The Miami Hurricanes were a kick away from completely erasing their deficit against the Louisville Cardinals on Friday — one that was as large as 14 points in the first quarter and still 11 points in the fourth quarter.
And they were within range for Carter Davis to make that kick with time winding down.
The opportunity never came.
Instead, quarterback Carson Beck threw a game-sealing interception — his career-high fourth of the game — with 32 seconds left to hand the No. 2 Hurricanes a 24-21 loss to Louisville at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami (5-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) was at the Louisville 31-yard line and had two timeouts when Beck threw that final interception on first and 10 with the Hurricanes trailing by three points in a game they never led.
From that position, it would have been a 49-yard field goal attempt for Davis, who was 2 for 2 in the game (hitting from 27 and 41 yards) and has a career long of 53 yards set earlier this season.
The Hurricanes had a balancing act on their hand: Do they play for the tie and force overtime or go for the win?
Here’s how Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal and Beck explained the decision:
“With over 30 seconds left and a couple timeouts, we’re still at 48 yards [out] for the field goal,” Cristobal said. “We’re still going to try to move the ball to make it closer and try to win the game, which is a regular process for us.”
Added Beck: “Obviously it’s a tricky situation when you’re in field-goal range already, but we had a good play called.”
So Beck lined up in the shotgun, took the snap and fired a quick pass to his right for tight end Elija Lofton.
Lofton, however, didn’t seem prepared for the pass. Cardinals linebacker T.J. Capers jumped the route and intercepted the pass.
What happened?
“We just had a miscommunication with the route and what we were doing,” Beck said. “Just ran the route wrong. I went to go throw it because we’re hot off of pressure. He [Capers] made a good play on it, but it definitely didn’t help that we ran the wrong play.”
It left Miami on the wrong end of the scoreboard on Friday for its first loss of the season.
But it was also just the final miscue on a night full of them. Beck threw four interceptions, not just that one with 30-some seconds left. The run game was non-existent with a season-low 63 yards — UM’s worst mark in a single game since 2022. The Hurricanes played from behind all night, going down 14-0 within the first 10 minutes.
“A lot of those mistakes didn’t have to happen,” Beck said, “and there’s a lot we can fix.”
Jordan McPherson
Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.
