Mike Wright to make first career start at quarterback for Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt will start sophomore Mike Wright at quarterback against South Carolina, replacing fellow sophomore Ken Seals, according to Kevin Ingram on Vanderbilt’s pregame radio show.

Seals, Vanderbilt’s typical starter, is missing the game with a finger injury, according to Robbie Weinstein of 247 Sports. Saturday marks Wright’s first-ever college start at quarterback.

Through six games, Vanderbilt has a 2-4 record and Seals has been a microcosm of Vanderbilt’s sporadic offense. He holds a 55 percent completion rate, with 1,086 passing yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Last season, by comparison, Seals threw for 1,928 yards, 12 touchdowns and ten interceptions as a true freshman; though the stats may not show it, the Texas native showed plenty of upside as a true freshman in a tough season. Wright, a fellow sophomore, has played as a change-of-pace option for Vanderbilt, occassionally taking over for Seals.

Wright has completed 11 of his 23 passing attempts this season, good for just 95 yards, one touchdown and one interception in limited play. His usage rate last year was similar, as he completed six of ten passes for 51 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. However, Wright boasts impressive athleticism for a quarterback. He’s run for 98 yards this year, with many of his play calls designed as quarterback draws.

Wright and Seals both entered Vanderbilt last season as true freshmen under then-head coach Derek Mason, and the duo stuck after Mason’s firing, now under first-year head coach Clark Lea. They dueled in a quarterback battle last preseason, with Mason not announcing his 2020 starter until just before the Week 1 contest at Texas A&M. He ended up selecting Seals, while Wright had a selection of designed red zone packages for Vanderbilt to utilize.

Wright, a Woodward Academy (GA) product, was ranked a three-to-four-star prospect out of high school. Originally committed to UCF, Wright decommitted and switched to Vanderbilt just days before national signing day. Seals was a consensus three-star recruit out of Weatherford High School (TX), and he committed in April of 2019.

Opportunity knocks for Wright and Vanderbilt against South Carolina

Vanderbilt (2-4, 0-2) and South Carolina (3-3, 0-3) are both struggling mightily in the 2021 campaign. Lea, Vanderbilt’s first-year head coach, and Shane Beamer, South Carolina’s first-year head coach, will both look to pick up their first-career SEC victories on Saturday.

Both the Commodores and Gamecocks are facing growing pains as a result of head coaching turnover, but as the Commodores head to South Carolina — even with Wright, not Seals, quarterbacking the offense — Lea sees the contest as an opportunity to take the next step.

“I think it is two teams that are going to be fighting for a win on Saturday that have experienced varying levels of disappointment,” Lea said. “But also are improving and finding identity through the year. … But the first-year narrative, the new coach, new culture narrative — I think those are similar places for our programs as far as the DNA of each team.”

Vanderbilt has yet to score a point in an SEC game this season, losing to then-No. 2 Georgia, 62-0, and then-No. 20 Florida, 42-0. Lea hopes that trend changes with Wright bringing impressive athleticism to the offense.

By Saturday night, one of the two longest active SEC losing streaks will snap. Only time will tell if Vanderbilt, losers of 15 consecutive SEC games, or South Carolina, losers of nine SEC games in a row, will get to shed the unwelcome title.