"I'm a Big Believer of Carson Beck": Mario Cristobal's Declaration Ahead of the NCG
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DOWNTOWN MIAMI, Fla. — One more game for head coach Mario Cristobal before he turns his focus to the 2026 college football season. However, for his star quarterback, this is his final game.
When Carson Beck declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, many knew he would likely have to return to college, but Georgia was not the school that was prepared to welcome him back. Similarly, the Miami Hurricanes opened their arms to Beck, allowing all the negativity surrounding him to enter and snuffing it out quickly.
It was a mutual decision between Cristobal and Beck to work together and prepare his stock for the NFL Draft and the Hurricanes' return to national prominence.
"Sure, it's been a difference maker, a mutual decision," Cristobal said. "Certainly he had to make one, and so did we. What we've all witnessed is a guy who when he has the right supporting cast and the right type of regimen, structure, scheme, play calling, everything that goes with it, and the right type of support, surrounded by the right people, high achievers, the type of people that want to be great and do right by each other, the sky's the limit for him, and I think he's just getting started. I think his best football is still ahead of him, and certainly looking forward to watching him play his best game on Monday night."
Cristobal has seen Beck through his ups and downs and coached him through them.
Through these 15 games, including the CFP, Beck has thrown nearly 4000 yards, has a total of 31 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He has been great and hasn't put the ball in harm's way. He has been a leader and a field general on and off the field.
He has made a believer out of Cristobal, and that belief is what has them in the National Championship game for the first time in over two decades.
"I'm a big believer in Carson Beck," Cristobal said. "Like him, our entire team on November 1, 2025, did not have very much positive energy surrounding them. I think Carson Beck epitomizes the ability to take an adverse situation and turn it into something not only positive but something that helps one grow, endure, and become a stronger and better version of themselves.
"I think he's the most experienced player in the College Football Playoffs, and I think that since the day he arrived, and this shows again how savvy and how experienced he is, he couldn't participate in spring ball, but yet every walkthrough, every meeting, anything post-practice, pre-practice, anything outside of football, he was very much spearheading gatherings, opportunities to galvanize the entire team so that they understood and knew not only did he know what he was doing and that he was a high-level player but that he was willing to do anything for the team.
That's his only concern. He's not very -- he's not caught up in personal accolades or awards. He wants to win, and he's willing to do anything to win."
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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.