Vanderbilt Football head coach Clark Lea had a lot to say at SEC Media Day when asked about New Mexico State graduate transfer Diego Pavia, one of the Commodores’ three quarterback additions this offseason. One quote stood out more than all of the rest, though.
“I saw a quarterback that was a maniac,” Lea said.
Pavia, who is undersized at 6’0” and 207 lbs, ultimately makes up for his build with a balanced dual-threat skillset and a relentless, aggressive style of play. He’s a fiery competitor who knows how to win. In the 2023 season for the Aggies, Pavia threw for 2,973 yards, 26 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, boasting a passer rating of 147.1, according to ESPN. On the ground, Pavia ran for 1,058 yards (excluding sack yardage) and 7 touchdowns, which ranked third in Conference USA. Thanks to the superb efforts of Pavia, New Mexico State went 10-5 (7-1), highlighted by a massive upset victory over Auburn on the road and a Conference-USA championship berth against No. 25 Liberty.
At Vanderbilt, Pavia now faces tough competition for the starting quarterback role: four-star Utah transfer Nate Johnson. While the starting job will likely fall to one of Pavia or Johnson, fellow NMSU transfer Blaze Berlowitz and returning Commodore Drew Dickey have also shown flashes this offseason. Nevertheless, Pavia brings a unique edge, tangible leadership qualities and a familiarity with offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s system. With Vanderbilt’s first game against Virginia Tech rapidly approaching, this position battle will continue into the days leading up to Aug. 31.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at what makes Pavia dangerous as a potential starter for the Commodores.
Power Pavia
In The Hustler’s film room on Nate Johnson, the first subsection is titled “Speed kills.” A fitting title, given Johnson’s blazing speed. While he may not have the same acceleration or be step-for-step faster than Johnson, Pavia is also spectacular on the run. He’s an expert at getting yards in any way possible, be that through option plays, designed runs or scrambles. In both of his seasons at New Mexico State, Pavia averaged over five yards per carry. In 2023 alone, he averaged 61.5 rushing yards per game, which ranked eighth in the country among all FBS quarterbacks.
Pavia shined within the Beck offensive scheme, which specializes in a balanced run-game alongside constant flairs of trickery. He won’t necessarily take the top off a defense with game-changing speed, but he’s a crafty runner when it comes to getting first downs and finding the end zone. His ball carrier vision is top-notch for a quarterback, as he excels at getting defenders to bite on option reads and finding subsequent running lanes behind his blockers.
On top of that, the beauty of Pavia’s rushing is his ability to sustain a high volume of carries. In 2023, Pavia led the team in rushing attempts with 177. This was 65 more carries than any other player on the Aggies and fourth among all quarterbacks in the nation. Of his 15 games, he had 10 in which he logged more than 10 carries, recording a season-high 19 rushes (68 yards) against Jacksonville State. What makes a dual-threat like Pavia effective is not just his ability to run but the durability to continue doing so deep into contests.
Elusive playmaking
One trait that has separated the good quarterbacks from the great quarterbacks in recent years of college football is an ability to play beyond what’s listed on a play call. This unpredictability has characterized many of college’s best and adds an extra layer to what a defense has to plan for. Pavia has shown this talent. He’s able to create fantastic plays out of nothing, possessing craftiness to get himself on the move outside of the pocket. In fact, it seems at times that Pavia is more comfortable on the run than he is within the pocket.
Whether that means ducking and dodging through sacks to roll out and heave an unexpected bomb or sprinting out after his first progression and picking up yards after a slick pump fake, Pavia is as dynamic as they come. He trusts himself to make plays, but he also trusts his teammates to get open even when the play seems like it might be dead. While he’s yet to face high-caliber SEC defenses, Pavia brings a creativity missing from the Vanderbilt signal-caller for quite some time now.
The majority of Pavia’s cleanest plays come off of play actions and quick rollouts when he’s able to develop momentum on the ground to give him a variety of choices. When Pavia gets the opportunity to extend a play, he can either slice back up across the middle of the field for a run, fire a hard-thrown ball to a deep out or get enough space to buy some time and let his receivers find an opening. Pavia’s nature may occasionally lead him into a sack or, on rare occasions, a frantically thrown interception, but his ability as a playmaker is a game-changer.
Taking his shot
Watching the film, it’s clear that Pavia doesn’t possess the immense arm strength that many SEC quarterbacks boast. Rather, Pavia has a great feel for short to intermediate throws — in Beck’s offense, quarterbacks do not often throw, or complete, passes at a high rate. Pavia’s career-high for completions is only 23, and in 2023, he finished eight games with 15 or fewer completions. Nationwide, Pavia ranked 76th in completions per game with 14.73.
Pavia wasn’t afraid to let it fly: he ranked 20th in the nation with 13.45 yards per completion.
This highlights that within Beck’s system, quality reigns supreme over quantity. Pavia may not always throw 30 passes a game, but when he does take deep shots, they will be set up by a cruising running game. While Vanderbilt’s offense may spend most of its time operating in short-yardage and run-after-catch opportunities, Pavia’s willingness to let it fly without fear is noteworthy and will help Vanderbilt’s short game in turn.
Pavia will continue to grow as he hones in on his intermediate to deep-range accuracy to take advantage of what opposing defenses give him. At New Mexico State, there were several times when Pavia ended up hurting his team with overthrows and underthrows. With SEC defenses possessing stronger secondaries and better athletes, Pavia will need to capitalize on deep throws whenever he gets the chance, as he’ll have fewer opportunities than he did in 2023.
Pavia has been labeled as the frontrunner for the starting job due to his experience, leadership and knowledge of the offensive system. Defeating Auburn on the road was certainly a feat, but it was only one game. The real question is this: will Pavia be able to bring that same magic to West End?
