The One That Got Away Is Coming to Visit

GEORGIA MONEYBALL — Thursday, October 1, 2026

Jared Curtis committed to Georgia twice and signed with Vanderbilt once, and on Saturday the once is coming to Athens.

ALBANY, GA — · By the RFA Sports Desk

There is a particular kind of Southern Saturday set aside for the fellow who got away. Jared Curtis committed to Georgia not once but twice, which in my part of the state is called an engagement. Then he signed with Vanderbilt, which in my part of the state is called the phone call nobody wants to make. On Saturday he comes to Sanford Stadium for a 12:45 kickoff on the SEC Network. The only thing standing between him and a rather loud welcome is the word questionable next to his name.

Clark Lea coaches Vanderbilt, so he has more practice than most at keeping a straight face, and he did not pretend this was an ordinary road trip. "Jared is the one the spotlight is on," Lea said this week, according to DawgNation, and he added that emotions run high when relationships are involved. He called Curtis "a special person" who "thinks for himself and he knows what he wants." I would point out that it took the young man two tries to work out that last part, but I admire anybody who reads the whole menu before he orders.

Committing to Georgia twice is what my part of the state calls an engagement; signing with Vanderbilt is the phone call nobody wants to make.

Kirby Smart has taken the gracious route, which is what a man does when he is favored by twenty-five and a half points. Smart called his former commitment way better athletically than people give him credit for, and he went further: "I don't know if anybody's tackled him, with one person, tackled him yet." The freshman has completed 63 of 98 passes for 746 yards, with four touchdowns and three interceptions, and Vanderbilt is coming off a 21-15 loss at Auburn. Nobody in Athens is frightened by that résumé, but Smart has never once been caught underselling an opponent.

Whether Curtis plays at all, nobody will say. Sports Illustrated reported that Smart declined to discuss injuries beyond the official report, and the official report says questionable, which is football's word for "we'll see." This desk keeps a prediction machine that it consults the way my grandmother consulted the Farmer's Almanac. It guesses Georgia's next play correctly 54.1 percent of the time. If it can barely read the Bulldogs, I would not trust it to read the heart of a freshman who has already changed his mind twice.

Meanwhile, somebody has woken up the Gators in Gainesville, and Athens ought to be watching. Florida led Ole Miss from start to finish and won 52-28, scoring touchdowns on five straight second-half drives. Jadan Baugh ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns. He joins Emmitt Smith and Fred Taylor as the only Gators to top 100 rushing yards in five straight games. Florida is 4-0 for the first time since 2019 and has climbed to eighth in the AP poll. Georgia people will notice, because Georgia people always notice Florida. I would go ahead and start worrying now. It saves time later.

The Notebook

• IN KNOXVILLE: Texas beat Tennessee 20-17. Faizon Brandon's touchdown pass with 1:22 left and an onside-kick recovery gave the Vols one last chance, but Texas batted down the Hail Mary, and Colin Simmons tied the Texas program record with five sacks.
• OUT WEST AND UP NORTH: Oregon beat USC 41-27 after Dante Moore left in an ambulance following a late hit, and ESPN reported that he has movement in all of his extremities. Wisconsin rallied to beat Penn State 24-20, its first win in State College since 2003.
• SATURDAY: Vanderbilt plays in Athens at 12:45 p.m. Eastern on the SEC Network. The desk has Georgia favored by twenty-five and a half and calls it a lock.

Written in the tradition of Lewis Grizzard, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1946–1994.

Hear the desk read tonights report on Radio Free Albany, WPFQ 96.7.