Dec. 25, 2025, 12:37 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Former Georgia<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Beck had a rough performance against the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.”<\/p>\n However, after Miami won, McFarland gave credit to the Hurricanes after the win<\/a>, though he didn’t retract his criticism on Carson Beck. Still, the Hurricanes play the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes<\/a> 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<\/a> Rebels, Beck will face his former team. However, Miami should be relying more on their running game and defense than Beck.<\/p>\n