Diego Pavia marks South Carolina matchup as pivotal for Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia emerged as one of the breakout personalities in all of college football last season, highlighted by his stellar performance in the Commodores’ 40-35 upset win over the then No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. After passing for 2,293 yards, 20 touchdowns and just four interceptions in 2024, Pavia was named SEC Newcomer of the Year.

During an appearance on Taylor Lewan and Will Compton‘s “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast, Pavia revealed the matchup that he believes is most important for Vanderbilt this season.

“I don’t wanna give the opponent any fuel,” Pavia told Lewan when asked about which game is circled on his schedule. “Game three [against South Carolina]. I’ve got my brothers with me. I’m good.”

Vanderbilt‘s loss at home to South Carolina last season was its biggest loss of the season. The Comodores were thrashed 28-7, and it marked just one of two games (Alcorn State) that Pavia did not throw a touchdown. He rushed for a 17-yard touchdown in the third quarter to cut the Carolina lead to 14-7, but back-to-back touchdown runs by Raheim Sanders cemented a dominant win for Shane Beamer‘s program.

“As long as we get better in our detail, we’ll be fine,” Pavia said. “I’m really just worried about us right now. We don’t really care about what other people say or anything like that. Everyone just focus internally.”

An anonymous SEC coach labels Pavia as an ‘x-factor’

An anonymous SEC coach spoke highly of Pavia in Athlon Sports’ 2025 College Football Preview.

“[Diego] Pavia is an ‘it factor’ guy,” the coach said. “He’s not the most talented, but he’s the definition of the college football playmaker. He’s never out of it until the play is over, and the entire offense improves when he’s clicking. I think you’ll see more advanced concepts from them this season to mix up their standard option play.”

Along with targeting South Carolina, Pavia also set the SEC on fire this week when he claimed that Vanderbilt will run the state of Tennessee after this season.

“Vanderbilt is gonna run Tennessee after this year,” Pavia proclaimed. “This is gonna be the new staple of college football. It’s going to happen here at Vanderbilt.”

This season will certainly be an interesting one for the Commodores, which are looking to win at least seven games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2012-13 (the last two seasons of the James Franklin era). They’ll travel to South Carolina on September 13 and Tennessee on November 29.