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Diego Pavia

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Diego Pavia
Diego Pavia after being named most valuable player in the 2022 Quick Lane Bowl
Vanderbilt Commodores – No. 2
PositionQuarterback
ClassGraduate
Personal information
Born: (2001-04-30) April 30, 2001 (age 23)
Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight207 lb (94 kg)
Career history
College
Bowl games
High schoolVolcano Vista (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Career highlights and awards

Diego Pavia (born April 30, 2001) is an American football quarterback who plays for the Vanderbilt Commodores. He previously played for New Mexico Military Institute and New Mexico State.

Early life

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Pavia was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and attended Volcano Vista High School. In Pavia's high school career, he completed 108 of his 165 pass attempts for 1,485 yards and 14 touchdowns to five interceptions. He also rushed for 464 yards and nine touchdowns.[2]

Pavia received no scholarship offers from any NCAA Division I school, and only two Division II schools—Western Colorado and Western New Mexico—offered him a chance to play quarterback. In a 2024 ESPN story, Pavia recalled, "I just think they were scared of my height. People like to focus on height, weight and 40-yard dash times. I like to go off film. I move well. I feel like I throw the ball well. I feel like I run well. I just don't have God-given height and weight."[3] He decided to commit to play JUCO football at New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI).[4]

College career

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New Mexico Military Institute

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In Pavia's career at NMMI, he completed 189 of his 323 passing attempts for 2,644 yards and 31 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He also rushed for 1,107 yards and 15 touchdowns.[5] In 2021, Pavia's last season at NMMI, he led the Broncos to the NJCAA National Football Championship.[6] Pavia threw for 21 touchdowns in the championship season while being intercepted only once, and in the championship game against Iowa Western, he threw for two touchdowns and ran for one in the Broncos' 31–13 win.[7]

Going into the championship game, New Mexico State University head coach Jerry Kill and offensive coordinator Tim Beck had decided to offer a scholarship to Iowa Western quarterback Nate Glantz. They had even called Iowa Western's head coach before the game to tell him that they planned to make their offer on the day after the game, and then went to a local Hooters to watch the game. According to CBS Sports journalist Dennis Dodd, "Besides greasy fingers from the wings, they also came out transformed. The quarterback for the winning team that day, New Mexico Military Institute, changed their minds." In Dodd's story, Beck recalled, "As we're watching the game and we're looking at each other ... we say, 'We're recruiting the wrong guy.'" Kill and Beck then told Iowa Western's coach that they were no longer interested in Glantz, who went on to play at FCS Lindenwood.[7]

New Mexico State

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Pavia committed to play college football at New Mexico State.[8] Pavia got his first start with the Aggies in the team's season opener against Nevada, however he struggled heavily, turning the ball over four times in the first half, and was benched for Gavin Frankes in a 23–13 loss.[9] Pavia got his next start against UTEP and had a chance to tie the game at UTEP's 13 yard line but he was strip-sacked by Brenton Thompson with three seconds left to end the game.[10] Pavia had a career night against Liberty as the Aggies were 24.5 point underdogs; Pavia completed 16 of his 21 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns to help his team shock Liberty. He was also a huge threat on the ground, rushing for 125 yards and three touchdowns.[11][12] For his performance against Liberty Pavia was named one of the Manning stars of the Week, and was named the Manning Quarterback of the Week.[13][14] In the Aggies season finale against Valparaiso to become bowl eligible, Pavia again had an outstanding performance going nine for thirteen on his passing attempts for 323 yards and four touchdowns, along with having one rushing touchdown as he left the game up 35–3 in the second quarter with a hamstring injury, as New Mexico State would win 65–3 to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2017.[15][16] In the Aggies bowl game against Bowling Green, Pavia had a stellar game completing 17 of his 29 passing attempts for 167 yards and two touchdowns to just one interception, where he also rushed for 65 yards.[17] Pavia made the game-winning play late in the fourth quarter, where on third down Pavia scrambled out of the pocket to his right side and was hit short of the first down line, however as he was hit, he fumbled the ball at his own 45 yards, but as a pile for the ball ensued Pavia recovered the ball past the line to gain to give the Aggies a first down and help end the game, where the Aggies won 24–19.[18] For his performance in the game Pavia was named the Quick Lane Bowl MVP.[19][20] Pavia finished the season completing 101 of his 190 pass attempts for 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns to six interceptions. He also rushed for 508 yards and six touchdowns.[21] For his performance on the year, he was named All Independent first team by College Football Network.[22]

