards and an interception.
Beck proved he was worth the investment that Miami made in him
However, Beck showed against those same Rebels a little over a calendar year later that sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery for things to work out. Despite a shaky first quarter, Beck settled in and delivered a number of big throws. He hit Keelan Marion in stride for a 52-yard touchdown to give the Canes the halftime lead.
But it was in the fourth quarter where his experienced and poise showed up. He engineered two touchdown drives with the Canes trailing. On their final drive, he completed two clutch third down throws to keep the drive alive. And as he’s done a lot more during the playoff, when nothing was there, he made a big play with his legs. And it was the biggest one of the year for Miami bar none.
The Hurricanes have bowled their way over the opposition for most of the season with a bruising offensive line and run game and a nasty defense. But when the Canes needed two fourth quarter rallies, Beck put the team on his back and delivered in the biggest way possible.
Miami now stands to earn $23 million for making it through the first three rounds of the College Football Playoff, and without Beck’s heroics, they would have been short $9 million of that total. That’s a heck of a return on investment for the program.
Many, like Kiffin and The Pivot Podcast hosts, made light of Beck’s move to South Florida. But now, it’s Beck and Miami laughing all the way to the bank.
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