Mario Cristobal reveals how Carson Beck has responded to struggles vs. Louisville

After jumping to No. 2 in the country following its 5-0 start to the season, Miami was upset at home by Louisville last Friday night. This handed the Hurricanes their first loss of the year and dropped them seven spots to No. 9 in this week’s AP Poll Rankings.

Miami quarterback Carson Beck struggled mightily against the Cardinals’ defense. Beck, who had been present in Heisman Trophy conversations, passed for 270 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions in the three-point loss. That number would have been five, but another interception was called back due to a Louisville penalty.

Heading into Saturday’s matchup against Stanford, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal discussed how Beck is responding to those struggles. The matchup against Stanford looks a little more challenging now, as the Cardinal knocked off Florida State 20-13 last Saturday night. The ‘Canes beat FSU by six points three weeks ago.

“We’ve seen him handle it very professionally,” Cristobal said. “I make sure that every player and every staff member knows that we win together and lose together. Finger-pointing won’t exist here. Besides making these guys better football players, you have to make them better men and better people.”

Beck must clean up mistakes if Miami wants to make CFP

“In life, that is a hard, cold lesson you have to learn when things don’t go well and everything’s coming down and people want to point at you,” Cristobal continued. “You man up, get off the ground and go back to work. That’s the expectation. That’s all we’ve seen, and that’s all we’ve seen going forward.”

Beck, who was the No. 1-ranked player in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings, hasn’t quite lived up to that ranking. Through six games, the Georgia transfer boasts 1,484 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Although he has looked strong at times, his inconsistency has held him back from a strong senior season.

Following the loss to Louisville, Beck received criticism for comments he made about the final play of the game. Cristobal, however, continued to defend his quarterback on Monday.

“Like I mentioned there, that’s something that’s very new to me,” Cristobal said. “And you bringing that up, but there is no hint or inkling of any blame being passed around to anybody in our room, our locker room, or our building.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s game between No. 9 Miami and Stanford is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ESPN.