Takeaways From Vanderbilt Football's Spring Game – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt football had one final chance to show what it's got as it took the field at FirstBank Stadium on Saturday afternoon in its spring game.
"I am pleased with the progress we made. That showed up on the field today at times and at times, you know, we struggled," Lea said, "That's what the Spring Games are about. But on the whole, I thought the spirit of the group was good."
Here's a few takeaways from the outing.
That was sloppy, sloppy football
As expected considering what Vanderbilt was missing and the time of year, this wasn’t necessarily a demonstration of how Vanderbilt has evolved as a program over the years. 
There were penalties–and a whole lot of them. There were hospital balls thrown. There were turnovers. Vanderbilt has to have this looking a lot different than it does right now by the time it gets going. That’s natural, though. That’s what the spring game is about, Lea said. 
This will clearly be better in a few months than it was on Saturday. 
Jared Curtis was up and down, but looked like the best quarterback in the room
Curtis wasn’t perfect on Saturday, but he was fearless and did some things–as Lea notes–that most quarterbacks can’t do. 
Among those things were a beautiful cross-body throw that Curtis made in the red zone to get Vanderbilt within the five yard line. Curtis made a few of those stunning throws, although he made a few mistakes along the way. 
“He believes in himself, he has courage, he has the physical traits to get himself out of trouble,” Lea said. “I think from the physical trade standpoint, he's there. From the mental processing standpoint, that's where we got to cover ground, and that's where we focused. And for me, that is both his process, pre snap and post snap, the creative elements will be there, and they'll be dynamic, but, he has to consistently own the operation.”
Lea says that nobody in this quarterback room will be Diego Pavia this season, but Curtis will give Vanderbilt a chance if Saturday is any indication. 
Vanderbilt’s offensive line was better than its defensive line
It’s hard to evaluate the line of scrimmage with how much rotation went on throughout Saturday afternoon’s scrimmage, but Vanderbilt’s offensive line appeared to win the day. 
Vanderbilt’s quarterbacks often had time to work and there were a number of holes open for its running back room. Clark Lea appears to be close to getting his five set there, and it’s showing. 
Take that with a grain of salt considering Vanderbilt’s defensive line wasn’t at full strength. 
The three most impressive pass catchers were clear
Vanderbilt tight end Jayvontay Conner as well as receivers Kayleb Barnett and Ja’Corey Thomas often worked their way into impactful plays on Saturday, regardless of quarterback. 
If Vanderbilt’s offense is going to be explosive at all, it’s got to have those three playmakers step up consistently 
Blaze Berlowitz wasn’t convincing, at all
Berlowitz has put together a good spring, a better one than a lot of the external crowd expected, but Saturday demonstrated why he’s hard to rely on when week 1 comes around. 
Watching Berlowitz Saturday was watching a veteran quarterback make a few throws that were convincing, in the wrong way. Some of them looked like freshman throws, namely an interception that wasn’t all that close to being caught by the receiver in the area and landed in the chest of the defender. 
That performance was uncharacteristic of Berlowitz when only considering what he’s done this spring, but Saturday brought back some memories of what he’s done poorly in the past and why it’s difficult to imagine Vanderbilt feeling comfortable starting him for an extended period of time. 
A number of Vanderbilt standouts being out made this less meaningful
While Vanderbilt’s young corners were gearing up to go, Martel Hight was standing on the sideline in overalls. That was a microcosm of the day for a number of Vanderbilt veterans. 
Hight, Junior Sherrill, MK Young, Sedrick Alexander, Cole Spence, Jaylin Lackey, Dontae Carter, Issa Ouattara, Bryan Longwell, Miles Capers, Ricardo Jones and CJ Heard were all sidelined on Saturday–most due to load management or minor injuries. 
That made things harder to decipher on Saturday. 
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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