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Clark Lea keeping Vanderbilt quarterback plans close to vest ahead of season opener

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•08/28/24
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(Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK) Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea walks along the side line in the first half against the Gators at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 7, 2023. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]

Vanderbilt is preparing for its season opener, but the Commodores won’t name a starting quarterback ahead of Saturday’s tilt with Virginia Tech.

Coach Clark Lea revealed his plans to keep that news close to the vest before the game during an SEC teleconference question on Wednesday afternoon.

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“Well we haven’t named a starter publicly, and we’ll continue that way,” Lea said. “We’ve had obviously really four guys competing for that job. And four guys that have prepared really hard to play in the game.”

Those four guys are New Mexico State transfers Diego Pavia and Blaze Berlowitz, as well as Nate Johnson and Drew Dickey.

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Pavia is thought to be the leader after impressing in practice, and he’d give Vanderbilt some much-needed experience.

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In the last two years with the Aggies, Pavia has thrown for 4,423 yards and 39 touchdowns, against 15 interceptions. He’s also a huge rushing threat, having run for 1,436 yards and 13 touchdowns in that span.

Lea could use a multi-quarterback approach, too, though he does prefer consistency.

“As far as rotating during the game, to me it’s, you want there to be consistency in play in that position,” Lea said. “You want there to be a quarterback on the field who every snap is channeling through him. So sometimes when you swap guys out during the game it can create some disruption for the chemistry on the field.”

Bottom line, Vanderbilt will be leaning on its signal-callers to help try to turn things around after a disappointing 2023 season. Lea just isn’t ready to put anything down in stone yet.

“We’ll look at anything and everything to gain an advantage, to gain an edge,” Lea said. “That could be playing with multiple quarterbacks on the field at the same time. We’re not shut off to anything. But we haven’t named anything publicly as far as a starter goes. We’ll do that on Saturday and be excited to let that person lead the offense.”

Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech will meet at noon ET on Saturday with a national broadcast on ESPN.