Miami's Mario Cristobal suggests change to Heisman Trophy process

With his quarterback, Carson Beck, one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy after six weeks, Miami coach Mario Cristobal suggested it's time to reconsider the process for awarding college football's top honor.

Appearing on the Pardon My Take podcast on Wednesday, Cristobal declined to weigh in on the Heisman race itself, but he had other thoughts on the matter.

"The only thing I would wish for the Heisman Trophy, that it was awarded when all the games are done," Cristobal said. "That whole award before these postseason games are played is absolutely bizarre to me. I can't comprehend it, never will."

The deadline for Heisman votes is Dec. 8, with the award announced and presented on Dec. 13. The College Football Playoff doesn't start until Dec. 19-20, with first-round games.

Per the latest odds from Bet MGM, Beck has the second-best Heisman odds at +600 entering Week 7 behind only Oregon quarterback Dante Moore (+500). Both Moore and Beck opened the season at +2000 odds, but the Heisman race has seen plenty of shakeup since then, with preseason favorites like Texas QB Arch Manning, Clemson QB Cade Klubnik, and LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier all falling out of the picture.

"I can honestly say our guys really don't care -- they really don't," Cristobal said when asked about the Heisman race. "... I watch a lot of football, like I'm a manic about it, so I see a lot of crossover tape -- there's a lot of great college football players out there. ... But the most important thing for us is I just gotta make sure our guys are taking care of business and getting ready for a great practice tomorrow."

Beck, the high-profile transfer from Georgia, has passed for 1,213 yards, 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions (plus a rushing TD) while leading No. 2-ranked Miami to a 5-0 start with notable wins over Notre Dame, Florida State, South Florida and Florida. He was at his best in the Hurricanes' 28-22 road win over then-No. 18 Florida State, completing 20 of 27 passes for 241 yards and 4 touchdowns with no picks.

Miami had success last year, making a splash in the transfer market in landing quarterback Cam Ward from Washington State. Ward went on to finish fourth in the Heisman voting last year while leading the Hurricanes to a 10-3 season.

Beck was one of the biggest names in this last transfer cycle, along with QB John Mateer, who transferred from Washington State to Oklahoma and is also part of the Heisman race. Beck, a fifth-year senior, spent the last four years at Georgia, including the last two as the Bulldogs' starter.

"Watching Carson's film there's a lot of really good film there. I just thought schematically they were very different, the supporting cast was a little bit different, and I thought our offensive line and our supporting cast suited him really, really well," Cristobal said.

"I thought he was a strong arm, accurate arm, extremely intelligent, understood protections really well, put them in the right kind of runs. He understands numbers, leverage, angles in the run game, the screen game, and he's a grinder. He understands football, and he takes in new concepts really, really quickly. He's a really quick study with a super high football IQ, so we thought it was a perfect fit."