SECMD25: Pavia bringing confidence into second year at Vandy
Vanderbilt quarterback didn’t hold back when discussing his thoughts on playing Alabama this fall. He held his court during Monday’s SEC Media Days at the Omni in Atlanta. (Courtesy Vanderbilt University Athletics)
By BILL LUMPKIN III
ATLANTA – Diego Pavia probably shouldn’t think about running for governor of Alabama any time soon, or maybe ever.
Talk about public enemy No. 1.
The Vanderbilt senior quarterback is a perfect 4-0 against college football teams from the state of Alabama, including 2-0 against Auburn (3-0 against Hugh Freeze-coached teams), 1-0 against Alabama and 1-0 against Jacksonville State.
“I’ve still got two games left against them so I have to watch what I’m going to say,” Pavia said Monday during the first day of the SEC Football Media Days. “I’m not going to say too much. Those are two really good programs. And, Jacksonville State was really good that year and almost got us.
“I’ll just say that I’’ll really be excited for those games.”
Pavia engineered the biggest upset in Vanderbilt history last year when the Commodores stunned No. 1 Alabama 40-35, its first-ever win over a Top 5 program and the first win over the Crimson Tide in 40-plus years.
There’s already been words exchanged over the summer through the Twitter verse between Pavia and Alabama sensational sophomore wide receiver Ryan Williams.
Williams said he was looking forward to Vanderbilt coming to Tuscaloosa where the Tide would squash those ants with a sledgehammer.
Pavia snapped back, but Monday said, “He’s a great competitor. He’s got a lot of natural God-given talent. I’ll just say I’m going to be excited to play in his home stadium.”
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said he doesn’t want to muzzle his talented and exuberant quarterback, but he warns him to know sometimes it’s better to not let his emotions get the best of him.
“I wonder if I could get him to just say, ‘no comment,’ but in reality, I want him to be who and what he is,” Lea said. “The bravado he has; it’s amazing. He needs to play to his personality. And as far as just his mentality and what he means to the team, I don’t need Diego to be anything other than who he is.”
Who and what Pavia is a quarterback full of confidence and swagger.
“I tell my teammates just put the ball in my hands and watch me shake,” he said.
It hasn’t always been that way.
He didn’t have a single Division I scholarship offer out of high school and only a pair of Division II offers in Western Colorado and Western New Mexico.
Instead, he signed with New Mexico Military Institute where he threw for 2,644 yards and 31 touchdowns and rushed for 1,107 yards and 15 touchdowns over two seasons, including the junior college national championship.
His title game performance caught the eye of coaches at New Mexico State.
“That feeds me for sure, obviously,” he said. “The in-state schools didn’t come get me. I guess I just wasn’t the right size,”
The 24-year-old is listed as 6-foot, 207 pounds on the roster.
Pavia admits that might be a stretch.
“Maybe 5-foot-10,” he said. “Anybody have a tape measure? You know the older you get; you tend to shrink.”
That hasn’t stopped Pavia from thinking about a NFL career.
He had a chance to enter the NFL draft a year ago, but after receiving a less than positive evaluation, he sued the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility due to his junior college career and won.
The Commodores couldn’t be happier.
“Coach tells me to rein it in sometimes and just be very cautious about my perspective with the NFL,” he said. “I’m appreciative. I don’t want these NFL teams to think I’m a disruptive kid or something like that. I want them to know I’m a true competitor and I just believe in myself.
“Some people might call me delusional, but you kind of have to be delusional to go out there and win every single game. All I would say to the NFL is, if you wan to win, come get me.”
Pavia, the 2024 SEC Newcomer of the Year and the All-SEC second-team quarterback, led the Commodores to a 7-6 record and a win over Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl. It was Vanderbilt’s first winning season and first bowl win since 2013.
He completed 177 of 298 passes for 2,293 yards and 20 touchdowns with only four interceptions and also rushed for 800 yards on 193 carries and eight touchdowns.
In his two seasons at New Mexico State, he completed 101 of 190 passes for 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns with six interceptions in 2022 and completed 221 of 366 passes for 2,973 yards and 26 touchdowns with nine interceptions in 2023. He combined to rush for 1,436 yards on 270 yards and 13 touchdowns over the two seasons.
Pavia says expect even bigger things in 2025.
“We left a lot on the table last year,” he said. “Going 7-6 doesn’t cut it. I came back to win a national championship. I don’t want to give too many clues for what I’m going to do, but I would say I have a least an entire page of notes on every team we’re going to play this year.
“I’ve got something to finish and that’s why I came back. I’m going to bring passion to the game. You never know when it’s going to be your last play. So, I’m going to ball every single play.”
Vanderbilt can hardly be confused with other national championship contenders. The Commodores are only a handful of schools in the country to never have had a 10-win season.
Yet, don’t be surprised if Oct. 4 in Tuscaloosa will be game circled on both teams’ schedule for a number of reasons. The Commodores will host Auburn in Nashville on Nov. 8.
‘I know their stadium is going to be electric,” Pavia said of Bryant-Denny. “It will come down to who’s more prepared and who wants It more. Last year, I thought we were the more prepared team.”