College Football Playoff

Doubt If You Dare

Published January 10, 2026 | By Jason Bishop

By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The final offensive play Miami ran to earn a spot in the national championship had not been called by Shannon Dawson in a game this season.

Considering Miami’s offensive coordinator called a season-high 88 plays in final four 31-27 win against Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl — and more than 1,000 throughout the season — it’s noteworthy Dawson still had something the Rebels hadn’t seen yet.

It probably helps explain why Ole Miss left the entire left side of the field open for quarterback Carson Beck to tuck the ball and waltz his way into the end zone with 18 seconds left.

“We’ve been repping it probably for the last three games in that situation — for about a 4- or 5-yard-line play,” Dawson said. “We had a little condensed set (three receivers to the left) and were throwing an option route to Malachi (Toney). They covered it well and Carson just made a play, which was awesome. Sometimes we talk about at quarterback, if you exhaust your reads, go make a damn play. That’s what he did.”

Dawson’s play calling and Beck’s decision-making haven’t always produced pleasing results for the Hurricanes. There were probably some who questioned why Dawson called a pass play 3 yards from the end zone with 24 seconds left and a timeout still in Mario Cristobal’s pocket.

Miami had pounded the ball down the Rebels’ throats all night, and an Ole Miss sack or interception would be disastrous. Yet Miami’s coordinator and head coach were on the same page. It was time to put the game in Beck’s hands.

“I was gonna throw it there, and if I didn’t get it, I was gonna run it on third down,” Dawson said. “And then we would see, right?”

Dawson never had to figure out what to call on third down. Instead of forcing the ball to Toney in tight coverage and putting the ball in harm’s way, Beck made the right decision.

He’s done that a lot over the course of Miami’s seven-game win streak. While Beck is not putting up flashy numbers and continues to struggle connecting with receivers downfield (he was 1 of 7 on throws of 15-plus yards in the Fiesta Bowl), the Georgia transfer play is not hurting his team.

That’s as big a reason as any why Miami is advancing.

Beck’s teammates came to him after his midseason struggles and told him to let his mistakes go. They urged him to play free and reassured him they had his back.

When it was his turn to lead Miami down the field for the winning drive in the Fiesta Bowl, Beck said he told his teammates he had their back, regardless of the outcome.

“He’s a perfect example of a guy who just feels supported,” Cristobal said. “He’s hungry, he’s driven, he’s a great human being and all he wants to do is want to see his teammates have success. And that’s what we witnessed tonight.”

What did Beck’s teammates see late in the game from the Fiesta Bowl’s offensive MVP? Determination.

“All he said was, ‘Let’s go score,’” said CJ Daniels, who caught an 8-yard pass from Beck on third-and-6 with 1:25 to go to keep Miami’s final drive alive.

“The first thing he told me when he got here was if you wanna go win the natty, you’ve got to believe. Everybody knows he’s been through a lot. The whole world criticizes him. I just know I wouldn’t want to play with any other quarterback.”

Beck threw his second interception since the SMU loss — a span of 195 passes — on a batted ball on his final pass of the third quarter. He closed by completing eight of his last 13 passes in the fourth quarter for 93 yards and two touchdowns.

Keelan Marion, who led the Hurricanes with seven catches for 114 yards (including a 52-yarder for a touchdown on a busted coverage), said he went to Beck on the final drive and told him to get him the ball because he was confident he could beat whoever was covering him. Beck trusted him. Marion caught three passes on the drive, including the last two for first downs.

“Everybody doubted that guy,” Marion said, “and he’s been proving them wrong game by game.”

Is Beck capable of leading Miami to one more win on the Hurricanes’ home field against Indiana?

He’s 37-5 as a starting quarterback. It would be foolish to doubt him now.

Posted in College Football, Miami Hurricanes | Tagged Bishop Media Sports Network, College Football Playoff, Indiana Hoosiers, Robert Craft, Southern Sports Edition, The Reason Miami Hurricanes Will National Championship Is Carson Beck

Georgia Bulldogs Playoff Run?

Published December 10, 2025 | By Jason Bishop

By: Colin Lacy

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

For the 16^th time in program history, the phrase “The Georgia Bulldogs are SEC Champs” rings true in 2025.

After a dominant 28-7 victory for the Dawgs over the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia moved to 12-1 on the season and earned the #3 seed in the College Football Playoff.

The lone blemish on the schedule for the silver britches coming in September to Alabama, but the Georgia team that avenged that loss in the SEC Title game against the Tide is night and day different from the one in late September.

Georgia has won 9 consecutive games including 3 of those against teams in the top 25 rankings and look to be playing as impressively as anyone in the country entering the College Football Playoff.

While there are numerous factors that contribute to the success down the back stretch of 2025, to me one of the most overlooked is the consistency at offensive line for the Dawgs.

In the first 6 games of the season, Georgia had to utilize 6 different offensive line combinations and left guard Micah Morris is the only O-Lineman to start all 13 games for UGA.

Since then, there has been more consistency up front. While there have still been injuries, most notably center Drew Bobo going down in the regular season finale against Georgia Tech and not playing in the SEC Championship, the other four positions have virtually found their homes and has provided the stability the offense needed.

Injuries and resiliency have been a theme for this Georgia team, especially on offense.

With injuries throughout the past few weeks to Chauncey Bowens, Colbie Young, and others, it has forced some unsung heroes to step up into big roles.

With running back Chauncey Bowens out for the past two weeks, Nate Frazier has obviously taken even more of the load, but the bruising back of Josh McCray has elevated his role for the Illinois transfer.

The wide receiving core has been touch and go the past few weeks with Colbie Young dealing with a lower body injury. Noah Thomas took an enormous step forward, especially with a couple touchdown catches against Texas. That said, Thomas missed most of the SEC Championship game with illness so it fell on the shoulders of Zachariah Branch to lead the wide outs.

Hard to believe that we’ve gotten this far without mentioning Gunner Stockton. The first-year Georgia starter at quarterback has arguably been the most consistent high-producing quarterback in the SEC.

After setting a career high 304 yards in his first true road test of the season against Tennessee, Stockton has been rock-solid steady for the Dawgs both through the air and on the ground.

While the rushing numbers aren’t Heisman-style eye-popping, it feels like every time the Dawgs need a yard or two or a pocket is collapsing, Stockton is able to get exactly what the red and black need to keep the drive alive (oh and usually taking a big hit in the process).

The offense gets a ton of praise, and rightfully so, but while it may not be littered with 1^st round NFL draft picks this year, the Georgia Defense has been efficient and effective all season long.

CJ Allen and KJ Bolden have grown into enormous leadership roles and names like Daylen Everette and Jonel Aguero have been as productive as anyone in the SEC in the secondary.

Georgia will have a couple of much-needed weeks off before their Sugar Bowl appearance in New Orleans to face the winner of the first-round match-up between Ole Miss and Tulane.

It gives the #3 Dawgs a chance to lick their wounds and be as healthy as they potentially have been in a month or two going into the playoff run and try to get back to the National Championship