24 - 21 We learned two things on Friday night.
Louisville is good enough to make it to Charlotte and win the ACC, and is QB Carson Beck what eventually limits Miami’s ceiling?
First off all credit to the Louisville Cardinals for a spectacular game plan on both sides of the ball. They controlled the line of scrimmage in a way many didn’t think possible. Offensively, they kept Miami off balance all evening with a strong run game and an aggressive vertical passing game. They looked like the better team all evening, and forced Miami into looking like a team that was a shell of what we’ve seen all year.
Now there is no reason to think the Cardinals can’t get to Charlotte. They host Clemson on November 13, but Clemson hasn’t beaten a credible team this year. A game at SMU is still dangerous, but does anyone trust the SMU defense? There isn’t any reason Louisville can’t win out, but we have to see if the Cardinals can harness this type of play. Last year, they hammered Clemson on the road only to lose to Stanford. We’ll see if Louisville can turn this into something more than a one-hit wonder, but when they are right, we know what they are capable of. That’s playing like a playoff-caliber team.
Miami, on the other hand, has enough of a resume that they don’t have to get to Charlotte, and they’ll make the playoffs at 11-1. They could absorb this loss, but there is a massive concern if you are a Miami fan. It’s QB Carson Beck.
Through 5 games, Carson Beck looked like a future NFL QB. He was poised, accurate, and confident. Louisville tonight had him rattled and confused to such an extent that I jokingly said on twitter he was point shaving. He threw 4 interceptions Friday and showed the mobility of a statue.
Can you really count on Beck to win at both SMU and Pitt later this year? The Beck we saw against Louisville loses at least one of those games. Now, Louisville was a big reason for his poor performance, but great QBs find ways to overcome stretches of bad play. Beck never did, and was a disaster the entire game.
Beck looked every bit the QB from Georgia in 2024, who had Dawg fans begging for his departure. If he keeps playing like he did against Louisville, a second fanbase will be doing the same. Yep, he was that bad.
