Carson Beck Prepares for the 'One of the Best Defenses in the Nation'
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CORAL GABLES — Quarterback play this season for No. 10 Miami has been up and down. A lot more good than down, but the lows from Carson Beck's Louisville game still linger in the minds of every Hurricanes fan.
It also lingers in the mind of his and head coach Mario Cristobal. Against Stanford, he was reeled back in from his Superman antics against the Cardinals and had another good and consistent game.
Beck threw 21-28, for 189 yards and a single touchdown. It wasn't the Heisman-level game maybe he would have liked to see, but it was also important for him to get back on track. Cristobal liked what he saw in his shake-back game and wants the same approach for the rest of the season.
"Consistency, accuracy, decision making, and the ability to improve it even more," Cristobal said. "We had a chance to really connect in our last–we scored six of the last seven drives. We could have been seven for seven. And the opening drive, even though we reduced the amount of offensive pre-snap penalties, we had one on the first drive, and it certainly hurt us. But thought that when we were all on the same page, the execution was at a much better level, and there's an appetite to continue to get better, improve."
Read More: Everything Mario Cristobal Said Ahead of Facing Familiar Faces at SMU
However, there is a new challenge that poses a threat to Beck. The SMU Mustangs are one best teams in the country at turning the ball over. The Mustangs are tied fourth in the country in interceptions (12), but they do give up a ton of yards.
Beck prepares for them knowing that he has to be careful with the ball.
"In my opinion, it's one of the best defenses in the conference, if not the best, and definitely one of the best defenses in the nation," Beck said as he prepares for the Mustangs. "If you watch it from an aspect of turnovers and you look at their D-line and what they're able to do, you know, creating havoc in the run game and just honestly being able to be physical and kind of push people around, is one of their strong suits.
"So, and again, that's what I feel like we do well. So, you know, that's going to kind of be the key to the game, you know, who's able to kind of win that battle, right? And again, like I said, they're really talented on defense, and they do a really good job. So again, they're going to pose a challenge for us, but just looking forward to having that opportunity to go out and execute and continue to have good practices and build them as we lead up to Saturday."
This is a similar game to Louisville. Another tough ACC opponent for the Canes that could turn into a defensive chess match for both teams. Beck might have to win the game for the Canes in the later parts of the game, and his IQ will have to be out of this world.
He has the capabilities to do it, and he looks to shine when he get's the chance to do it.
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.