Dec. 25, 2025, 12:37 p.m. ET

Quarterback Carson Beck faced criticism for his performance despite the Miami Hurricanes winning their College Football Playoff debut.ESPN analyst Booger McFarland was a vocal critic of Beck’s play against the Texas A&M Aggies.Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. had a career day, helping to secure the victory for the Hurricanes.Miami will now face the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal.

Former Georgia Bulldog Carson Beck won his College Football Playoff starting debut, but he did it with some backlash. A lot of people were critical of Beck’s performance, including ESPN analyst Booger McFarland, who posted on his X account about how Miami has no chance at beating Ohio State with Beck at quarterback. He wrote “For public consumption, Texas A&M needs to win because they may be able to at least pinch Ohio State. Miami has zero chance with Carson Beck.” He has since deleted his post.

Beck had a rough performance against the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies, throwing for just 103 yards and a touchdown on 20 attempts. He was bailed out by a career day from junior running back Mark Fletcher Jr., who ran for 172 yards on 17 carries and an excellent performance from the Hurricanes defense.

However, he did just enough to win the game against the Aggies, handing off an end around to true freshman Malachi Toney for a game-winning touchdown with 1:50 left in the fourth. Texas A&M made it all the way to the Hurricanes five-yard line, but on 3rd and-5, Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed threw an interception in the end zone to Bryce Fitzgerald.

Despite the win, Booger McFarland criticized Beck nearly the entire game, even responding to a Dan Orlovsky tweet by saying “I’d rather have you than Beck.”

However, after Miami won, McFarland gave credit to the Hurricanes after the win, though he didn’t retract his criticism on Carson Beck. Still, the Hurricanes play the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl, which is a playoff Quarterfinal. If the Hurricanes win against the Buckeyes and No. 3 Georgia wins against the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels, Beck will face his former team. However, Miami should be relying more on their running game and defense than Beck.

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