Wyoming Transfer Austyn Carta-Samuels To Start At Quarterback For Vanderbilt

Wyoming transfer quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels gets the start for Vanderbilt in its Week 3 tilt against Presbyterian. The Commodores are 0-2 after a pair of anemic offensive performances against South Carolina and Northwestern. In each loss, Vanderbilt scored only 13 points.

VU head coach James Franklin expressed concern about the play of quarterback Jordan Rodgers earlier this week, foreshadowing the change. Carta-Samuels was a standout in his freshman campaign at Wyoming, leading the Cowboys to eight wins and the New Mexico Bowl but struggled in 2010.

Carta-Samuels has dual threat ability. In ’09, he passed for nearly 2000 yards and scored 10 touchdowns, and chalked up another 366 and three on the ground.

Presbyterian is unlikely to pose much challenge to the Commodores, so Carta-Samuels should score the points that eluded the Commodores in Weeks 1 and 2. But Vanderbilt’s next match-up is with the imposing Georgia defense, so instilling some confidence in the offense now is key for Franklin.