NASHVILLE-Saturday gives Vanderbilt football its first real measuring stick of the season, and the stakes are easy to read. Beat NC State at FirstBank Stadium, and the Commodores walk away with a result that would carry real weight early in 2026. Lose, and the questions start coming fast.
The matchup turns on a simple truth: Vanderbilt cannot ask quarterback Curtis to do everything. He flashed last week against Delaware, but this is not the kind of game where one breakout performance is enough to carry the whole operation. The Commodores need help from the run game and the short passing game if they want to keep the pressure off him and give themselves a chance.
That was evident in the Delaware game, when Vanderbilt averaged just 2.6 yards per carry and only produced a handful of runs longer than 10 yards. Sedrick Alexander finished with 39 yards, MK Young had 38, and Curtis totaled one yard on eight carries, though those numbers don’t account for sacks and make the rushing day look worse than it was. Even so, the ground game has to be better if Vanderbilt wants to threaten NC State.
Nick Rinaldi said the challenge starts with limiting the quarterback on the other side. “We’ve faced good quarterbacks,” Rinaldi said Tuesday.
“It’s just about containing him, collapsing the pocket, making him one-dimensional. That’ll be a big deal in this game.”
That quarterback is Bailey, and he brings a much bigger résumé than Vanderbilt has seen so far in 2026. Last season, he threw for 3,105 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 2025, and he added 215 rushing yards and six scores on the ground. He can beat Vanderbilt through the air or with his legs, which means the Commodores have to make him work for everything.
For Vanderbilt, the defensive assignment is obvious, but the offensive one may matter just as much. Curtis has not thrown the big mistake yet, and this is not the week to start.
Against Austin Peay and Delaware, Vanderbilt could survive a turnover or two, though it only coughed it up once. Against NC State, the margin is tighter.
The challenge for Curtis is a balancing act: push the ball enough to create explosives, but stay steady enough to protect the football and keep the offense on schedule. That could decide the game.
And that’s why this one is so hard to call. NC State remains a bit of a mystery, and so does Vanderbilt.
Curtis has not started a game yet, and the Commodores were not especially convincing in either of their buy games. Picking Vanderbilt here means believing the second half against Delaware was a sign of what this offense can become, not just a one-off burst.
Still, that’s the bet worth considering. If this is the start of the Curtis era, Saturday offers a chance for Vanderbilt to show it can win a real game in a real test. A close victory would say plenty about where this team is headed.
In Other News...
Vanderbilt May Still Need Blaze Berlowitz More Than Fans Think
Vanderbilts quarterback picture has shifted with the staff naming five-star freshman Jared Curtis as the starter, a move that pushes Blaze Berlowitz into a backup role after his practice reps were reduced significantly. For a program that has leaned on Berlowitzs veteran presence, the change brings a new look at the games most important position while still leaving room for the older quarterback to matter.
Clark Lea has kept the door open for Berlowitz, saying he has confidence in him as a backup and suggesting he could still factor in later this season. Berlowitz has handled the transition professionally, which matters in a quarterback room where experience and steadiness can still become valuable if the Commodores need another option down the line. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilt Fans Will Notice Where This Weeks SEC Picks Get Messy
Week 2 was rough for the staffs SEC picks, and the ripple effect showed up in the season record as well. The collective mark slipped to 41-55 for the week, pushing the overall number down to 119-127 and leaving plenty of room for debate as the league schedule keeps tightening up. A few of the bigger misses stood out, including Oklahoma over Michigan and LSU over Louisiana Tech, while Alabamas win over Kentucky was one of the rare results everyone saw coming.
The next round brings five SEC-SEC matchups, which usually helps separate the confident picks from the shaky ones. Most of the staff settled into a clear majority on those games, but Florida-Auburn is the one that refuses to do that, with the panel split right down the middle. For Vanderbilt readers tracking how the conference race is being viewed around the league, that kind of disagreement is often where the most interesting read on the weekend starts. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilt Faces An Early Defensive Test Against NC States Dangerous QB
Clark Lea is already treating NC States quarterback situation like an early measuring stick for Vanderbilts defense. CJ Bailey brings the kind of challenge that can stress a game plan in more than one way, with the arm strength to attack downfield and the mobility to turn broken plays into something dangerous. For a Commodores team trying to settle in on that side of the ball, it is the sort of matchup that can reveal a lot in a hurry.
Bailey has not had the smoothest start to this season, but Vanderbilt is not approaching him like a quarterback who can be ignored or contained with a standard rush plan. Leas defense will have to account for the extra time Bailey can create and the stress he puts on coverage once a play leaves script. Even early in the year, that makes this a test worth watching closely for Vanderbilt. [Read more 🡒]