On December 23, 2023, Pavia announced that he would be entering the transfer portal.[23] While in the portal, he visited Vanderbilt, and was told that he would need to graduate from NMSU in order to be considered by that school, leading him to return to NMSU for the spring semester. He also took visits to Nevada, North Texas, and UTSA. During his visit to Nevada, he verbally committed to play for the Wolf Pack, and called Beck to let him know. A few minutes later, with Pavia still on the campus, Kill called to tell Pavia that he would be joining the Vanderbilt staff, and that he expected to see Pavia there.[3]

Vanderbilt

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On January 18, 2024, Pavia announced that he would transfer to Vanderbilt, following Kill there.[24]

On October 5, 2024, Pavia led Vanderbilt to an upset victory over No. 1 Alabama, Vanderbilt's first win over a top-5 team in program history.[25] In the game, he went 16-of-20 for 252 yards and 2 passing touchdowns while running for 56 yards.[26]

In November 2024, while playing at Vanderbilt, Pavia filed a lawsuit against the NCAA alleging that NCAA NIL policies for redshirts and Juco years violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.[27]

College statistics

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Season Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
New Mexico State Aggies
2022 12 8 4–4 101 190 53.2 1,450 7.6 13 6 133.5 93 508 5.5 6
2023 15 15 10–5 221 366 60.4 2,973 8.1 26 9 147.1 176 923 5.2 7
Vanderbilt Commodores
2024 12 12 6–6 102 154 66.2 2,133 9.0 17 4 164.4 176 716 4.1 6
Career 36 31 20–15 424 710 59.7 6,556 8.2 56 19 147.2 445 2,147 4.9 19

References

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  1. ^ @quicklanebowl (December 26, 2022). "The 2022 Quick Lane Bowl MVP: Diego Pavia. Diego finished with 2 touchdowns on the day with over 167 yards passing and 65 rushing yards!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 26, 2022 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Diego Pavia's Stats". MaxPreps. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Schlabach, Mark (October 8, 2024). "How Vanderbilt turned to New Mexico State for the coaches and QB who helped beat Alabama". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  4. ^ Benson, Bradley. "Albuquerque native is Aggies top quarterback, per coach". KRQE. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  5. ^ "Diego Pavia". NMMI Athletics. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  6. ^ Ortega, Brandon (December 21, 2021). "Catching up with National Champ Diego Pavia". KOB.com. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Dodd, Dennis (October 9, 2024). "Diego Pavia's rise: The QB who once peed on a rival's logo leaves his mark after wild journey to Vanderbilt". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  8. ^ Tate, Van (January 13, 2022). "Diego Pavia chooses New Mexico State". KRQE. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  9. ^ Schad, Chris (August 28, 2022). "What did the Gophers learn from New Mexico State's opener?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  10. ^ Bloomquist, Bret (September 10, 2022). "UTEP Miners get defense sorted out, top New Mexico State Aggies". El Paso Times. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  11. ^ "Pavia accounts for 6 TDs in NMSU's 49–14 win over Liberty". CBS Sports. Associated Press. November 26, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  12. ^ "Pavia stars as New Mexico State stuns Liberty, and now hopes for 12th regular season game". Albuquerque Journal. November 26, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  13. ^ "Diego Pavia Earns Manning Award Quarterback of the Week Honor". allstatesugarbowl.org. November 30, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  14. ^ Ochoa, Adrian (November 29, 2022). "NMSU QB Diego Pavia picks up flurry of national honors". KVIA. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  15. ^ "Bowl-eligible New Mexico State drubs Valparaiso". AP News. December 4, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  16. ^ Groves, Jason. "New Mexico State beats Valparaiso to close 6–6 regular season". Las Cruces Sun News. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  17. ^ Groves, Jason. "New Mexico State beats Bowling Green in 2022 Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit". Las Cruces Sun News. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  18. ^ Graham, Andrew. "New Mexico State holds off mistake-prone Bowling Green to win Quick Lane Bowl". Detroit News. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  19. ^ "2022 Quick Lane Bowl recap". Detroit Lions.com. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  20. ^ Chester, Jared. "NMSU football wins 2022 Quick Lane Bowl". KRQE. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  21. ^ "Diego Pavia". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  22. ^ Mellor, Cam (December 26, 2022). "2022 All-Independent College Football Team and Individual Honors". College Football Network. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  23. ^ Rudolph, Justin (December 23, 2023). "New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia enters NCAA Transfer Portal". On3.com. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  24. ^ Barral, Kevin (January 18, 2024). "Transfer Portal: New Mexico State QB Diego Pavia Commits to Vanderbilt". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  25. ^ "Vandy upsets Bama for first win vs. No. 1 team". ESPN.com. Associated Press. October 5, 2024. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  26. ^ "Alabama at Vanderbilt Box Score, October 5, 2024". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  27. ^ "Vandy QB Pavia suing NCAA over eligibility rules". ESPN.com. November 9, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
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