Vanderbilt football continued to see its season spiral after its latest loss, a 31-21 defeat to Arkansas on Oct. 17 at FirstBank Stadium.
The Commodores (3-4, 0-4 SEC) lost to the only other team that went into the weekend winless in conference play, and now it's a question of whether they win a conference game at all.
There are multiple issues that have been exposed throughout SEC play. Although the penalties were less of a problem than they have been in other games, Vanderbilt had two extremely costly turnovers against Arkansas, including one on a late drive that could have tied the game.
Here are final thoughts from the loss:
Jared Curtis has room for growth
It's unrealistic to expect a true freshman quarterback, even a 5-star recruit, to have perfect command of an offense immediately.
There's a reason Curtis wouldn't have started this season if he went to Georgia.
But there have been some common sources of mistakes from Curtis early on. Curtis sometimes telegraphs his throws, letting the defense know which receiver is likely to get the ball. He also sometimes makes the wrong read, or throws balls that he shouldn't. One prime example was when Curtis threw his second interception against Arkansas; he was under heavy pressure and trying not to get sacked, but he couldn't get the ball out of bounds.
None of these are unusual or unfixable problems, but they show the drawbacks of starting a true freshman.
"Every week we get a little bit better at understanding what he likes, what he does well, how we can support him on the call sheet," Lea said. " ... We have to be careful not to put too much on him because he's a true freshman learning to play at this level."
Curtis can also make NFL throws. He made several against Arkansas. But the lack of talent and/or production at other positions has exacerbated some of the mistakes Curtis has made.
Vanderbilt football isn't good enough at the line of scrimmage
Lea specifically mentioned the line of scrimmage as a problem in his post-game press conference against Arkansas, and it's become evident.
The offensive line has been a common topic of discussion, but the defensive line is also an issue. Steve Gregory has come under fire for his blitz-heavy scheme, but Vanderbilt has struggled to get pressure on the quarterback without blitzing (and sometimes even with blitzing). But the blitzes leave the Commodores vulnerable in the secondary because those players are not always fast enough to stay with SEC receivers in man coverage.
"We're getting moved," Lea said. "If you can't win at the line of scrimmage, you can't win in the SEC. ... The defensive line performance, that needs to be better, and so we have to coach our way through it."
Vanderbilt needs more dudes
Vanderbilt has strong depth, in that there isn't a huge drop-off between the first and second teams at many positions. But that isn't always a good thing. It's also indicative that the Commodores have a lack of standout players.
Top wide receivers and pass-rushers are some of the most expensive players in the portal and in high school recruiting. From that standpoint, Vanderbilt not always going after those players make sense. But at some point, if the Commodores want to be consistently competitive in the SEC, they need to either get or develop NFL talent at skill positions. And especially at the offensive and defensive line, recruiting rankings matter more than at other positions. It's much harder to develop those positions without paying up.
Vanderbilt tried it at quarterback with Jared Curtis, but Curtis alone will struggle to succeed if paying him means lacking talent at other positions.
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: Final thoughts from Vanderbilt football loss to Arkansas, including Jared Curtis
