BREAKING: Nashville Symphony partners with Oracle, reinstates 2026-27 season
BREAKING: Nashville Symphony partners with Oracle, reinstates 2026-27 season
YOUNG: Charge and punish the Cornell 7
Opportunity Vanderbilt tuition-free program expands to families with incomes of $200,000 or less
UPDATED: Nashville Symphony suspends 2026-27 season, furloughs all orchestra members
Raising Cane’s opens new location at 1819 Broadway
LUCE: Fizz made me famous, then it made me fiction
Vanderbilt ranks No. 16 in 2027 U.S. News rankings, up one spot from last year
SAFRA: Vanderbilt is the ideal school for Jewish students
Vanderbilt’s Turning Point USA chapter hosts screening of the Daily Wire’s ‘Run Hide Fight: Infidels’
Individual study carrels removed from Central Library after safety review
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Vanderbilt is choosing profit over substance
All attention was on Jared Curtis’ return to Athens since flipping his commitment from Georgia to Vanderbilt last winter. Now, the two teams faced off for the first time since October 14, 2023, and the biggest storyline was how the freshman would perform. Curtis, who was dealing with a lower-body injury all week, was listed as questionable, but most signs throughout the week pointed to him playing. Despite participating in warmups, Curtis was shockingly ruled out less than two hours before kickoff.
The decision about Curtis sucked the excitement out of Commodore fans — who watched the 19-year-old emerge as a true difference maker against NC State and Auburn. Head coach Clark Lea handed the keys back to Blaze Berlowitz, who was the original starter for the 2026 season. In starts against Austin Peay and Delaware, the senior’s lack of arm strength was on display as the Commodores struggled to generate yardage through the air, resulting in a Quarterback Rating of just 13.6.
Turning to the freshman provided a spark in offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s offense, allowing the ‘Dores to fit the ball into tight windows and take shots downfield, opening the entire playbook. Unlike Curtis, Berlowitz is not known for his arm strength, making it difficult to narrow early defecits.
The story was different in Sanford Stadium, as an impressive 60-yard pass from Berlowitz to Junior Sherill to tie the game at 7-7 in the first quarter set the stage for the afternoon. Berlowitz played his best game in a Commodore uniform, and despite the loss, showed off his scrambling ability and versatility when given the opportunity. However, it wasn’t close to being enough to win over the No. 2 team in the country, whose talent was simply too much for the Black and Gold to handle.
No. 2 Georgia defeated Vanderbilt handedly, 38-14. The Bulldogs’ playmakers on both sides of the ball outplayed their opponents, illustrating why they are many people’s favorites to win a National Championship.
The Hustler breaks down three key takeaways from the Commodores’ second loss of the season.
Soulless secondary
Vanderbilt’s secondary once again failed to support a pass rush that did successfully force pressure on Georgia QB Gunner Stockton. This unit has struggled all season long for the Commodores, as broken coverages and missed tackling remain impossible to ignore week in and week out. Safety CJ Heard delivered another strong performance wasn’t enough to stop the Bulldogs from gaining separation from the Commodore defensive backs all afternoon.
Stockton’s pass to Landon Roldan with 14:41 remaining in the second quarter was due to the pass-catcher beating Vanderbilt’s Jordan Matthews’ downfield for an easy grab. The 55-yard gain immediately set up an easy one-yard touchdown run from Chauncey Bowens. Matthews and Martel Hight struggled to stay with the Bulldogs’ wide receivers, giving the pass rush less time to attack Stockton.
Missed tackling also persisted throughout all 60 minutes, with Ricardo Jones failing to make a tackle on Dwight Phillips Jr., who caught a check down and shook off Jones to earn a 12-yard touchdown with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter.
While it’s likely too far into the season to make personnel changes, defensive coordinator Steve Gregory will have a hard look at the back end of his defense ahead of matchups against some of college football’s most talented pass-catchers.
The Beck effect
In Vanderbilt’s season-opener against Austin Peay, offensive coordinator Tim Beck opened the contest with nine runs in Vanderbilt’s first 10 snaps. Berlowitz was given little opportunity to show what he can do, and over the course of his starts against Austin Peay and Delaware, it was clear Berlowitz was not trusted to take full reign of the offense. The strategy compressed the offense, eliminating the threat downfield which allowed defenses to congregate around the line of scrimmage. The ‘Dores run and pass game suffered, hurting Berlowitz’s confidence and rhythm.
