Diego Pavia Dazzles Again, Gets Rewarded; PFF Takeaways

NASHVILLE—Diego Pavia’s most meaningful quote as he stood at the podium after Vanderbilt’s 55-35 victory over Utah State pertained to Vanderbilt’s matchup with Alabama in Tuscaloosa, but perhaps he needed to talk more about what he did on Saturday. 

Pavia completed 26 of his 34 passes for 321 passing yards while rushing for 79 yards on 8.8 yards per carry and six total touchdowns. The Vanderbilt quarterback also led the Commodores to eight-consecutive scoring drives that allowed them to pull away from Utah State despite a slow start. 

Pro Football Focus gave Vanderbilt’s quarterback a grade of 86.0, which was his fourth-highest grade of the season and the highest grade of any qualified Vanderbilt player on Saturday. Pavia received a 78.2 grade in both the passing and running game. 

“The story that's not really been talked about is how much he's improved in the year,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said. “I think this guy is really playing at a high level right now, putting us in good positions. Have success, getting us in good plays, making good decisions with the ball, playing with confidence. So again, as he goes, our team will go.”

Pavia and this Vanderbilt team are 5-0 to begin his final college season. He was PFF’s highest-graded college quarterback through the first two weeks of the season.

He’s still caught up on how he can improve–and his late second-half interception on Saturday– though. 

"When you go and you play some of these SEC teams,” Pavia said, “I can't turn the ball over.” 

Emmanuel Adebi gets some recognition

The Vanderbilt tight end received Vanderbilt's second-highest grade of the day and was the only player besides Pavia to be graded above an 80. 

He did it without catching a ball or making an impact to the blind eye. 

Adebi received an 84.6 run blocking grade and blocked in each of his 11 snaps on Saturday. Perhaps he didn’t have the numbers that others did, but he made an impact on the game.

Two depth corners show up

Jordan Matthews and Mark Davis were Vanderbilt’s second and third-highest graded defensive players on Saturday, respectively. 

Matthews received a 78.0 grade while Davis received a 76.3. They each played 29 snaps and could be in line for more as a result of what they did Saturday. 

Each of the two received over a 75 coverage grade and over a 77 tackling grade that propelled them towards the top of Vanderbilt’s roster. 

Miles Capers keeps doing the right things

Look down at the statsheet mid game and you may see his numbers accumulate. The tackles for loss pile up. The sacks do, too. 

That’s the story of the season for Capers nowadays. 

Vanderbilt’s veteran edge rusher said in fall camp he was leaner, faster and stronger than this time a year ago. His PFF grades have backed that up. The most recent of which is Saturday’s 74.5 grade and 69.2 pass rushing grade.