NASHVILLE — It was as if he had been there before. Vanderbilt football five-star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis sounded like he had been doing interviews for a long time as he stood in front of three rows filled with media members that were ready to ask him about anything and everything.
Maybe he had some inner nerves going into his media availability, but it did not appear so. Each question, he answered directly and thoroughly, including the ones where he talked about his own performance as he gets ready to take the field for his fifth career start this weekend.
His season can be summarized in a phrase called the Jared Curtis Experience. A phrase used to describe the highs and lows that any highly-touted recruit goes through in his first career college season.
The definition of the experience can vary based on the player and his skillsets. In the case of Curtis, the experience is marked by unbelievable throws that almost no other freshman quarterback can make while also seeing the growing pains of maybe taking too many hits than necessary or forcing throws trying to make a big play rather than the simple one.
What was striking about Curtis when he assessed his season was the way he evaluates his season. Curtis did not give a general answer of “good,” but rather he took ownership of his performance in the first sentence he spoke.
“I think obviously, I need to play a little bit better,” Curtis said of his performance so far. “Just listen to coach Lea and what he says to the team. The big three, the first one being play-by-play, one play at a time. Number two being to protect the football. Number three being playing with discipline. But it all starts with me communicating throughout the offense and just playing better.”
Curtis did mention things he feels like he has done well and other areas where he could improve the rest of this season, though. Curtis knows he has plenty to work on, but it does not take much tape to watch Vanderbilt's offense this year to see the connections he has built with a couple of his wide receivers.
Curtis has built a special connection with Junior Sherrill. The two have connected together on big pass plays seemingly every week. As he has gotten more comfortable as a college quarterback, Curtis has started to build chemistry with Ja’Cory Thomas in recent weeks as well. It was a quiet start to the season for Thomas, but Curtis has fed him the ball more of late.
Curtis feels like the best thing he has done this season is get on the same page with those two guys and create opportunities for Sherrill and Thomas to make plays.
“I’d say just knowing where to go with the ball on the outside. Outside the numbers with Junior and Ja’Cory, when you have those weapons you go and give them a chance and they go make the play and it shows,” Curtis said.
Curtis has only played in six games of his college career thus far. That means he has plenty of room to grow despite the talent he has shown that he has and he knows that. Every day is a learning experience for him in terms of his development as a player and a leader for the program.
He can grow a lot in operation and his reading of opposing defenses. As he thought about what he would like to improve on the most throughout the final five games for Vanderbilt, Curtis named a couple of things he wants to get better at.
“Seeing checks. Recognizing pressure from if it's one or multiple guys coming. Just got to recognize it and then get out of the play if I need to and put the team in the best position,” Curtis said.
Curtis seems self-aware of what his job is. As the quarterback of the offense, Curtis has stepped into a leadership role already despite being really young. Similar to his evaluation of his own play, there is more ownership he puts on himself to put his team in the best position to win.
Curtis is a more typical, average SEC quarterback. He takes full accountability when things don’t go his way and knows the level of responsibility that is on his shoulders. Maybe that is a lot to put on a freshman, but Curtis embraces every aspect of his role for the Commodores.
“Obviously I’m young, it is what it is. I got to step up and be there for my teammates. I just got to make sure that they trust me and I know I trust them. And we go out there and fight and execute game by game, play by play,” Curtis said.
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