Georgia football moves on at QB after Jared Curtis flip to Vanderbilt

Georgia football has been here before.

Two years ago, to be precise.

Five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola flipped from the Bulldogs to Nebraska two days before the early signing day.

This time, it’s Jared Curtis from Nashville, the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect by the 247Sports Composite, who announced Tuesday night, Dec. 2, he’s signing with Vanderbilt instead of Georgia..

Rivals had reported that earlier in the day, but Curtis posted soon after he hadn’t told the coaching staffs yet.

Raiola started every game the last two seasons for the Cornhuskers until he broke his fibula Nov. 1. The Cornhuskers have gone 7-6 and 7-5 with him on the team.

Raiola was blocked from starting as a freshman at Georgia by Carson Beck, who had just led Georgia to the SEC Championship game in 2023.

Diego Pavia, who could be headed to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist, is on the way out now at Vanderbilt.

Georgia starting quarterback Gunner Stockton, a redshirt junior who has the Bulldogs in another SEC championship game and helped the Bulldogs to a No. 3 ranking, is expected to return in 2026.

Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea has the Commodores rolling with a 10-2 record at a program that was known as a bottom-feeder in the league. He just got a contract extension and the school’s commitment to football is showing up in facilities and being able to attract a player like Curtis in the area of NIL and revenue sharing.

Curtis was even wooed to be next for Lea by comedian Nate Bargatze on College GameDay.

Curtis twice committed to Georgia and twice now has backed off that commitment.

The first pledge was in March of 2024, but he de-committed in October of 2024. The second was in May when Oregon was the runner-up. Now he walked that back and flipped to Vanderbilt on Tuesday.

Georgia, if it doesn’t have a quarterback hit the transfer portal, would have rising redshirt sophomore Ryan Puglisi, redshirt freshman Ryan Montgomery and redshirt freshman Hezekiah Millender also back next season.

There are no other quarterbacks committed for the 2026 class.

“There is so much that goes into playing that position that is not talked about,” coach Kirby Smart said last month. “A lot of them aren't really qualities we can measure without having them in our program. We don't have a cookie cutter, like this is what we're going after. We want to go after people that can lead our team. If they have a skill set that's unique and that we think can make us better, then we want to grow them within our program. They're going to be the face of your organization, so you want to go after the right kind of person."

Smart and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo will certainly take a look at options in the transfer portal, just like they did in the last cycle.

Georgia had a commitment from UNLV quarterback Jayden Maiava for one day in January but he transferred to USC. Georgia was previously involved with Cal’s Fernando Mendoza, who ultimately transferred to Indiana.

In April of 2024, former Florida quarterback Jaden Rashada transferred from Arizona State to Georgia before transferring out after one season as a reserve.

Bobo, by the way, was named one of 15 semifinalists for nation’s top assistant on Tuesday morning. So was Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck.

Georgia won back-to-back national titles with former walk-on Stetson Bennett and will try to win another with Stockton, the fomer four-star quarterback.

If not this year, maybe next.

Vanderbilt and Curtis will be in the way. The Commodores are on Georgia’s 2026 home schedule.

Georgia already has a commitment from 2028 5-star IMG Academy quarterback Jayden Wade.

That’s a long time away before he can sign. And a lot of time for recruiting twists and turns ahead.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Jared Curtis flips to Vanderbilt. What it means for Georgia football