Jared Curtis first took the traditional path of a 5-star quarterback recruit.
He committed to Georgia in May 2025, but he eventually changed course. Just before signing day in December, Curtis, who attended Nashville Christian, flipped his commitment to Vanderbilt football and became the highest-ranked player to ever choose the Commodores.
While Georgia returned veteran signal-caller Gunner Stockton, who almost certainly would've started over Curtis had he stuck with the No. 2 Bulldogs (4-0, 2-0 SEC), at Vanderbilt, Curtis had the opportunity to start right away and blaze his own path as the replacement for Diego Pavia. Through four games, Curtis is 63-for-98 passing for 746 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions. He is also the Commodores'
second-leading rusher with 133 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Now, Curtis will come face-to-face with the path he almost chose when the Commodores (3-1, 0-1) face Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Oct. 3 (11:45 a.m. CT, SEC Network).
"Jared's a special person, and independent of his choice, the decision to come to Vanderbilt is representation of the fact that he thinks for himself and he knows what he wants," Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea said Sept. 29. " ... You're talking about relationships in addition to what is a normal SEC Saturday. Emotions run high in general. I don't know that Jared's focus is anywhere other than on his own progress."
Curtis was not made available for Vanderbilt's media availability on Sept. 29. In fact, neither Curtis, nor any other Vanderbilt quarterback, has been made available to the media since April 4. A program spokesperson declined a request to make Curtis available prior to the Georgia game.
"Tremendous talent," Georgia coach Kirby Smart told reporters Sept. 28. "Way better athletically than people give him credit for. I don't know if anybody's tackled him, one person tackling him yet. He's strong, he's quick, powerful. He's got great arm talent. Everything that everybody thought has been true."
In the Commodores' 21-15 loss at Auburn, Curtis was 22-for-33 passing for 199 yards. Curtis has also been slightly banged up, Lea said, thought it's not anything that would prevent him from playing.
Curtis has performed well on the whole so far, but he may need to carry Vanderbilt to a win if the Commodores are to pull the upset. Vanderbilt has struggled to run the ball and struggled on special teams, two issues that factored in heavily against Auburn.
"He's a little banged up right now too, and working through that," Lea said. "But this kid is mentally tough. He's physically tough. He's emotionally connected. And what I'm excited about is I think with every week, not only is he growing and developing, I think our system is growing and developing around him."
Lea liked the way Vanderbilt ran the ball better in the second half against Auburn, but he hopes to become more effective at moving the ball on earlier downs without being forced into third-and-medium or long.
A key part of Curtis' development, Lea said, has been developing chemistry with some of the team's veteran pass-catchers like Junior Sherrill and Cole Spence, as well as the offensive line, which has two tackles who didn't play for the Commodores a year ago.
"Jared obviously is the true freshman and he's the one that the spotlight is on," Lea said. "There are a lot of people that are growing experience in our system, growing experience here at Vanderbilt, growing experience in the SEC, and we need Junior and Cole and (Sedrick Alexander) and (Makhilyn Young) that have been around a long time.
" .... We're building chemistry around Jared right now."
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jared Curtis was once a Georgia recruit. Now, he faces Bulldogs as Vanderbilt's starting QB
