NC State To Pressure Vanderbilt's Freshman Quarterback
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On Tuesday, Vanderbilt Head Coach Clark Lea made it official by announcing that Jared Curtis will start against NC State.
The Wolfpack will try to make Curtis’ day a rough one on Saturday.
Who is Jared Curtis?
Curtis is Vanderbilt’s true freshman quarterback who will make his first career start against the Wolfpack this Saturday.
“They're off to a 2-0 start and had to come back and win last week,” NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren said. “I know they've been rotating quarterbacks, and it feels like they've settled on a starter with Curtis, a very talented quarterback with a lot of accolades coming out of high school.”
Curtis was a five-star quarterback and number 2-rated prospect coming out of high school, as rated by 247Sports.
Curtis came off the bench last week and gave Vandy a 21-point comeback win over Delaware.
He completed 14-of-22 attempts for 210 yards and 1 touchdown. He ran for 2 more scores in the victory.
“You can see he’s got a big arm,” Doeren said. “He’s a tough kid, runs hard. They’re committed to running the football.”
During his senior year at Nashville Christian, Curtis threw for 2,073 yards and 36 touchdowns with only 6 interceptions while also rushing for 614 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Prepared For The Challenge
NC State will be in a better spot than it was in Week 0, when the team admitted after the game that they weren’t prepared for the number of quarterback runs Virginia showed.
The Wolfpack won’t let that happen again. Doeren said they’ve corrected those issues.
“I thought we fixed it,” Doeren said. “We have film on their offense with these quarterbacks playing in it. You have a better feeling for how they’re going to use them.”
Andre Cherry’s Quick Thoughts
When offering his thoughts on both of Vandy’s quarterbacks, Doeren commented, “They're not guys that just slide,” he said. “They seek contact, and they run through people. They're tough kids.”
At 6’3” and 230 pounds, Curtis is a type of player who doesn’t shy away from contact. Look for players such as captain Popo Agguire (LB) and Harvey Dyson III (LB) to bring the pressure.
The Wolfpack need to make things uncomfortable for Curtis on Saturday. Make him look like a true freshman playing against an ACC defense.
Because in my mind, there’s no doubting that Jared Curtis will be a household name in college football.
I just hope it doesn’t come this weekend against NC State.
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Andre Cherry began covering college football in 2010 through his CherryPickin podcast network. Andre originally hails from Chicagoland and is a proud Illinois State alum. He has lived in Philadelphia since 2014 and has previously covered Temple Football. Andre has a broadcast journalism background and got his start in media at WSCR the Score. He’s written for Fox Sports, Bridgehead Media, cinéSPEAK Journal, and IPMF.
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