There's A Right Option In Vanderbilt Football's Quarterback Battle, And Clark Lea Should Know That.
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NASHVILLE—It’s July 19, 2022 when Clark Lea lets it go. He knows that a firestorm is coming and that his program probably can’t immediately back up what he just said, but he doesn’t care. Let them poke fun. Let them say it’s impossible. Lea said that he knew in time that Vanderbilt football would be the best program in the country.
The general public called Lea crazy, and he probably was. But, his program is closer to doing what he said it would than any media member in the room would’ve thought that day. His boldness paid off.
Lea’s program is coming off of a 10-3 season, had a Heisman Trophy runner up and landed the first five-star recruit in program history in Vanderbilt quarterback Jared Curtis. Lea declared Curtis the best prospect in his high school class. Vanderbilt even recruiting Curtis–the type of player that wouldn’t have even picked up the phone when Vanderbilt called in a past life–was a move of fearlessness. It landing him was as jarring a move as the program has ever made.
Now, Lea has another choice on his hands. Will he choose boldness again? Or will he make a bet on seniority and floor rather than swinging for the fences?
The choice is between Curtis and senior quarterback Blaze Berlowitz. It’s a choice between swinging for a College Football Playoff berth and going with a relatively known outcome.
Berlowitz is playing better football than he’s ever played, should know Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s offense inside and out by now and is the far more expected option. He’s also a senior that doesn’t appear to have the capacity to develop into a star and has downfield passing inefficiencies that would force Vanderbilt to attempt big plays less often. The argument could be made that Berlowitz is the better option if Lea is merely focused on finding who gives him the best chance at beating Austin Peay on September 5.
But, Lea has to think bigger than early September. Vanderbilt football has to think bigger than September 5. It says it’s thinking national championship. So, why not play the quarterback that opens up the possibility to win big?
The argument against Curtis is that he was relatively up and down throughout camp–and often made the few best throws as well as the worst one or two in any given practice–and would inevitably make some costly mistakes if he were the starter in 2026. The list of plays in which he should’ve set his feet before letting it rip, thrown it out of bounds instead of forcing it or stepped up in the pocket rather than throwing with pressure in his face isn’t unsubstantial. But, that’s also part of the argument for Curtis starting right away.
Starting Curtis against Austin Peay doesn’t guarantee that he’ll make less mistakes by the time Vanderbilt gets to its slate of power-five games in week three, but it sets him up for better performance in Vanderbilt’s most important games–and thus, sets Vanderbilt up with a more significant chance of winning.
A Curtis-led offense is potentially more erratic than a Berlowitz-led one, but it’s the far more explosive one. It’s the only one that gives Vanderbilt football a chance to be one of America’s best offenses. It’s the one that can make a play on third-and-long. It’s the one that can lead a comeback and find a way to win a game that it has no business winning.
And, if it isn’t, its struggles can be written off in the name of development.
Lea’s politically-correct nature in regard to Vanderbilt’s quarterback competition hasn’t been sympathetic to that idea–or really any one that doesn’t have to do with Austin Peay–but he appeared more open minded on Saturday night.
"I see growth in Jared, I think Blaze continues to do things that he does well," Lea said. "We're going to have to look at the film and we're going to have a lot of conversations. I think in a situation where you're evaluating a freshman, you need to give it time, for his development, for the game to slow down."
That’s it, right there. Whether Lea meant it or not.
Berlowitz has improved significantly, but his calling card is that he’s managed Vanderbilt’s offense well in practice. Curtis is growing, but has possibilities of making the type of career out of football that nobody else on Vanderbilt’s roster can. Vanderbilt has to let Curtis figure it out to see if he can grow into that. It’s got to let him make mistakes to see how fast he can approach his ceiling. The way he’s going to do that isn’t by watching Berlowitz control the game and lead a conservative offense. He’s going to do it by sitting in there and ripping it down the field in every game of the 2026 season.
It makes too much sense for Lea to start Curtis right away. Even five-star freshman quarterbacks don’t often see the field right away and Vanderbilt’s decision is indecipherable based on practice reps, but everything else here points to Curtis. He didn’t flip his commitment from Georgia to Vanderbilt to sit. There has to be something to the countless private indications that say it’s been Curtis’ job to lose. There has to be push from some Vanderbilt coaches to bet on Curtis’ arm talent and room to grow.
As Lea stepped up to the podium on Saturday night, he looked and sounded like a guy that knows who his quarterback is–the five-star freshman. Lea was slightly lighter than usual. For the first time since the beginning of fall camp, he believed he articulated that he had clarity in regard to when the quarterback decision was being made.
Lea didn’t say it, but he often led statements about his quarterback room with Curtis first. Vanderbilt’s coaching staff will meet on Monday before telling the team who the starter will be in one of the following days, but Lea appears to be at peace with what he knows will happen. He seems to think that he’s got his guy and just watched him outplay all of Vanderbilt’s other quarterbacks on Saturday night.
As if he didn’t already have enough reasons to start him.
"You're kind of watching [Curtis] operate the offense tonight," Lea said, "It felt like he was at his best for the longest.”
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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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