In a word, Vanderbilt’s quarterback play in 2019 was disastrous.
Ball State transfer Riley Neal was somewhat accurate, completing 57.8% of his passes on the season, but he wasn’t terribly effective — he averaged just 6.1 yards per attempt on the season. For comparison, Kyle Shurmur, who was Vanderbilt’s starter from midway through 2015 on, averaged 7.0 yards per attempt for his Vanderbilt career and 7.7 yards per attempt as a senior. Neal was arguably worse than Shurmur was as a sophomore.
Neal played in 11 games and started 10 mostly because Vanderbilt’s other quarterbacks were even less effective.