Why Steve Sarkisian Couldn't Be More Impressed With Diego Pavia

While Texas might have a few questions about who will be starting under center with Arch Manning currently in concussion protocol, the Commodores, on the other hand, know exactly who's leading the squad, with quarterback Diego Pavia being the beating heart of Vanderbilt's impressive 7-1 start to the season.

At his weekly media availability on Monday, Steve Sarkisian opened up the press conference, mentioning Pavia in his opening statement, noting the talent that the senior quarterback has.

"Obviously, the quarterback is the tip of the spear," Sarkisian said. "He's one of the more competitive players that I've competed against. He's their leading rusher. He obviously passes the ball; he makes plays at critical moments when they need to have it. And so he's a guy that you know, he's getting all the praise that he's getting is well deserved. He's a very good football player."

Throughout the Commodores' eight games of the season, Pavia has completed 139 of his 202 pass attempts for 1,698 yards, 15 touchdowns to just five interceptions, all the while being Vanderbilt's leading rusher with 458 yards on 85 attempts and adding five more scores on the ground. As Sarkisian highlighted, Pavia's impact goes beyond the field, inspiring the entire Vanderbilt program.

"It's about instilling belief in your teammates and instilling belief in your organization and instilling belief in your fan base," Sarkisian said. "And I think Diego Pavia has done that for that program, and so all the credit in the world to him, all the credit in the world to Clark [Lea] and the start that they've had to the season. So it's gonna be a heck of a challenge for us. Looking forward to it."

Before Pavia arrived in Nashville, the Commodores were consistently at the bottom of the SEC, not being bowl eligible since 2018 and not having a single winning season since 2013. However, in just his first year with Vanderbilt, in 2024, Pavia changed everything, leading the Commodores to a 7-6 season, which saw a historic 40-35 upset victory against No. 1 Alabama, being the first win over a No. 1-ranked team in program history, and ending the season with a bowl game win.

Now with the fast start to the 2025 season, Pavia has improved to 14-5 as the Commodores' starting quarterback, riding a huge wave of momentum that's set to arrive in Austin on November 1st.