Column: Clark Lea Should Name Jared Curtis the Starter Tuesday

NASHVILLE – Four minutes into the third quarter of Vanderbilt football’s 35-26 win against Delaware, it felt as though the quarterback competition for the Commodores was unquestionably put to bed. And objectively, it should be.

Down 17-14 to the Blue Hens coming out of halftime, Vanderbilt had to find rhythm or else it was in deep trouble of falling into the trap of a huge upset. The Commodores got the ball to start the third quarter and it was five-star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis that got the nod to start the second half.

Nine plays later, Vanderbilt took a 21-17 lead off a drive that was capped off by a Curtis rushing touchdown, his second of the day. With Curtis driving the Vanderbilt offensive bus to escape Delaware, it was as clear as could be that Curtis had created the great separation everyone had been waiting for in the quarterback battle.

Curtis finished the game with 210 yards, one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns in the game. In fact, every possession Vanderbilt scored on, Curtis was the quarterback in the huddle. The answer could not be more clear at this point: Curtis has wrapped up the quarterback competition.

Not only that, but Curtis should be named Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback for the rest of the season when Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea takes the podium for his weekly Tuesday press conference.

Going into the game against Delaware, Lea felt like it was the right choice to play two quarterbacks because he wanted more clarity on what exactly he had at the quarterback position. Berlowitz was the one that should know the playbook and execute it better than Curtis, who is continuing to grow in the system. But at the end of the day, Lea wanted more reps for both of his quarterbacks.

In his mind, it was the more volume of opportunities each quarterback got, the more knowledge he gained from his guys.

After Saturday, though, Lea – and quite frankly everybody else – should know he does not have to take that approach anymore. With what transpired on the field of FirstBank Stadium, two games worth of data from the two quarterbacks should be more than enough information to declare that Curtis is the rightful starting quarterback for the Commodores the rest of the way.

The numbers and the offensive execution both speak for themselves. Again, Curtis was the only Vanderbilt quarterback to lead touchdowns drives against Delaware. The same cannot be said for Berlowitz. Berlowitz's first drive resulted in a three-and-out punt. On his second drive, Vanderbilt had the ball for four plays and only 11 yards. In all his drives combined, Berlowitz and the Vanderbilt offense could only muster up four possessions that totaled just 53 yards on just 14 total plays. The longest one, which went 34 yards, ended in a Berlowitz fumble.

Meanwhile, Curtis got better as the game went on. It was visible to see him get settled into the game and get more comfortable with executing the offense. Not only that, but Curtis was able to produce two second-half touchdowns to support.

Vanderbilt gave as many chances to win the starting job for good to both quarterbacks. The competition has gone on quite a long time with the coaching staff seemingly arriving at a stalemate up until this morning.

That sentiment should go away now. The competition has gone too long at this point and there is no reason to keep it going any longer. Vanderbilt’s schedule only gets tougher from here on out with 10 consecutive power conference games to end the season.

Continuing to keep the quarterback battle going for even one more week would be a mistake because it would throw either one of the quarterbacks to the wolves to begin SEC play. It is time Vanderbilt names Curtis the starting quarterback. And it should happen Tuesday afternoon, if not, sooner.

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