Carson Beck’s college career came to a heartbreaking end on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium. A fateful throw into double coverage sealed Miami’s fate in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. And since then, it has been widely dissected, with two NFL legends now lending their take.

“Carson Beck on that throw. I wish he would have let it out. Let it go. Let it out there,” said Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, breaking down the play on Nightcap. “It was almost like a cover two look in a sense. The corner stayed outside, knowing he had help on the inside. So that the receiver was kind of sandwiched. He was kind of sandwiched in a sense. I’m not sure why Beck chose to go that way.”

Shannon Sharpe chimed in with his own assessment of where the ball should have been placed. “It’s got to be over here cause that safety is coming now. Now he’s coming because if you just throw it in the line in which he’s on, it’s going to be a collision, and he’s going to have to hold on to it. I would have preferred, like you said lead him, but I will lead him over here because if I leave it right here, that safety is going to bust his head.”

The throw itself was problematic from the start. It was underthrown and into the teeth of Indiana’s Cover 2 defense. Marion ran a go route down the left boundary with Sharpe in man coverage. The safety help was also lurking over the top. It created the sandwiched scenario Ocho described. The decision to go deep rather than work methodically down the field proved catastrophic. He finished 19-of-32 for 232 yards with one touchdown and the game-ending interception.​

What made the play even more heartbreaking was the disconnect between the quarterback and the receiver. Marion never turned to look for the ball until he crossed the 20-yard line, well after Sharpe had already broken on it. In the locker room afterward, Marion sat with a towel over his head, tears streaming down his face, insisting it was his mistake. 

“I didn’t even know he had threw the ball,” Marion said, his voice breaking. “I got to look for the ball and make that play for him. So that’s all on me.” Carson Beck gave credit to Indiana’s defense and acknowledged the cornerback made a terrific play on a ball that was always going to be difficult to complete. It marked the fourth time in Beck’s six career losses that his final offensive play was an interception with a chance to win the game. It is a cruel footnote to a college career that included 29 touchdowns in 2025 but will forever be remembered for how it ended.​

A career defined by wins, haunted by six losses

In the somber locker room at Hard Rock Stadium, with eye black smeared down his cheeks from tears, Beck tried to put the devastation into words. “For it to end like that is hard,” he said. “It’s really tough, especially to battle the way that we did in the second half. To have a chance to win at the end, it says a lot about us. But to lose it — it really hurts.”

What made the moment even more painful was the pattern it completed. Beck finished his college career with an impressive 37-6 record as a starter. But in four of those six losses, the final offensive play was an interception with a chance to win the game. All three of Miami’s losses in 2025 ended the same way, with a Beck pick sealing the Hurricanes’ fate.​

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Still, Beck tried to find perspective through the pain, expressing gratitude even as the sting of defeat was fresh. “I’m just grateful for that opportunity and this whole team and what we were able to accomplish,” he said, shaking his head. “For it to end this way, it hurts really bad, but it was a hell of a season.” Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson defended his quarterback in the aftermath. He insisted that Beck had nothing to be ashamed about after playing his best football down the stretch.