Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson emphatic that Miami can win the national championship: 'You're damn right we can'

No. 3 Miami has lived up to its strong preseason expectations through five weeks of the college football season, as it already holds strong wins over No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 18 USF and Florida ahead of its massive showdown against No. 18 Florida State this weekend. The ‘Canes moved up to No. 3 in the AP Poll this week, marking their highest ranking since November 2017.

Ahead of Miami‘s fourth in-state showdown of the season, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson joined Thursday’s edition of ‘First Take‘ to do some promotion for his new film ‘The Smashing Machine.’ ESPN‘s Stephen A. Smith asked Johnson about Miami‘s ceiling, and he was emphatic that it can win the National Championship this season.

“How about the ‘Canes,” Johnson said. “No. 3. Mario Cristobal. You’re asking a Cane if we can win it all… you’re damn right we can win it all!”

Before he took the wrestling and Hollywood world by storm, Johnson played defensive tackle at Miami from 1990-94. Alongside football great Gino Torretta and Miami‘s current head coach Mario Cristobal, the Hayward, Cal., native helped bring a National Championship to ‘The U’ in 1991. Following his college football career and brief stint in the CFL, Johnson (who evolved into ‘The Rock’) took over the WWF/E before transitioning full-time to acting in the mid-200s.

Urban Meyer issues challenge to Carson Beck ahead of FSU game

Transfer quarterback Carson Beck has been good, but not great, through four games. He boasts 972 passing yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Ahead of this weekend’s clash with the ‘Noles, legendary head coach Urban Meyer challenged Beck to take care of the ball.

“Here’s my question. Carson Beck, to me, when I watch this guy play, he looks like a Heisman candidate, he looks like a first-round draft pick and then he throws three interceptions in two games,” former coach Urban Meyer said on The Triple Option podcast. “That’s what got him at Georgia if you guys remember. He just did not take care of the ball. This guy’s going to leave a lot of money on the table in his career, not just in the draft process.”

And it’s not so much that Carson Beck has thrown the occasional interception. Often it’s when he’s throwing it that matters most. In their game against Florida, he had a costly turnover in the second half that could have swung the game. Florida’s offensive ineptitude kept it from hurting Miami, but better teams will take advantage.

“He’s got to take care of the damn ball,” Meyer said. “I don’t know enough about him, I don’t know how he’s coached. Is he taking too many chances he can’t take? Because you watch this cat play he can do it all. He can make every throw, he’s athletic, he’s got good size, great release, great arm and then all the sudden wait, what? Three interceptions in two games.”

Beck has thrown all three of his interceptions in the last two games. He’s simply got to get that cleaned up as the ‘Canes hope to march towards the College Football Playoff. The Seminoles will take advantage if given the opportunity. And if the Hurricanes want to avoid last year’s fate of narrowly missing out on the Playoff, it’s games like these that make the difference.

Kickoff between No. 3 Miami and No. 18 Florida State is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday night. The game can be seen on ABC.

On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this article.