What Challenges NC State’s Defense Will Pose to Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt Football

NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt five-star quarterback Jared Curtis and Vanderbilt football are facing its toughest opponents yet to start the 2026 season.

The Commodores are hosting a NC State team that is coming off its first win of the season over Richmond after losing a Week 0 game to Virginia on Aug. 29. It is a big step up in competition from the two teams Vanderbilt has seen this year in its wins over Austin Peay and Delaware.

It is a game that will help shape the trajectory of the season and Vanderbilt’s offense is going to need to be ready for it. Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea knows that NC State is going to challenge his offense in Curtis’ first start.

“You’re seeing a little more two-three-four kind of looks and a react attack front. But they really have the ability to pressure. We’re expecting to see man-to-man and we’re expecting them to challenge us on the perimeter,” Lea said.

With this being Curtis’ first start and the first time he is being matched up against a power conference team, NC State is going to do all it can to get to Curtis early. If it can get pressure and hit Curtis early in the game, NC State will give itself an advantage.

But where Curtis can try to counter the pressure NC State could bring is his ability to either get out of the pocket and run every so often or he can buy himself time in the pocket. Curtis is a pocket-passing quarterback, but his running ability has been underrated.

Sure, he is not as potent of a runner as Diego Pavia was, but Curtis showed bursts of speed and good escapability during practices in fall camp. Curtis will of course have to also use his arm to beat the NC State defense on the perimeter. He was able to that a few times against Delaware, but this week is a different animal.

Offensively as a whole, the Commodores will need to execute to help out Curtis in his first start. That means Vanderbilt has to get the running game going to help open up the pass game.

Going off NC State’s run defense numbers against Virginia, Vanderbilt will have the opportunity to take advantage with how it uses running backs Sedrick Alexander and MK Young. Against Virginia, NC State allowed 258 rushing yards. Over 100 of those were from Virginia quarterback Beau Pribula. Perhaps that number was so bad for NC State because it had to worry about Pribula in both the pass and run game.

Regardless, if Vanderbilt gets the run game going then it stays ahead of the chains. And that is a big key for the Commodores.

“We’re going to have to find ways to get the box loose in the run game and then when those pressure moments come, we’re going to have to find ways to get conversions,” Lea said.

Vanderbilt knows it has to stay on schedule offensively, especially given how much the offense has struggled for most of its first two games. There is an element of consistency on offense that has yet to be seen, but that is what Vanderbilt is hoping to unlock Saturday.

But to his own admission, Lea felt like the lack of consistency in finishing possessions is his own doing. He told the media Tuesday that after the Delaware game he felt he was too aggressive in his play calling to the point where it hurt the total production of the offense

“What I said to the team is I think especially this week, we got to finish every offensive drive with a kick. And we can’t look at a punt as a bad thing,” Lea said. “I was self-critical after the game and I owned this with the team. I think part of the issue has been I’ve been pressing. So, hyper aggressive at times putting our offense in a disadvantaged position rather than taking points or punting the ball. So I think I’ve got to help get these three units synced up and complementary.”

Going into this game, the offensive game plan seems to be to keep everything simple. If it can do that rather than worry about hitting explosives, the Commodores feel confident about their ability to execute Saturday.

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