With Blaze Berlowitz, Vanderbilt Football is Choosing What's Known. Yet, It Still Has a Quarterback Battle

Vanderbilt football chose Blaze Berlowitz over Jared Curtis as its starting quarterback. Here's what it means.

Vanderbilt quarterbacks Blaze Berlowitz (1) and Jared Curtis (2) go through warmups during preseason practice at the school’s indoor facility Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

NASHVILLE—Read the last few words of that Pete Thamel tweet again. Five-star true freshman Jared Curtis will also play in that game, marking his first career snaps.

Blaze Berlowitz will start Vanderbilt football’s opener, but its quarterback competition isn’t over. Vanderbilt will still play both quarterbacks, and it's operating in a way that doesn’t give either of its quarterbacks ownership of the job. 

So, let the most publicized quarterback competition continue. 

In choosing Berlowitz as the starter, Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea demonstrated that he was being honest throughout the process. He wanted the quarterback that would give him the best chance to beat Austin Peay, and he chose that while keeping the door open for Curtis to develop and take the job over. 

All due credit to Berlowitz here, he’s improved markedly and didn’t get beat out by Curtis. He paid his dues and will run Vanderbilt’s offense the way offensive coordinator Tim Beck wants it ran. 

But, this isn’t a declaration of Vanderbilt’s confidence in Berlowitz as much as it’s a signal that Curtis isn’t quite ready yet. Had Lea and company started Berlowitz without including Curtis, overwhelming belief in Berlowitz could’ve been the takeaway. Tuesday’s announcement unintentionally labels Berlowitz as a bridge quarterback and Curtis as the quarterback of the future, whether the two quarterbacks truly split reps or not. 

So, get ready for the discourse to continue—whether it’s fair to Berlowitz, who has earned this—or not. Vanderbilt made a decision on its week one starter, but not its quarterback. Both Berlowitz and Curtis will continue to trade time on the field, look over their shoulder when they make a mistake and exhale when they make a big play. 

But, this is Berlowitz’ job for now. There’s a reason Vanderbilt announced that he’d start the opener rather than leading its leaks with the reality that both quarterbacks would play. With Berlowitz, Lea and Beck are choosing the immediate known over the swing for the fences. 

The assertion is that Berlowitz knows Beck’s offense front to back, has transformed into a true game manager and can effectively control the time of possession. Berlowitz has probably gotten too much flak because of the situation he’s in, but he’s still among the best starters that Vanderbilt has rostered in recent memory and has Diego Pavia’s blessing. 

In an ideal world, Curtis takes over the reins from Berlowitz and runs with the starting job down the stretch. Ideally, Vanderbilt has a true starting quarterback when NC State comes to town in week three. But, that’s still up for interpretation. 

Lea has to think bigger than early September, and it appears as if he is. 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? Well, it is. Just not in the way its fanbase wanted it to. 

Don’t forget that Lea said this on Saturday. He didn’t dismiss Curtis, and he doesn’t seem to have any intentions of doing that moving forward. 

“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."

Lea clearly meant what he said, even if he didn’t execute his vision the way the public thought he would. He’s still clearly invested in Curtis and has plans for him to be the guy moving forward. Vanderbilt clearly isn’t handing him the starting job, though, and Monday morning proves that. 

Curtis is growing, but has possibilities of making the type of career out of football that nobody else on Vanderbilt’s roster can. Lea knows that. 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. Lea knows that, too. Best believe Monday’s move was made in coordination with those realities. 

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. That analysis was incorrect, but there’s clearly still something to it. Curtis appeared to win both scrimmages and wasn’t beat out by much overall. 

Berlowitz earned this, no doubt about it. But, he didn’t do it enough to beat out that five-star, program changing recruit from down the road forever. Curtis is Vanderbilt’s quarterback of the future, whether Berlowitz starts more games in 2026 or not. But, Lea has sent a message that he’s all in on making sure Curtis wins the job before he takes it.

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