FAYETTEVILLE — It was a good weekend for the quarterbacking Rodgers brothers of Chico, Calif.
Big brother Aaron Rodgers, 28, led the World Champion Green Bay Packers to their 13th consecutive victory, 33-27 at Minnesota on Sunday, while passing for 335 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Younger bother Jordan Rodgers, a 23-year-old redshirt junior at Vanderbilt, made his first start for the Commodores and had a combined 282 passing and rushing yards while accounting for 2 touchdowns in their 44-21 victory over Army on Saturday night.
Jordan Rodgers will make his first SEC start when the Commodores (4-3, 1-3) play Arkansas (6-1, 2-1) on Saturday at Vanderbilt Stadium.
First-year Vanderbilt Coach James Franklin was Green Bay’s receivers coach in 2005 when Aaron Rodgers was a rookie, but he doesn’t make a big deal about the family connection or starting the brother of the reigning Super Bowl MVP.
“We don’t talk about it a whole lot around here. We really don’t,” Franklin said. “Our focus is on Jordan, not Aaron, and he’s done a great job. He’s had an unbelievable attitude.
“Obviously, he’s been able to have some experiences that maybe some other kids haven’t had, and I think that’s helped him.”
Jordan and Aaron Rodgers talk every week.
“We always just talk football,” Jordan Rodgers said. “Our offenses are pretty similar, so it’s nice we can bounce things off each other.
“He’ll tell me the same thing — just play my game, let the game slow down and be confident, and that’s how you’re going to win. Lead the guys. That’s really what I need to do.”
Rodgers played off the bench in each of the Commodores’ first six games before replacing senior Larry Smith as a starter against Army. Franklin announced last Wednesday Rodgers would start after he rushed 11 times for 88 yards and completed 4 of 19 passes for 47 yards in a 33-28 loss to Georgia.
The Bulldogs led 23-7 in the third quarter before Rodgers helped pull the Commodores within five points twice.
Georgia Coach Mark Richt said Rodgers was more impressive in person than on tape.
“We felt like after the game, he was a lot more athletic, much more difficult to bring down in space,” Richt said. “He was more elusive and he was faster than we thought he was.”
Richt also praised Rodgers’ poise in a comeback situation where the defense knew he’d be passing late in the game.
“For the opportunities he had, I thought he did a very good job of hitting his target,” Richt said. “We were up double-digits a couple of times, and it never seemed to faze him — or Vanderbilt’s team for that matter.
“But he was a big part of it. Your quarterback’s got to be able to compete well in those situations, and he sure did. I think they’ve found themselves a really good one.”
Rodgers redshirted last season after transferring to Vanderbilt from Butte (Calif.) Junior College, where Aaron Rodgers also played before transferring to California.
It has been Rodgers’ dream to start for a Football Bowl Subdivision team, he said, since he followed his brother at Chico Pleasant Valley High School.
Rodgers said knowing he’s starting for Vanderbilt, rather than wondering when he might play off the bench, makes a huge difference.
“That’s always tough as a backup quarterback trying to get in a rhythm when you get thrown into the middle of a situation,” he said. “It was just nice preparing, knowing that I was going to be in it from the start and be able to help set the tone for the offense and get a rhythm myself.”
Rodgers, 6-2 and 210 pounds, has completed 43.2 percent of his passes (34 of 78) for 422 yards and 2 touchdowns with 5 interceptions and rushed 37 times for 191 yards and 1 touchdown.
His rushing stats are impressive, but Rodgers said he doesn’t want to be a run-first quarterback. There are plays he wished he had stayed in the pocket a half-second longer to deliver the ball.
“I definitely want to be a pass-first quarterback, and it’s what this offense needs, I think,” he said.
Vanderbilt gained a seasonhigh 530 yards against Army, with Rodgers completing 10 of 27 passes for 186 yards and 1 touchdown with 1 interception and rushing 18 times for 96 yards and 1 touchdown.
“He’s been able to eliminate some of the sacks with his feet, making people miss and turning some negative plays into some positive yardage plays,” Franklin said.
Rodgers said he’s not shy about running if that’s the best option.
“I just have to be smart about it, not take any unnecessary hits,” he said. “Get down when I need to. I can take a little bit of a beating, but I’d like not to.”
Rodgers said he’s “always my own worst critic” when reviewing game tape, and he didn’t want to grade his performance against Army.
“I have a lot of improving to do,” he said. “I left a lot of plays out there. I’m not going to be satisfied with my performance in most cases, but we got the win, and that’s the most important part.
“Stats really don’t matter as long as we win. But obviously I’d like to improve on a variety of different things in the passing game and just being more efficient.”
The Nashville Tennessean contributed information for this report
Sports, Pages 15 on 10/25/2011