Vanderbilt has made the switch at quarterback, and the ball now belongs to Jared Curtis.
Coach Clark Lea announced Tuesday that the true freshman will start Saturday against North Carolina State, moving Curtis ahead of Blaze Berlowitz after Vanderbilt’s 35-26 win over Delaware. Lea said the staff wanted Curtis to get into the game early last week and liked how things settled once he did.
"We really wanted last week to get him in early … as he settled into the game, I felt like the game slowed down for him," Lea said.
Curtis handled the entire second half against Delaware and made the most of it, finishing 14-of-22 for 210 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He also ran eight times for a yard, was sacked three times and scored two rushing touchdowns. In his earlier appearance off the bench at Austin Peay, he went 7-of-9 for 60 yards.
Berlowitz opened the season as the starter, including Vanderbilt’s opener against Austin Peay and the Delaware game, but he struggled in the second half of the switch-point contest. Against Delaware, he went 3-of-9 for 29 yards and lost a second-quarter fumble. In the opener, he completed 11 of 16 passes for 149 yards.
Lea said the distribution of snaps had been tilted 60/40 toward the starter, and he expects the change in first-team work to help Curtis settle in even more. Still, he made clear the move is not a one-week experiment.
"There's always a possibility (that Blaze can play in a game) but Jared's our starter," Lea clarified.
"We're not sacrificing wins now for wins later," Lea added moments later.
Berlowitz, a senior, has been in the program for three years and also spent a year at New Mexico State under offensive coordinator Tim Beck and analyst Jerry Kill, who was then the head coach. That familiarity with the system helped him win the job coming out of camp, and he got first-team reps throughout spring and fall.
Curtis, though, kept making the louder statements. Lea pointed to the freshman’s bigger moments in camp and in Saturday’s game, along with the arm strength he showed throughout both contests. He also noted Curtis’ mobility and said his leadership showed up once he got comfortable.
"Another thing that showed up was his leadership on Saturday. ... I think they emerged as he got comfortable on the field," Lea said.
Curtis came to Vanderbilt as the No. 2 prospect in the country, according to 247 Sports, and announced his commitment just before National Signing Day. The Nashville Christian product was a two-time Mr. Football and led the school to back-to-back state titles, including a 15-0 season in 2025.
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