Vanderbilt Football Notebook: Jared Curtis Owning Rep Share, Brian Allen Injury Update, Finding Identity

NASHVILLE – The reality of Vanderbilt football five-star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis being Vanderbilt’s starter is starting to set in.

On Tuesday Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea announced that Curtis is now the team’s starting quarterback going forward as he makes his first start this weekend against NC State. Curtis beat out Blaze Berlowitz in the quarterback competition that went two weeks into the regular season.

But with Curtis taking over the game in the second half against Delaware, he won the competition. Now, he is owning the share of reps in practice. Before, Vanderbilt was splitting reps 60/40 between Curtis and Berlowitz. That is not the case anymore

“It’s shifted. Because we were playing two quarterbacks, so that 60/40 split was unique to how we were kind of set up. I think this week has been 80/20. Those aren’t scientific by the way. That’s just me kind of spitballing,” Lea said. “But certainly he [Curtis] has taken the lion share of reps with the ones.”

Against Delaware, Curtis threw for 210 yards on 14-for-22 passing with one passing touchdown. On the ground, Curtis had two rushing touchdowns. It looked like the more snaps Curtis played, the more he looked comfortable and settled into the game. Now, he gets to continue to form stronger connections with his pass catchers knowing this is his team.

Lea has seen the value in the amount of reps Curtis has gotten with the ones and they will only continue to help as he develops as a young quarterback. With Curtis settled in his role, it has been so far so good in practice.

“When you’re talking about a true freshman and you’re still early in the season, the investment is going to pay off as we go. Hopefully that shows up on Saturday. That’s the plan, but I’m really impressed with how he’s conducted his business as a starter and the confidence he’s played with,” Lea said. “It seems like to me we’re on track with our plan, so all good things.”

Brian Allen Jr. Injury Update

In his Tuesday press conference, Lea told the media that EDGE Brian Allen Jr. was questionable for this weekend with an injury.

But he has made good progress in the 48 hours since and is on track to play against NC State this weekend. His official designation is “probable” for Saturday.

“He was able to practice today and responded well. Assuming there are no setbacks, he’s in good shape. I’m excited that Brian will be out there, again, barring setbacks,” Lea said.

Through two games, Allen Jr. has made three total tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack in Vanderbilt’s 28-9 win over Austin Peay. Allen Jr. transferred in from Iowa over the offseason and has been the No. 2 guy in the EDGE room.

Finding Identity

After the 35-26 win over Delaware last week, Lea said that he felt like his team was still trying to find an identity. The sloppiness in the first two games was too much to feel satisfied about how the Commodores have gotten to a 2-0 start.

That feeling was a result of not playing consistently in all three phases of the game. Sure, there were highlight plays that each unit has had in two games, but Lea is not necessarily looking for those. He wants consistency out of his team.

Identity is not created overnight, but with the quarterback situation figured out, it certainly helps with being more established into what the identity of the team truly is.

“It’s not that we’re recreating Vanderbilt football. We want Vanderbilt football to emerge and to be patient and persistent. So, I think the quarterback position being settled will help. Certainly offensively, but I think that’s a team thing. Everyone feels the burden of that,” Lea said.

This weekend would be the perfect time to get an identity established. The matchup against NC State is a game that serves as an early benchmark for where exactly the Commodores’ season could go.

A win and Vanderbilt will look to be on par from what it believes itself to be. A loss and suddenly bowl eligibility could be very difficult to achieve with a nine-game SEC slate up next. Lea just wants to see consistency. If he does, he really likes the spot his team would be in.

“We can be a really good team, but we need to sync up. The opponent we play on Saturday, to get the result we want, that's the only way it’s going to happen. So this is a great opportunity to show that identity on Saturday,” Lea said.

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