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Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck gave it a valiant effort but his team came up just short in the college football national championship against the Indiana Hoosiers.
Most of the criticism against Beck was for how he handled the loss in the immediate aftermath rather than his play on the field. Beck was seen running off the field without meeting his opponents for a postgame handshake.
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Miami quarterback Carson Beck is sacked by Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher during the first half of the College Football Playoff national championship game, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Beck didn’t address why he just ran off the field. But he appeared to be shaken up during Miami’s final drive of the game. He was hit hard by an Indiana defender after he threw a pass, which garnered a roughing the passer call on the Hoosiers.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel suggested that Beck may have been hurt on the play.
“The other factor in that play was Carson Beck took a late hit from the Indiana defensive tackle, what was it, two or three plays before that?” he said on the “College GameDay Podcast.” “And he did not look right. He didn’t look right just in the locker room. So I walked by him and I said, ‘Hey Carson, how are you feeling after that hit.’ And he said, ‘My ears are still ringing,’ and there was a few accentuators that you wouldn’t hear Rece Davis say in sentences, but you’d probably hear Dan (Wetzel) and I say pretty much every day there.
DETAILS EMERGE AFTER MIAMI STAR SEEN THROWING PUNCH AT INDIANA PLAYER FOLLOWING NATIONAL TITLE LOSS
Miami quarterback Carson Beck passes against Indiana during the first half of the College Football Playoff national championship game, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
“And he clearly was like, his bell was rung, he was in pain. Obviously emotional in the wake of the loss. But you have to think that that hit had something to do with that performance. You get smashed like that illegally, you know. Now he did not get hit in the head, but he clearly, it was like upper chest.”
He was 19-of-32 with 232 passing yards, a touchdown pass and the game-sealing interception.
Beck later reflected on his lone season with the Hurricanes, calling it the best year of his life.
“And not because we made the national championship, not because won a bunch of football games or we made great plays or things of that sort. Man, for me, my whole entire life changed,” he said.
Miami quarterback Carson Beck warms up before the College Football Playoff national championship game between Miami and Indiana, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
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“You know, 365 days ago, I was in just a really dark place, and I was trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was a really difficult thing. There was just a lot going on, mentally, physically, emotionally, to be able to battle and fight through the roller-coaster that life is.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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