Ole Miss doesn’t usually have to prepare for two different offenses in one week, but Vanderbilt makes that unavoidable.
The Commodores don’t just rotate quarterbacks. Instead, they change who they are depending on which one is on the field, and Pete Golding spent a portion of his Monday press conference laying out why that makes this matchup trickier than it looks on paper.
The first part of the challenge is Jared Curtis, the freshman who already looks like a future problem for the league.
Curtis is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, and his breakout came against NC State three weeks ago when he threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns and added 64 rushing yards.
He’s completed 63 of 98 passes for 746 yards this season, and the danger isn’t just the arm. It’s what happens when he escapes.
“Obviously, Curtis is super talented,” Golding said. “He has a big body and a really live arm. I think he does a good job at his age of taking what people give him and taking away free access. He has a really good quick release. From a scramble standpoint, once he gets those feet moving a little bit, it’s kind of scary as well.”
Curtis stresses your rush lanes, your scramble rules and your ability to plaster receivers when the play breaks down. He’s the quarterback who can turn a missed tackle into a 20-yard gain before anyone realizes what happened.
Then there’s Blaze Berlowitz, who brings a completely different identity. Vanderbilt leans into option concepts, quarterback runs and formation-driven numbers advantages when he’s in.
Against Georgia, he threw for 190 yards and ran for 37, and the offense looked more like a system built around motion, shifts and numbers advantages.
“When the other one is in the game, you can feel the New Mexico influence and the reason why he came with the coordinator,” Golding said. “It feels much more option-generated, numbers and grass. They do a really good job formationally, very similar to Florida with multiple personnel groupings, shifts and motions to be able to run the football.”
That’s where the preparation gets complicated.
Vanderbilt’s bread-and-butter run concept, the G-lead, shows up no matter who is playing quarterback. But the way they get to it changes. The formations change. The motions change. The stress points change.
“Their identity is running the football and creating issues for defenses,” Golding said. “But it’s two completely different offenses based on the quarterback position.”
And Ole Miss has to prepare for both.
Curtis didn’t play against Georgia, which meant Ole Miss spent the last week watching a completely different offense than the one Vanderbilt used earlier in the season.
Now the Rebels have to build a plan for the option-heavy looks Berlowitz brings and the scramble-heavy, pocket-moving style Curtis brings.
“We have to work on both of them all week,” Golding said. “I think we’ll see both of them in the game, no doubt. We’ll probably see them both in the game at the same time, too.”
That’s the assignment.
Two quarterbacks, two offenses, and a Saturday where Ole Miss has to be ready for all of it.