In Athens, Beck unveiled a completely different strategy that spilled hope into the entire offense. Instead of focusing on the run game opening up the passing attack, he did the opposite. The aggressive playcalling played to Berlowitz’s strengths, as the senior developed momentum — leading his offense the way a quarterback should. Berlowitz’s best traits are his abilities to scramble out of the pocket and his mature decision making. The veteran, while not as flashy as Curtis, limited mistakes by allowing just one turnover — including zero through the first three quarters.
Zero turnovers until the fourth quarter against one of the best defenses in college football was crucial in preventing the game from getting out of hand early, and is a result of Berlowitz’s discipline and situational awareness on the field. With an offensive line matching up directly with multiple future NFL pass rushers, allowing just two sacks demonstrates his composure under pressure.
Setting the tone matters immensely in football. The first drive lays the foundation for the game, and Beck’s choice for Berlowitz to launch it deep downfield to Sherrill on the very first play from scrimmage signified a new gameplan for the Black and Gold. The play resulted in a pass interference, and a free 15 yards off the bat for the Commodores.
Despite two early punts, Beck stuck with his more aggressive approach and continued to let his quarterback fire the ball downfield. The strategy opened up the running lanes for Sedrick Alexander, who rushed for 27 yards in just 5 attempts in the first half. Berlowitz had success on the ground himself, highlighted by a critical first down conversion off his 16-yard run on a 3rd-and-3 with just over two minutes in the first quarter.
That run extended the Commodores’ third drive, setting up Vanderbilt’s best play of the afternoon, where Berlowitz launched the football deep left to Sherrill, who created some yards of his own and walked into the endzone for a 60-yard score. That wasn’t the only impressive strike Berlowitz had to Sherrill, as he made throws he wasn’t given the opportunity to convert in his first two starts.
Beck’s playbook expanded even more in the second half, and his commitment to getting the football into Sherrill’s hands put pressure on the Georgia defense. It was encouraging to see the play-caller sticking with the passing game when it was working. The Commodores first drive of the half, while very methodical, included four straight connections between Berlowitz and Sherill. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart’s secondary had no answer for Vanderbilt’s premier pass-catcher, and Beck continued to exploit that weakness. Four straight plays to Sherill prompted 9-yard and 7-yard runs on the ensuing two plays. Berlowitz finished averaging 4.6 yards per carry on 8 rush attempts.
While Vanderbilt’s offense was by no means perfect, there were many positives to take away that are worth replicating in future contests, regardless of who is playing quarterback.
Penalties plague the offense
How many weeks straight is The Hustler going to highlight how the excessive number of flags against Vanderbilt is contributing to Vanderbilt’s demise? Holding penalties have plagued Vanderbilt’s offense throughout the season, and despite Lea emphasizing the importance of cracking down on sloppiness, nothing has changed.
The Commodores committed nine penalties for 65 yards, compared to Georgia’s four penalties for 40 yards. When facing the No. 2 team in the country, penalties kill a team like Vanderbilt. Smart will make the opposing team pay for every mistake, and with a team as talented as these Bulldogs, it is impossible to win when losing the penalty battle this bad.
With 9:13 left in the second quarter, Berlowitz snapped the football on 2nd-and-14 and weaved through the defense for an explosive 24-yard run. The momentum was quickly halted when the senior looked behind him and noticed multiple yellow flags flying in at the line of scrimmage. A holding penalty, along with a personal foul on Tristen Brown took away the first down and instead made it 2nd-and-28. The play moved Vanderbilt out of field goal range, forcing Brock Taylor to attempt a 58-yard kick which was blocked. Down one score early in the second quarter, that was a critical opportunity for the Commodores to cut the Georgia lead.
More sloppy plays ensued throughout the contest, with plenty of holding penalties from the the offensive line. On 1st-and-10 with 6:57 remaining in the third quarter, the Commodores were called for having 12 men on the field. This unacceptable mistake resulted in a five-yard loss, and then a Georgia sack on the ensuing play. Lea will continue to reiterate the importance of limiting penalties during practice in the upcoming days.
Vanderbilt returns home to host No. 9 Ole Miss on Saturday, October 10, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. CDT.
The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Enter the destination URL
Or link to existing content
Subscribe to Updates
Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.
Football: Three takeaways from Vanderbilt’s 38-14 loss at Georgia – The Vanderbilt Hustler
