Urban Meyer opens up on conversation he had with DJ Durkin regarding Vanderbilt, Diego Pavia

Sixth-year Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia continued his personal domination over Hugh Freeze-built teams last Saturday, compiling nearly 500 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in a 45-38 overtime win over Auburn, which parted ways with Freeze the week prior. The victory kept the 14th-ranked Commodores (8-2, 4-2 SEC) in the thick of the College Football Playoff race in head coach Clark Lea‘s fifth season leading his alma mater.

Although it won’t count against Freeze’s record, last Saturday saw Pavia improve his personal mark to 4-0 against teams Freeze built over the past four seasons. And while Pavia is no longer a thorn in Freeze’s side, Auburn interim coach DJ Durkin won’t soon forget the 489 total yards Vandy’s superstar QB racked up against his Tigers defense. At least based on a recent conversation Durkin had with retired former Ohio State and Florida coach Urban Meyer.

“DJ was my graduate assistant at Bowling Green,  also coached with me at Florida, one of my favorite (assistant) coaches. … He’s tremendous and I talked to him (Tuesday) night for a long time. And (when) I asked about Vanderbilt, (Durkin) said: ‘The personnel is good, there’s really good players there.’ It’s not exactly an NFL roster, but he made the point that that’s an SEC team, which Vanderbilt hasn’t had that. But the most important thing is, he said, ‘that damn quarterback (Pavia),’” Meyer recalled during Wednesday’s episode of The Triple Option podcast with co-hosts Mark Ingram II and Rob Stone. “And the term he used was ‘relentless.’ He said the guy is relentless, he’ll get first downs, get hit, we’ve seen that, he said (Pavia is) ‘tough as shit.’ Just his whole demeanor is the team of Vanderbilt right now. And to hear that, I kind of watch that, and I think their head coach (Lea) is the same as that quarterback. I just think there’s an arrogance I’ve never seen at Vanderbilt.

Urban Meyer on Diego Pavia: ‘He’s a winner, he’s tough as nails, and Auburn has great respect for him’

“But to hear that from the D-coordinator and the interim head coach at Auburn — this is Auburn talking about Vanderbilt,” Meyer concluded. “Tough environment, but (Durkin) said, ‘This thing comes and goes as that quarterback Pavia does.’ … I mean, he said it seven times: ‘We hammered him a few times and he just bounced up like nothing.’ … (Pavia is) a winner, he’s tough as nails, and Auburn has great respect for him.”

While he was a transformative figure last year, Pavia has been particularly special this season, guiding Vanderbilt to the cusp of Playoff contention with the program’s first eight-win season since back-to-back nine-win campaigns in 2013-14 under then-head coach James Franklin. Pavia currently leads the SEC with 28 total touchdowns, including seven scores and 613 rushing yards on the ground, and is tied for the league-lead with 21 passing scores while completing 70-percent of his attempts this season.