Jared Curtis gave Vanderbilt the spark it needed when the game tilted, and the Commodores rode that burst to a 35-26 win over Delaware on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
Curtis scored twice on the ground and threw for another touchdown, helping Vanderbilt erase a three-point halftime deficit and move to 2-0. Working with senior Blaze Berlowitz in the first half, Curtis finished 14 of 22 for 210 yards.
Delaware had to navigate part of the afternoon without quarterback Nick Minicucci, who was injured and left in the second quarter before returning after halftime. He went 11 of 27 for 182 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. Jo Silver led the Blue Hens on the ground with 109 yards on 16 carries.
Vanderbilt opened fast and built a 14-0 cushion late in the first quarter. Curtis punched in a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:19 left, and after Martel Hight picked off a Minicucci pass, Sedrick Alexander finished the quarter with a 9-yard scoring run as time expired.
Delaware answered with Tucker Smack’s 37-yard field goal at 12:51 of the second quarter, then kept chipping away. Viron Ellison Jr. finished a 10-play, 82-yard march with a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down, and the Blue Hens grabbed a 17-14 lead with 17 seconds left in the half when Bryson Graves blocked a Vanderbilt punt and recovered it in the end zone.
That lead didn’t last long. Curtis tied it back up with a 1-yard run on Vanderbilt’s first possession of the second half, and the Commodores pushed ahead for good when Austin Howard blocked a punt and fell on the ball for a touchdown with 9:30 left in the third quarter.
Curtis added more separation at the end of the third, hitting Walter Taylor for a 19-yard touchdown on the quarter’s final play to make it 35-17. Delaware trimmed the margin when Smack hit a 40-yard field goal with 11:55 remaining, then got one last jolt from Minicucci’s 43-yard touchdown strike to Da’Wain Lofton with 6:37 to go. The two-point try failed, leaving Vanderbilt in front 35-26.
In Other News...
Vanderbilt Just Took A Brutal Defensive Hit Before NC State
A few days before Vanderbilt lines up against NC State, the Commodores are already dealing with a defense that has taken a real hit. Defensive lineman Aaron Bryant is out for the season after suffering an ACL injury and will need knee surgery, a blow that removes one of the bigger bodies from the rotation and leaves the front trying to absorb another loss at a spot where depth is always at a premium.
The injury list does not stop there. Tight end Cole Spence is still week-to-week with a lower body injury and is expected to miss the matchup, while linebacker Jamison Curtis and cornerback Jaylin Lackey are also sidelined with soft tissue injuries. EDGE Brian Allen Jr. is recovering from an ankle injury and is trending in the right direction, but Vanderbilts availability picture remains far from clean as it heads into a tricky early test. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilt Is Handing The Offense To Its Most Hyped Freshman Yet
Vanderbilt is turning the offense over to Jared Curtis, the freshman quarterback who won the competition with Blaze Berlowitz and then handled every offensive snap in the second half of the Commodores win over Delaware. Curtis will make his first college start against NC State, a notable next step for a player whose arrival already carried unusual weight in Nashville.
Curtis is Vanderbilts first five-star recruit and the highest-ranked commit in program history, which helps explain why this decision feels bigger than a routine depth-chart move. The Commodores are now asking their most hyped newcomer to take on the job from the outset, and the early returns from his brief relief outing suggest the staff sees a path forward even if the real test is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]