GLENDALE, Ariz. — Just off the University of Miami's campus, there's a bar somewhat hidden from the bustle of this city.
The Sunset Tavern is where locals go, tucked behind a pizza joint at the intersection of Highway 1 and 58th Street, and then you must walk down a dark alley to this dive bar, strung with Christmas lights and featuring, usually, a live band. During Carson Beck's first week in Miami last January, after his stunning transfer from Georgia, the quarterback and the school's executive director and ace recruiter, Dennis Smith, sneaked away for a chat about life.
"Carson Beck was as broken of a human being I've seen," Smith recalls on Thursday night from this Phoenix suburb in the wake ofMiami's 31-27 semifinal playoff win over Ole Miss. "He didn't want to go back to college. Had no choice. People ran him out. Confidence problems. Very angry at the world."
Smith pauses to catch his breath. He composes himself and gestures toward a confetti-strewn celebration with Beck, of all people, at its center — the MVP of the Fiesta Bowl, the hero helping resurrect The U, the guy so many love to hate.
"Here he is," an emotional Smith says, "a product of a kid who kept running the marathon."
Carson Beck ran right into the end zone here on Thursday, right into history, into lore and legend status. In the stat sheet, it will only show a 3-yard run on second-and-goal with 18 seconds left.
But it meant so much more, right? On his scrambling, game-winning touchdown, Beck toted across the goal line anger and frustration building now for more than a year, releasing it all in a rocking celebration as Hurricanes fans erupted in a fitting display of a glorious return.
This is their resurrection moment.
The U is back.
After more than two decades in squalor, perhaps the industry's most colorful and richest brand, the goliath of South Florida, the so-called Convicts themselves, with their gold chains and Starter jackets, their throwback pants and snazzy fedoras, The U is back.
"I knew the Hurricanes would eventually get there. If I said we'd be here in January 2026, I'd be lying, but things come together," says Dan Radakovich, the Miami athletic director who took over four years ago simultaneously with the arrival of the school's prodigal son, coach Mario Cristobal.
"We did it in 1983, '87 and '91, winning national championships at home," he continued. "Let's see if we can do it again."
Hard Rock Stadium, here come your Canes.
"We haven't been home for a long time," said Cristobal, a Cuban-blooded former Miami player and native of the city. "We've been on the road five straight games."
Cristobal burst out of the postgame locker room, embraced players as they left the field and then smiled at nearby reporters, quipping aloud, "My head is f***** spinning! I'm ready to go watch the tape. We should have scored 10 more points!"
What a story this is.
The 10th-seed team in the 12-team playoff —the last at-large selection into the field— is playing for it all. It's four years in the making.
A head coach in December of 2021 who returned to his home to be with his ailing mother only to watch her pass in front of his eyes. A quarterback who last January left one powerhouse in Athens, Georgia — a place of pain for him — to find new hope on South Beach.
An electrifying freshman, perhaps the best rookie in college football, receiver Malachi Toney and his celebrated nickname: Baby Jesus.
God, was he good.
And don't forget arguably the best defensive front combination in the sport this year, Rueben Bain and Ahkeem Mesidor, athletic freaks who did enough to slow the Rebels (13-2) and end their storybook tale.
But on this night, in this game, within State Farm Stadium, one person stole the show.
"Carson F****** Beck!" yelled a Miami staff member as Beck, teary-eyed and almost numb with excitement, stared longingly into the stands here.
Is this real?
After all, he left Georgia in a shocking move last winter, signing a $4 million contract with the Hurricanes — believed to be one of the largest monetary figures for a player in the sport at the time. He endured a public breakup with his girlfriend. He missed spring practice, unable to throw for four months as a shoulder injury healed.
"When we got Carson Beck, everybody is like, 'Why are you getting him?!'" Smith recalls. "I still had people this week — THIS WEEK! — questioning Carson Beck!"
Beck was down. But out? No way.
"It's been unbelievable," Beck said. "Almost exactly a year ago I made a decision to come to this university. I was sitting in Jacksonville in my house in my room talking to Coach Cristobal and we were talking and we said, 'Let's get to work.' I believed in this vision.
"It's never easy. Lots of ups and downs. We showed that we don't fake it. This team is real. We banned together and believed in each other."
So many wrote these guys off after their second loss on Nov. 1 at SMU.
No way they can do it now. Another disappointing season in Cristobal's fourth year. Millions of NIL-related payments to some of the country's most talented players wasted.
"We knew what it took to get to this point," said Cristobal, whose team moved to 13-2. "They weren't settling for just getting to this point. Narratives take over social media but this game has never been about that. These guys proved that Nov. 1 — 69 days ago — they would bring energy every single day."
This one felt extra special, delivering a knockout punch to the big bad SEC, now absent from a national championship game for a third consecutive year. With both conference commissioners watching from the field — Greg Sankey and Jim Phillips — the ACC struck a victory over their southern rival league.
In fact, Miami's road here featured some high hurdles: a win in one of the country's most difficult settings at No. 7 seed Texas A&M; beating defending national champion and second-seeded Ohio State in Dallas; and then ending the Ole Miss Rebels' magical season with coach Lane Kiffin in Baton Rouge.
"I always believed Miami deserved to be in the playoff," said Phillips, the ACC commissioner. "[The ACC] is 9-4 in the bowl season and 7-2 against Power Four teams. I think Miami has had the most challenging path."
With them the entire way was Beck, a seasoned playcaller who in the most critical moments of the game-winning drive salvaged this unpredictable postseason march.
Down three points with 3:13 left, Beck and the Hurricanes sliced down the field on a 15-play, 75-yard haul of a drive. Running back Mark Fletcher, overshadowed on this team of stars despite his 133-yard night, gained four yards to convert a third down. Beck found a lunging CJ Daniels on a dig route to convert a third-and-6 by a single yard. Then, down the center of the field with 59 seconds left and on third-and-10, the quarterback hit Keelan Marion in stride for, perhaps, the biggest of his 268 yards passing. He found Marion again with 37 ticks left to set the stage for the grand finale.
On second-and-goal from the 3-yard line, and within a tying field goal range, Cristobal and Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson decided to go for the win since they had one remaining timeout. They called a pass play.
Beck was supposed to dump the ball to Toney, running a short route at the goal line. But Ole Miss defensive backs covered the play. Beck ran right, wheeled around to escape a would-be sack and then darted left.
In front of him, he saw nothing. No defender. Just grass.
"He saw an opening. The Grand Canyon is up the road," Radakovich says laughing, "but for him, it was right here!"
For the last month, Dawson has told Beck to run more on scrambles.
"Finally," Dawson chuckled, "he did it." In fact, Beck had scrambles of 8 yards to convert a third down in the third quarter and another for 11.
"That's the man with the plan," Marion said, gesturing to Beck. "Everybody spoke down on that kid and spoke bad on him, that he was this and that and he proved everything wrong. He never came to the media and said nothing. He proved everybody wrong game by game. Say what you want about it. We know who he is."
A winner. The MVP. The star of the 2025 Miami Hurricanes.
"He deserves this," Dawson says. "He deserves this moment. Been a lot of people doubting him. I don't think he gets the credit or respect that he deserves."
Dawson fumbled around for more words afterward when realizing that there will be no jet needed for the trip to the championship game.
Miami is coming home.
"I don't know if I can put that into words," Dawson says. "We get to play for a national championship at home. It's surreal. Goddang!"
Is The U Back?
Said a smiling Beck: "It sure seems like it."
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Just off the University of Miami's campus, there's a bar somewhat hidden from the bustle of thi...
