LEXINGTON, Ky. - Down 11 points and staring at a crucial fourth down play, Vanderbilt football's five-star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis stepped back to pass and immediately looked to wide receiver Ja'Cory Thomas down the sideline.
While the pass was contested well by a Kentucky defender, the ball Curtis gave Thomas was perfectly placed, too good for the Wildcats to disrupt regardless of how tight the coverage was as the Commodores closed the deficit to 21-17.
"Love the connection with Jared and Ja'Cory. I thought that was a courageous throw and a big play for us," Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea said on the play.
After that drive from Curtis and the Vanderbilt offense, though, it was back to what was happening for three quarters of the night. Kentucky moved down the field multiple times in the final 20 minutes of the game and came up with two field goals and a touchdown.
By the end of the night, Vanderbilt lost its fifth straight game, falling to Kentucky 34-17. As Vanderbilt goes into its bye, the Commodores season outlook feels bleak at best. They now have a 3-5 record and a 0-5 record in conference play.
Vanderbilt's remaining games consist of road trips to Mississippi State and Florida and home games against Alabama and Tennessee. To make a bowl game, it is going to need to win three of those games. To feel some sort of encouraging momentum going into the offseason, two wins feels necessary.
It is no secret that Vanderbilt was going to have some extent of a drop off after two of its superstars moved on from college football. However, not too many people thought the drop off would be as bad as it has been this season. The Commodores are staring down a 3-9 record as the most likely finish to the 2026 season.
When that is the reality, that is how you know the season is looking bleak. That is not to say things cannot change for the better in November. But every game for Vanderbilt has a similar feel to it. The Commodores start the game off respectably well before things begin to unravel in the second quarter.
So yes, it is not looking good right now for Vanderbilt. However, Vanderbilt does have Jared Curtis and it will still have Curtis going forward.
Saturday night was another game of the Jared Curtis experience. His beautifully thrown pass to Thomas for a touchdown was one of the highs while the cross-body throw that was picked off and the fumble in Vanderbilt's own red zone were the lows of the nights that translated into 10 Kentucky points.
But even despite those mistakes and all the other mistakes Curtis has made this season, Vanderbilt still has reason to smile because Curtis is part of the roster even if the season is not going in the direction it wants.
Maybe one of the more surprising things about this Vanderbilt team is the fact that Curtis' inexperience at the college level has not been one of the main issues for Vanderbilt. Sure, he had made mistakes and those did not help the team. But overall, Curtis had one of his best games of the season against the Wildcats.
Anytime a quarterback is able to complete 75% or more of his passes, that is an efficient day. Curtis completed 27 of his 36 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns with his two turnovers. He was the one that kept Vanderbilt afloat and in the game late in the third quarter. For that, Vanderbilt can take solace in.
"I'm encouraged by the progress. I think from what I saw from Jared tonight, it looked like his cleanest game," Lea said.
There was plenty more to like about what Curtis did. He used the middle of the field more than he has in any game this season and he used it effectively. From getting the tight ends involved to finding Tristen Brown over the middle, Curtis was effective.
After the game Thomas told the media that the rate at which Curtis threw over the middle was by design. Perhaps part of that was due to Kentucky having a vulnerable pass defense and the Wildcats wanting to defend the boundary. But it feels like the other part of that is because the offense was geared more toward Curtis' abilities.
If that trend in the offense can continue, Curtis will develop well.
"I do think I saw a system that was organized around his skills. I do also think that we need to run the ball. And so part of that organizing around his talents isn't to abandon the run game. Because that's going to take pressure off him in times where the game's moving a little fast for him," Lea said.
Curtis is not the issue for Vanderbilt, but is rather one of the bright spots for the Commodores season. He will develop, there is no need to worry about that. The mistakes he made Saturday did not do his team any favors on the scoreboard, but the more he develops the less often those kinds of mistakes will occur.
Vanderbilt may be 0-5 in SEC play, but do not let that distract you from the talent it still possesses at quarterback.
"I think the bye week's another chance for us to take a look at it and just keep evolving forward. I mean, we have a guy we can build around. That is so clear," Lea said.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/vanderbilt as Column: Vanderbilt Football's Season Looks Bleak, But There Still is Jared Curtis .
