Last season, Miami was one win away from things being totally different. That’s all it would have taken to send the Hurricanes to Charlotte for an ACC Championship Game appearance.
One win away from crashing the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff. Instead, Miami collapsed down the stretch. Even with Cam Ward at quarterback, even with a stacked offense, the Canes came up short. Now, in 2025, they stand at a crossroads.
Carson Beck, the former Georgia quarterback, arrived in Coral Gables as a transfer with big expectations. And a big NIL deal. But his start in Miami was delayed thanks to that UCL injury he suffered in the SEC Championship Game. He missed all of spring practice while rehabbing, only recently cleared to throw again.
According to Mario Cristobal, the news is finally trending positive.
“He’s good to go,” Cristobal told ESPN. “He’s exceeding every benchmark”.
Beck has now been throwing for a few weeks. Sure, he still hasn’t had a formal practice with his new wideouts, but this is the kind of progress Miami fans have been waiting to see. There’s no question Beck has the experience—7,426 yards and 52 touchdowns over two seasons as Georgia’s starter—but the dip in his performance last year raised some eyebrows. The hope? With a veteran offensive line in front of him, Beck can get back to playing at a high level.
It's Now or Never for Mario Cristobal and the Canes
The thing is, this isn’t all on Beck. Miami’s defense was terrible last season. The Hurricanes made a bold move by bringing in Corey Hetherman from Minnesota to fix the defense. And there are reasons to believe it can work. Miami’s defensive line has the chance to be elite, and the secondary has been bolstered by a couple of key portal additions.
Still, everything hinges on how quickly this all comes together because the schedule isn’t going to give Miami any breathing room. The Canes open with Notre Dame, then face Florida three weeks later. There’s a world where Miami starts 4-0 and is sitting inside the top 5. There’s also a world where they’re 2-2 and scrambling for answers heading into ACC play.
And that’s the entire dilemma here.
If Miami gets the Carson Beck of 2023 and the defense lives up to its potential, they could finally make the jump from “almost” to legitimate contender. But if Beck struggles to find chemistry with a wide receiver room that lost its most reliable options—and the defense remains more theory than reality—Miami could be looking at another 8-4 season that leaves fans wondering if Cristobal is really the guy to get them over the hump.