MIAMI — Carson Beck hasn’t run a 40-yard dash in years, he said, but he can still remember the time he posted.
“Four-seven,” he grinned. “And people still think I’m slow.”
OK, Beck isn’t exactly winning a sprint against Usain Bolt with that speed, but it hardly qualifies him as slow. What it did qualify him for, after he showcased his wheels on a 3-yard scramble into the end zone to secure Miami a trip to the College Football Playoff National Championship (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN), was a new nickname: Vanilla Vick.
“I heard it,” Beck said, “and I died laughing.”
Safety Jakobe Thomas appeared to be the originator, dubbing Beck as Miami’s version of Michael Vick, one of the sport’s all-time great runners, during a postgame media scrum following the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
Beck isn’t the first wannabe to garner the nickname, but Thomas insists it wasn’t his idea. He had heard one of the offensive assistants call Beck “Vanilla Vick” in the celebration following his go-ahead touchdown against Ole Miss. Which one? That’s lost to history.
“He could’ve gotten it over the course of the year,” said offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson, “but I hadn’t heard it.”
Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. was no help either.
“I didn’t hear it until after that game,” he said. “But it’s fitting. He did his thing.”
It’s possible, offensive lineman Samson Okunlola said, it has been around for a while or was a spur-of-the-moment thing. With this team, it’s hard to tell.
“People be giving out new nicknames here every day,” Okunlola said.
Regardless, the moniker isn’t so much an homage to Beck’s mobility — he had just 19 scrambles during the regular season — as it is an honorary title meant to underscore just how ridiculous his postseason performance has been. With all due respect to Beck’s supposed 4.7 speed, it’s a little like calling a left tackle “Tiny.” It’s less a literal descriptor and more a sign of love from his teammates.
“He said he’s willing to die for this,” Fletcher said. “That’s what he told me. That just shows how much of an ultimate competitor he is. He’s willing to do anything to win. And seeing him run — it’s a beautiful thing.”
It’s not that Beck has never run with the ball, but it’s clearly not a key feature of his game. His eight non-sack run plays against Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl were a career high. Two of his career games with at least five carries have come in these playoffs.
Through three playoff wins this year, Beck has rushed for 63 yards — not counting sacks. That accounts for more than a quarter of his career rushing total.
“I’ve always said I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win a football game,” Beck said. “Nothing else really matters. If that’s handing the ball off or running for a first down or throw whatever route, I’m willing to do it.”
This latest addition to Beck’s arsenal, however, has been a revelation for the Canes — and something Dawson had been pushing to see as the season wore on.
In Miami’s 24-14 win over Ohio State in the quarterfinal, Beck’s 11-yard run around the left side on a third-and-11 was a critical play on a late drive. His scramble for the touchdown against Ole Miss a week later was a career-defining one.
Miami’s offense is predicated on a veteran QB able to go through his reads — “Progressions are sacred to me,” Dawson said — and Beck has been exceptional at acting as a point guard in the pocket.
But there are times when no one has been open.
Witness the touchdown to seal the Fiesta Bowl. Malachi Toney was the first read. He was covered. Then there was CJ Daniels across the back of the end zone. He was covered, too. Then there was tight end Elija Lofton in the flat. Nope.
Beck rolled out to his right and looked back to Toney again. Still nothing. He looked to Daniels again. Then, he turned and scrambled back to his left and — “nothing but green grass,” he said.
And yet, as Dawson said, the other runs — for 2, 3, 5 yards — have helped define this playoff run.
“There’s going to be times where you just exhaust all your options, and you’re standing there with the ball,” Dawson said. “Ultimately, what you do in those times — you can get 5 or 55. I don’t know if he’ll give me 55, but second-and-5 is a lot better than second-and-10. I’ve urged him to get those dirty yards. It makes the next call different. He’s been very aggressive in those situations over the last month, and it’s allowed us to stay in rhythm.”
On 33 offensive drives in the playoff, Miami has gotten at least one first down on all but three.
That has been Beck’s real magic — the boring, dirty, small chunks that have kept the Canes ahead of the chains. And against a team as fundamentally sound as Indiana, Beck’s ability to go through his progressions and find yards on every snap will be essential, Dawson said.
Of course, Beck’s “Vanilla Vick” routine has caught the attention of Hoosiers DC Bryant Haines, too.
“That’s a huge step he’s made is, if his first and second option aren’t available, he’s running, and he hasn’t put his offense in peril,” Haines said.
For much of the past two seasons — first at Georgia, then Miami — Beck was criticized for forcing plays when nothing was there. It resulted, too often, in interceptions, which cost his team heavily in losses to Louisville and SMU earlier this season.
Now though? There’s a Plan B.
“He’s [always] making it a positive play,” Haines said.
And a big step for Beck might not be the fastest step, but it’s an impactful one.
“He’s been making a lot of plays with his legs,” offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa said. “But he does whatever he needs to do to put the team in a position to win, and that’s what great leaders and great quarterbacks do.”
