Clark Lea Hoped To Have A Quarterback Decision On Saturday. He Doesn't, And That Says Something
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NASHVILLE—Clark Lea walked up to the podium in Vanderbilt’s post game press conference room 10 days ago and delivered as off brand a remark as he’s made in the past calendar year. It was so unlike him that everyone involved had to watch it back to make sure they heard him right.
When Lea addressed Vanderbilt’s quarterback timeline and his potential timeline for naming a starter, he was oddly transparent. Either he already had someone in mind, was speaking out of turn or had conviction that either Blaze Berlowitz or Jared Curtis would’ve passed the other up so dramatically through 10 days of camp that it would be an easy decision.
Saturday, Lea sent the message that the decision is more difficult than his initial timeline would indicate. Before he was asked about his quarterback battle, he came out and said it. Vanderbilt isn’t ready to name a starter yet.
In reality, Lea was never going to at this stage. He was always going to need to see more. Even if he didn’t need to, he wasn’t going to show his hand to the public this early–particularly if he believes Curtis is the leader in the clubhouse.
Lea has set the precedent through other quarterback battles that he's overseen he’s not one to rush to judgement or lean into his preconceived notions, at least publicly. His last quarterback battle played out until the morning of Vanderbilt’s first game. Others went back and forth for an entire season.
There’s been no indication from Vanderbilt’s end that Lea would rule out playing both quarterbacks if it best positioned Vanderbilt to win, but flip flopping at the most important position on what could be Lea’s most talented all-around Vanderbilt team yet could be risking wasting its potential. Lea has to get one quarterback and run with him. As a result, he’s going to continue dragging this thing out.
“There hasn't been enough consistent play,” Lea said Saturday. “I'm going to take the time through next weekend to get another shot at it and be really deliberate this week. But, it's going to be those two guys competing.”
And, Lea is right.
Berlowitz is significantly better than he was this time a year ago and hasn’t been pushed out of the way by Curtis, but he hasn’t put on a show or managed Vanderbilt’s offense flawlessly. Curtis has made the best throws of camp, but also some of the worst ones and still appears to be going through freshman growing pains. Both could start and give Vanderbilt a chance to win, but neither would be among the SEC’s best performers at their positions if the season started on Saturday.
At some point, the fact that there hasn’t been much separation has to play a more significant piece of the evaluation. It may already be doing so.
How Vanderbilt interprets that is up for interpretation. Curtis’ case is that he’s much further from being a finished product than Berlowitz is and could rapidly improve in a way that Berlowitz likely can’t. Vanderbilt could benefit from riding the highs and lows with him whereas doing the same with Berlowitz doesn’t open it up to the same ceiling. Berlowitz’ case is centered on Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck being able to open up more of his playbook and lean on Berlowitz’ experience.
But, Berlowitz would have been named the starter by now if he had taken full advantage of those things. Curtis never would’ve been brought in. Perhaps Berlowitz gives Vanderbilt the best chance on September 5 against Austin Peay, but Vanderbilt has to evaluate the long game here.
“I don’t envy being in the offensive coordinator’s position right now,” Vanderbilt linebacker Nick Rinaldi said. “There’s a few good prospects there and I’m excited for where that’s headed.”
If Berlowitz is going to be the guy around here, he should’ve already separated and proven himself to be the guy. He’s the one with the experience in the system. He’s the one that doesn’t have to navigate the learning curve that comes with moving from a small private school to an SEC program. Berlowitz has the leg up here in some regards, and Curtis has still been neck-and-neck with him throughout all of camp.
On Saturday, Curtis was the clear winner. For the second day in a row.
Curtis isn’t above freshman mistakes, but Vanderbilt’s offense is just more dynamic with Curtis than it is with Berlowitz–and Saturday was evidence of that. Curtis gave it away a time or two, but he had the best two or three throws of the day and moved his groups down the field more consistently than Berlowitz did.
In some moments on Saturday, Curtis is a superhero completing passes with his feet off the ground and making something out of nothing. They’re the types that make the media core on hand question why this is a competition in the first place. Curtis often comes back to earth, but allows Vanderbilt to dream of things that nobody else does. Saturday, it was easy to dream.
“I thought today, in particular, was Jared’s best day,” Lea said. “From a consistency standpoint, I thought he operated well. I thought you saw some of his play creativity come out today, too, and sometimes that's hard to script in practice.”
Lea says Curtis’ biggest area of necessary improvement is clearly related to the speed of the game, and isn’t ruling out the idea that things could slow down for him dramatically in the next two weeks. Judging by Saturday’s scrimmage, Vanderbilt will clearly give Berlowitz and Curtis each every chance to win this thing.
But, the way this thing feels coming out of Saturday is that Curtis is on the verge of a real breakout and that he’ll earn the job after more stretches of demonstrating that he’s put it all together. Nobody around Vanderbilt will say it at this point, but this is Curtis’ job for the taking.
He’s just got to take it.
“There’s glimpses of brilliant play, and then there's also moments where it feels like the operation comes to a gridlock because we're not processing at the speed we need to process at,” Lea said in regard to Curtis. ”The greatest challenge for us is not judging him for that right now. We have the luxury of having two more weeks here and coaching him through it to see where we can get him, to see if he is capable of being the guy that we rely on. And I thought today was a positive step.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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