Nick Saban breaks down Carson Beck and says he's playing with more talent now

Shortly after the appearance of Miami head coach Mario Cristobal on ESPN College GameDay, Kirk Herbstreit and Nick Saban discussed the play of quarterback Carson Beck for the Hurricanes. Beck has led Miami to wins over two ranked teams in his first three games with the Hurricanes.

Beck is first in the Football Bowl Subdivision, completing 79.3 percent of his pass attempts and the co-leader in the FanDuel Sportsbook Heisman Trophy odds at +800 with Oklahoma QB John Mateer. Beck has thrown for 812 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions in three games for Miami.

The consensus on Beck is that he appears to be more comfortable playing for Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and having fun again playing football. In an interview with Desmond Howard on ESPN College GameDay, Beck said it was time for him to move on after five years at Georgia.

Beck is playing with confidence. Miami has rebuilt its passing game with Beck and a completely new corps of receivers. Miami lost its top six receivers from 2024. Saban praised Beck and the players around him with Miami.

"He's very comfortable. He's very confident. I think sometimes in the past...the big thing you wanted to do was make him move his feet. That affected his accuracy. Now he's got better players around him here and he's very comfortable in the pocket. He's very confident in what he's doing in the offense and the guy plays smart. He's always well prepared, and he's making a lot of good decisions."

Georgia led the nation with 31 drops in 2024. Beck also struggled at times in 2024, finishing tied for fourth nationally with 12 interceptions thrown. With two interceptions thrown in three games in 2025, Beck is on pace to throw eight this season.

"The other thing he's done a good job of is that's what we used to try to make him do when we played him when he was at Georgia and we were at Alabama. Make him move his feet. He's moving his feet better. He's staying on balance. The receiver does a great job of coming back to the ball here and makes a play that in the past was not something that he normally could do."

In addition to a more reliable receiving corps, Beck is playing behind one of the best offensive lines nationally. Per Pro Football Focus, the 11 times Beck has been pressured in 2025 is the lowest nationally. Beck will be one of the marquee players when Chris Fowler and Herbstreit call Florida at Miami on Saturday night.

"This this does so much for the confidence of the entire team when you go out and execute like this in the beginning of the game." Saban was referring to Beck completing his first five passes against South Florida as Miami scored on the opening drive of the game last week in a 49-12 win.