Miami Hurricanes quarterback star Carson Beck has the ability and opportunity to perform at the highest level of college football, but Mike Elko's goal is to take that away.
The Texas A&M Aggies found tremendous success this season, not only with their offense, but causing chaos at the line of scrimmage. They finished tied for the most sacks in the nation, 41 total, alongside the Oklahoma Sooners. For a team to have the ability to erupt offenses right after snapping the ball shows great resilience.
Redshirt senior Cashius Howell led the charge with 11.5 sacks, most in the SEC, along with 29 combined tackles, 19 solos and 14 assists, plus 14 tackles for loss. He's expected to be a first or second-round prospect in the upcoming NFL draft. Similar to Hurricanes' defensive linemen Rueben Bain Jr., the 22-year-old will have an opportunity to raise his stock even higher.
Carson Beck has an opportunity to make program history by leading the team to a victory in their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. However, it won't come easily with the defensive lineman preparing the line-up on the other side. The Hurricanes' ability to protect him will be crucial for his performance.
Momentum is on the 23-year-old's side, especially in the fashion he concluded the regular season. In the last four games, Beck completed 89 of 112 passes, 79.5 percent, for 1,125 yards, recording 11 touchdowns and one interception. It was his best stretch as a member of the Hurricanes, and it couldn't have happened at a much better time.
It's been nearly a full year since Beck underwent UCL surgery after suffering the injury in the SEC championship game while on the Georgia Bulldogs. It's a unique comeback story for a player who had to reconstruct himself from the ground up.
Aggies' Mike Elko recently commented on the "importance of making him uncomfortable":
"I think he's an extremely talented quarterback," he said. "I think you see that throughout the year. Obviously, he does a really, really good job of delivering the football. They got a really explosive passing attack, different variety of screen, short game, pushing the ball down the field, and I think he delivers it all very well, very accurate. They're very talented at wide receiver. Obviously, trying to figure out a way to get that out of rhythm will be critical. Not a lot of teams have been successful doing that. You have to go to work and come up with a good plan on how to try to create a little bit of indecision for him and at least try to muddy the waters a little bit as best we can."
Beck has been in this environment before, which gives him a leg up compared to most players on the Hurricanes roster. However, Mario Cristobal will have everyone ready for an exciting battle on the football field. The first-round matchup will take place at College Station, Texas, on Dec. 20th at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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