Why Vanderbilt scratched Jared Curtis’ start at Georgia
ATHENS — The weeklong saga of Jared Curtis’ return to the school he was once committed to ended anticlimactically with Saturday’s game-time decision.
Curtis, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound freshman quarterback thought by many to be among the most promising players in the nation, was a scratch from the Vanderbilt lineup.
This, just one day after, SEC Network reporter Taylor Davis said during the broadcast that “we were told (Friday) they expected he’d be good to go.” The SEC Network reported Curtis was sidelined by a bruised knee suffered last Saturday.
Curtis played the complete game against Auburn in a 21-15 loss before first appearing on the SEC injury report Wednesday with a designation of “questionable.”
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea told the SEC Network that Curtis was “crushed” not to be able to take on No. 2-ranked Georgia leading into the Commodores’ 38-14 loss on Saturday.
“He tried really hard to be ready to play, I hurt for Jared, obviously he wanted to be out there with his teammates and he wanted to be able to help his teammates win a game on the road,” Lea said. “I’m really glad to have him. I really believe in him as a person, as a player and as a competitor, I just respect the courage he showed this week in attacking what was a challenging situation for a young player.
“Today, it wasn’t in the cards for him, and I know that hurt him.”
Georgia coach Kirby Smart indicated the defensive adjustments made for senior quarterback Blaze Berlowitz, who started in place of Curtis, were minimal.
“They do the same thing, there’s not a big difference,” Smart said. “The older guy is a little more experienced, good athlete. They shift motions more with the older kid than they do with Jared, but not a lot different.”
Berlowitz, a senior transfer from New Mexico State who backed up former Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia the past two seasons, started the first two games of the season for the Commodores, both victories.
Berlowitz was 12-of-23 passing for 190 yards with a 60-yard touchdown pass and an interception on Saturday in addition to finishing as Vanderbilt’s leading rusher with eight carries for 37 yards.
“We’re really fortunate to have a guy like Blaze who has such character and toughness and believes in himself and believes in the team and knows the system,” Lea said. “ I thought he played with courage, and it wasn’t perfect, but he showed the ability to make some plays with his legs and he showed the ability to connect with Junior (Sherrill) in some critical moments.
“The interception we want back, but on the whole the ball wasn’t in compromised positions. I thought his decision-making was good, and so I felt like he felt like he gave us a chance to be within striking distance, we just weren’t able to close the gap in the second half.”