NASHVILLE – Knocking on the door of the end zone just three feet from his first career college score, Vanderbilt five-star quarterback Jared Curtis had a little trouble with the snap. At first, there was a split second of worry a fumble could happen, but that ended quickly.Curtis picked up the misplayed snap and ran three yards toward the end zone before stretching over the goal line for his first touchdown in his Vanderbilt career.It was not pretty, but it was symbolic. It was the full Jared Curtis experience in one play. It started out a little weary, but a big play was made in the end, just like the rollercoaster of highs and lows a five-star freshman would bring to any team.Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea watched his young, talented quarterback from the sideline and was certainly pleased with what Curtis showed on the field, especially with how the first drive went.“I don’t know that much else could have gone wrong on his first time out. I know we had a dropped snap, delay of game. It just seemed like there was a lot that was disruptive,” Lea said. “And yet, and yet, he kept us organized enough to lead a touchdown drive. I think there’s something to be said about that.”If the final play on Curtis’ first drive did not represent the experience with having a five-star quarterback, the first drive as a whole day. It was the definition of the phrase “gritty and not pretty.” As Lea alluded to, there were plenty of things operationally that Vanderbilt should not have let happen.But the drive still ended with a Vanderbilt touchdown.Perhaps what was more impressive about Curtis’ evening was how he continued to play the rest of the game. On his second drive, Curtis threw a 17-yard strike to Jayvontay Conner before Sedrick Alexander finished the possession with a touchdown. Then, Curtis led a 70-yard touchdown drive to begin the third quarter. It felt like as the game went on, Curtis played better and the offensive operation as a whole looked smoother.Lea saw the same thing from his view. He noticed his offense got settled into the game the more reps Curtis got.“I’ll tell you what, I was really impressed with the way he settled into the game. And it wasn’t perfect, but I’m happy for him. I’m proud of him. I thought he stepped up,” Lea said.There was one throw, though that just blew away Lea, the coaching staff and Vanderbilt fans. Staring at a first down and 10 with the clock expiring, Curtis rolled to his left and threw a dart straight to the hands of tight end Walt Taylor 19 yards away for Vanderbilt’s final points of the game.It was a great throw by Curtis and maybe an even better catch from Taylor. It could go down as one of the best plays Vanderbilt’s offense has this season. But one thing is for certain: Curtis’ arm talent was flexed in the second half.Lea did not name a starting quarterback going forward in the postgame press conference. That is the least surprising thing at the moment, but he does know the type of quarterback he has with Curtis and it showed in Saturday’s game.Going into the game, the quarterback situation was about both Curtis and Berlowitz getting reps and giving Lea and the coaching staff data points to help solve the quarterback dilemma Vanderbilt is dealing with.Curtis undoubtedly gave Lea and everyone seemingly countless data points in the game. Berlowitz had his chances to put data points on the board, too. But the dissection of those data points will come over the next couple of days. For now, Lea is enjoying the day his five-star freshman had.“Certainly every game gives you data points, but I don’t know that the time is right now to go deeper into that. I just think what we’re going to do is honor the fact that he played really well and get to our meetings tomorrow and watch film and kind of plot our course moving forward,” Lea said. “But I’m very very happy for him. I’m proud of his effort today.”Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow