''There's Still So Much Left Out There''
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – One is a battle-tested veteran that has seen and experienced just about every high and low in college football, from the joy of winning a championship to enduring the pain and uncertainty of a season-ending injury.
The other has played in just five college games, celebrated his 18th birthday last month and would still be sitting in a high school classroom this fall were it not for his decision to reclassify and join the Hurricanes sooner rather than later.
Quarterback Carson Beck and wide receiver Malachi Toney are in two very different places on their respective college football journeys, but on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium, the pair helped spark the Hurricanes in a 28-22 win over rival Florida State.
The victory was Miami’s first in Tallahassee since 2019. It extended the Hurricanes’ season-opening win streak to five games, gave them their eighth straight win over an in-state opponent dating back to last season and helped Miami move up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25.
Beck, Toney and the rest of the Hurricanes passing game helped make all of that possible.
The quarterback, a sixth-year redshirt senior, completed 20 of 27 passes and threw for 241 yards with a season-high four touchdowns, numbers that helped him earn ACC Quarterback of the Week honors, along with Davey O’Brien “Great 8” and Panini Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week recognition.
The freshman receiver, meanwhile, had seven catches for another team-high 107 yards with two touchdowns. Fellow receiver CJ Daniels also had two touchdown catches.
Given that none of them – not Beck, Toney, or Daniels – were on Miami’s roster last fall, that Beck didn’t even participate in spring drills and Daniels was limited while recovering from injuries, and that Toney was playing in the first road game of his career, the performance Saturday night, in hostile territory, was even more impressive.
“He was on fire,” Miami head coach Mario Cristobal said of Beck. “He did a great job. … He made a lot of really, really good plays, and at the end, almost made another one … His leadership, the way he pours into his preparation, into his teammates, everything about him just screams winner and we’re glad he is on our side and certainly looking forward to [him] getting better.”
Added Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson, “Carson doesn’t get affected get affected by anything. There’s not an atmosphere that’s going to affect him. He’s very calm. He’s in control of everything. He’s out there changing stuff, whatever, all the way until the last second at times. I don’t worry about him. He’s played a lot of football in some of the best venues in America. Now, Toney, on the other hand, hasn’t played as much football, but the game is not too big for him. He plays the game as if we’re playing it on Greentree. He doesn’t really get too caught up in the outside stuff. … I appreciate that with him, being a young guy. … He focuses on the play and the execution of the play. I thought we handled the atmosphere well.”
More than well.
With Beck, Toney and Daniels leading the way, the Hurricanes scored 28 unanswered points to build what was ultimately too big a lead for Florida State to overcome, even with a late fourth-quarter rally.
In the final minute of the first quarter, Beck capped a 9-play, 79-yard drive with a touchdown when he and Daniels connected on a short, 4-yard scoring pass.
In the second quarter, Beck and Toney turned a Florida State turnover into points when, immediately after an interception of Seminoles quarterback Tommy Castellanos, they connected on a little bit of trickery: a flea flicker that resulted in a 44-yard touchdown.
Another scoring pass, this one a 40-yarder from Beck to Toney, would follow in the third, as would a 24-yard scoring pass from Beck to Daniels.
And when the game was over, the quarterback and his receivers said it was the work they did leading up to the game that helped make those plays possible.
“I felt really good. I thought our bye week, we got to work, and we fixed a lot of little things,” Beck said. “[There’s] still so much room for improvement for us on the offensive side of the ball, but again, I thought our best practices all year were the bye week and this week leading up to it. I mean, the intention was there. The focus was there. We came out and we executed, and I think that’s why practicing hard and practicing well always translates over into the game, especially coming and playing on the road.”
Said Daniels, “I think it starts in practice, man. We do a lot during the week that a lot of people don’t see. We’re grinding really hard [during] the week to give our quarterback trust and just let him know that we’re going to make those plays for him. So, I think it starts during the week, Monday through Friday. And it leads up to this.”
There was, of course, plenty of acknowledgement, too, of what Toney has brought to the table for the Hurricanes.
A former four-star prospect at American Heritage in Plantation, Toney earned scholarship offers from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State, and yes, Florida State, before choosing Miami.
His speed, athleticism, and skill set helped him earn the 2024 Nat Moore Award as South Florida’s top high school football player and he led American Heritage to a 12-2 record and a state championship, even playing a little bit of quarterback along the way.
That experience under center has helped him transition to the college game and helped him build chemistry and rapport with his quarterback.
“I mean, I’ve said this from the jump, the first time I met him. There’s just something different about the kid. I don’t know how to explain it,” Beck said of Toney. “Just the way he carries himself, who he is. I mean, he’s in the facility nonstop, 24-7. We meet together. We go over practice film, we go over game film, we talk routes, we talk coverages, we talk everything. He’s such a smart kid, too, which I think helps at the wide receiver position. I mean, I’m pretty sure he played quarterback during that state run they had at American Heritage. … I believe that a quarterback that’s played wide receiver, a wide receiver that’s played quarterback understands the game so much better. He shows that just by the way that he plays. Obviously, he’s just uber talented, but I mean, he also puts in the work, and he deserves all the success that he’s had this year.”
Said Toney of his experience working with Beck, “He knows the game. He’s been around football for a long time, so every chance I get, I just ask him questions, watch film with him because he’s feeding me knowledge and one day, he won’t be here with me, so I can feed that knowledge to guys younger when they come in … Yeah, I played quarterback in high school for the last five games. My state championship game, I went 15 for 15. … I think it me a little bit. It helped me a lot, just studying the game, knowing the game from the quarterback and receiver perspective.”
Still, as well as Toney’s played, as well as Beck’s played, and as well as the passing game looked against the Seminoles, the Hurricanes believe they can be even better.
Even before leaving Tallahassee, they noted there’s still room to grow and plays to make.
And that mentality could be the difference in helping Miami ultimately become the team it wants to be.
“We’re playing really good complementary football, but at the same time, there’s still so much left out there,” Beck said. “I mean, you go watch the Notre Dame game, you watch the Bethune-[Cookman] game, you watch the USF game, you watch the Florida game and I’m sure we’re going to go back and watch this game and there’s just so many little things, little mistakes, little plays that are just left out there for grabs, or we give them something, or we give up something ourselves. I think if we can eliminate those mistakes and stop shooting ourselves in the foot sometimes, we can be really dangerous and really, really good.”
