Carson Beck came to Miami to win a national championship. His chance at that has arrived

“I'm here for something more important,” Beck said.

Nothing more really needed to be said. What Beck — a member of two national championship teams at Georgia — meant was clear. He chose Miami as the transfer destination for his final season of college football because he wanted to compete for another national title.

And, by the slimmest of margins, he and the Hurricanes have that opportunity. Miami, the No. 10 seed in the College Football Playoff, will travel to face seventh-seeded Texas A&M (11-1) in a first-round game on Saturday. The Hurricanes (10-2) were the final at-large team selected for the CFP field; No. 11 Tulane and No. 12 James Madison are ranked below Miami but got in as conference champions.

“This team is excited to compete,” Beck said. “We’re excited to go out there and show the product and the brand of what ‘The U’ is and what it stands for and the culture of who we are. We've been preparing our butt off and we’re ready to go compete.”

Among active players with at least 15 starts, nobody in major college football has a better record than Beck's mark of 34-5. With 10,984 yards so far in his career, he's the leader among active players at the FBS level. Among FBS quarterbacks with more than 50 passes attempted this season, Beck was No. 2 nationally in completion percentage. He connected on 74.7% of his throws; Ohio State's Julian Sayin completed 78.4% for the top spot. And Beck put up those numbers even after a midseason slump of sorts where he threw six interceptions — not all his fault — in losses to Louisville and SMU.

It's sometimes hard to remember that at this time last year, Beck was facing a most uncertain future. He was preparing for major surgery that would basically rebuild his elbow. He had to decide between entering the NFL draft or picking a new school for this year, since it was no secret that he and Georgia would be parting ways. And when he came to Miami, he had to wait months before he could do any throwing.

Over the four-game winning streak that got Miami into the playoff, Beck completed 79.5% of his throws for 1,125 yards, 11 touchdowns and one meaningless interception.

“To see a guy that came in under so much scrutiny and having to recover from surgery and everything else to grow like he’s grown — and now come down to the end playing his best football down the stretch, I think it’s awesome,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “It’s awesome to see how he approaches each and every day. He is really, really driven. His practices have been outstanding. Happy for these guys, but happy in the sense that I got to push him more.”

Beck will shatter the Miami record for single-season completion percentage (he could go 0 for 39 against Texas A&M and still be ahead of the school-record pace that No. 1 draft pick Cam Ward set last year). He set another school record with 24 consecutive completions. Now, he has a chance to do something that no Hurricanes quarterback since Ken Dorsey did in 2001. He has a chance to lead Miami to a national championship.

“It's crazy how much can happen in a year,” Beck said. “Here we are, right? It’s been one hell of a year and there’s been a lot of adversity that we’ve had to face as a team that I’ve had to face individually.”

Texas A&M's defense doesn't give up much, ranking 19th nationally in yards allowed (eight spots behind Miami on that list). And Kyle Field, the Aggies' home, is notoriously difficult for visiting teams.

But Beck has seen just about everything, which gives Miami tons of confidence.

“He’s been in big games. This is nothing that he hasn’t been in,” Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “I do think that that matters. And so, his poise is going to be basically contagious through the whole group.”

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