Three Keys and A Prediction: Vanderbilt Football Vs. Delaware
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NASHVILLE---Vanderbilt football takes the field again Saturday in its final non-power five test of the 2026 season, but head coach Clark Lea has been clear that his team will need to bring its best if it's going to find a way to win Saturday.
"This is a Delaware program that's prideful. Obviously, they have a ton of history, tradition really impressive that they make the transition to FBS and win a bowl game a year ago," Lea said. "This will present different challenges than we had a week ago. This is a three down, three safety defense that has the ability to to create havoc on the offense and and get us off schedule and it's a pass first operation offensively that will challenge us in different ways, so excited for the challenge."
The external expectation is that Vanderbilt will win big on Saturday, but Lea and company have to go out and do it. Here's three keys to a significant Vanderbilt win and a prediction.
Open up the playbook
Not only is it important for Vanderbilt to open up the playbook so that it can evaluate its quarterbacks, it needs to in order to best position itself to win big.
Delaware’s defense isn’t considered to be particularly strong, and Vanderbilt’s best chance at taking advantage is allowing Jared Curtis and Blaze Berlowitz to demonstrate what they can do as downfield throwers.
It appears as if Lea agrees.
"I want to see Blaze have opportunities to go out and make plays and I felt like Saturday was, he handed the ball off a lot, and we were able to create distance before he really got a chance to show the things he was capable of," Lea said. "And obviously with Jared, we have a really talented young player, and you saw flashes of that on Saturday as well.”
Perhaps each quarterback can demonstrate more flashes on Saturday with their expanded responsibility.
No game-altering mistake
For all of Vanderbilt’s faults in its win over Austin Peay, there was a resounding positive. It never turned it over, and seemingly always had control of the game as a result.
Lea had harped on ball security all offseason, and he saw the fruits of his labor on Saturday despite playing two inexperienced quarterbacks. Curtis had a close call that could’ve been a pick six against an SEC team, but the ball landed in the hands of a receiver rather than a defender. As a result, both Vanderbilt quarterbacks have a clean record right now.
Now, with what appears to be more aggressive playcalling, they’ll look to keep it that way. If Vanderbilt can avoid the big turnover, it shouldn’t have a problem with Delaware. If it turns it over a few times, its margin for error will shrink significantly.
Strong secondary play
Delaware runs what is decidedly a pass-first offense and doesn’t run the ball with the same intentionality that Vanderbilt does. As a result, Vanderbilt’s secondary will have to come ready to play.
Vanderbilt has a few standout veteran safeties in Ricardo Jones and CJ Heard as well as proven corners Martel Hight and Jordan Matthews, but its secondary has yet to be significantly tested in game.
Lea is high on senior Delaware quarterback Nick Minicucci and clearly won’t allow Vanderbilt’s defense to take him lightly. He knows Minicucci is capable of keeping Delaware in the game, and will do what he can to get Vanderbilt’s secondary to understand that, too.
Prediction: Vanderbilt: 35, Delaware: 17
Vanderbilt should be in line to score more on Saturday than it did a week ago, but Delaware’s offense is better than Austin Peay’s and should provide Vanderbilt’s defense with a more substantial test than it had a week ago.
The expectation that Vanderbilt wins big on Saturday feels relatively fair here, but it’s still difficult to believe that Vanderbilt will blow Delaware out of the water because of what it showed offensively a week ago. Perhaps it can break through on Saturday, though.
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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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