Homage of the Week
Who the heck is Diego Pavia?
Another way of conveying an honorable mention is an homage. In this weekly article we will be paying homage to the weirdest or funniest moment in college sports from the weekend, aside from the obviously stupid things sports fans do. Those moments speak for themselves. These are the moments that really stand out as head scratchers.
“The only place you're going to play in the SEC that's not hard to play, Vanderbilt. When you play at Vanderbilt, you have more fans there than they have, and that's no disrespect to them, it's the truth.” – Nick Saban
The clip of Saban was queued and ready on the video board. Vanderbilt students had no idea how to process the moment. It might have been the slowest field storming in field storming history. I didn’t know what to do with my hands. Vanderbilt had just upset #1 Alabama, 40-35, in a game Vanderbilt weirdly controlled from start to finish. All of the sports world experienced mutual shock and disbelief at arguably the greatest upset in sports history.
Who the heck is Diego Pavia, and why did Alabama have no answer for him? Pavia completed 16-20 passes for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also ran the ball 20 times for 56 yards. He was a one-man wrecking crew…but who the heck is he?
If you follow group of five football you already knew about Pavia. He’s a 6-foot 200-pound ball of muscle and energy. He is a relentless leader who jumps in defensive line drills during practice when he gets bored. Diego Pavia does not do no-contact jerseys. He was a zero star recruit out of high school who had to attend New Mexico Military Institute to prolong his football career. He leveraged a juco championship game performance into an offer from New Mexico State, which is where he met Vanderbilt offensive Coordinator, Tim Beck.
After the Alabama win Pavia became a household name. He’s come a long way from his IV NIL at New Mexico State. Yes, literal IV’s. Not Liquid IV. He had an NIL deal for free IV’s. It makes sense for a guy Tim Beck describes in these words, “You talk about a football-playing machine. “This guy, that's what he does. He wants the ball in his hands. He wants to be in the moment. He's not afraid of anything. I've had some tough quarterbacks over the years, but he's one tough cookie both physically and mentally."
Pavia is a leader of men. He’s grown as a player and leader and learned from past mistakes, such as peeing on the logo at the New Mexico indoor facility. In his defense, he felt snubbed by the Lobo coaching staff. However, he is the unquestioned leader in the Vanderbilt locker room. Players love him, and he has the unmeasurable quality of making everyone around him better. After winning the starting job and getting healthy at New Mexico State in 2022, the Aggies went from 1-5 to 7-5. Then came the 2023 season. The first 10-win season at New Mexico State in modern history, including an enormous upset of Auburn.
Tim Beck and New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill went to Vanderbilt. Pavia went with them. With Pavia leading the way, Vanderbilt has now defeated Alabama and Virginia Tech. They should have beaten Missouri, eventually losing in overtime. This is not the traditional Vanderbilt doormat. Pavia has overcome all of SEC history to make Vanderbilt a legitimate threat to the traditional powers. Even Nick Saban is eating his words.