NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The quarterback competition.
Always one of the hottest topics of fall camp among the fans, Vanderbilt’s quarterbacks have embraced the battle.
“We’ve got a great competition going on,” said offensive coordinator Tim Beck. “We’ll continue that on for the next couple of weeks. These first five days have been a five-day install. We’re not worried about checking anything or getting out of anything. We’re going to run our stuff so everyone understands what we want.”
The dynamic for each quarterback in the battle is a little bit different. Diego Pavia had 23 starts for Beck at New Mexico State and fellow NMSU transfer Blaze Berlowitz also brings familiarity with the system. Nate Johnson, a four-star recruit out of high school, joined the Dores from Utah where he played seven games. Drew Dickey won’t go away quietly, as the lone returning scholarship signal caller on the roster.
Beck emphasized whoever wins the battle, the offense will be focused on balance.
“It’s somewhat of a chess match,” Beck explained. “When I say balance, we’re talking about we don’t know how many times we’re going to run or throw it going into a game, depending on what we’re getting defensively. We’re not going to keep throwing the ball if they’ve got five, six great pass rushers and the same thing if they’re going to load the box and take the run away, we’re not going to stand there and keep running the ball.”
Fundamental and technical skill aside, Johnson was quick to point out the positive attitude in the quarterback room.
“It’s been amazing,” Johnson said. “Every relationship is really, really good. We talk about things in the film room. We talk about things (outside football), joke around and have fun. It’s going to be competitive every single day and everyone, including myself, just has to keep their head down and grind.”
The quarterback competition and all the other position battles continue on Monday when Clark Lea’s squad takes the field for practice five. The Dores will practice again on Tuesday before an off day on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will feature a ramp-up to the team’s first scrimmage of the fall on Saturday.
The season opens on Aug. 31 when Virginia Tech visits FirstBank Stadium (11 a.m. on ESPN). Season tickets are sold out, but single-game tickets, mini-plans and Pepsi Four Packs are all available here.
