Vanderbilt’s quarterback, Diego Pavia, became an overnight star after his jaw-dropping performance against the Alabama Crimson Tide. From being invited to the “The Dan Patrick Show” to getting a shoutout from his boyhood idol, Johnny Manziel, Pavia is the talk of the town. He etched his name in history as he helped Vanderbilt overcome an AP top-five-ranked opponent for the first time. His contribution in this stunning win was immense and it capped a long road to stardom for the QB from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A fifth-year senior, Pavia moved from New Mexico to Vanderbilt in January after entering the transfer portal in December last year. He had spent two seasons with the Aggies and won the Conference USA Player of the Year award. But before signing with them, Pavia was having a hard time landing a program after coming out of high school. Deion Sanders Jr. highlighted this fact, as he praised the QB for his efforts against Alabama.

On Monday, Deion Sanders Jr. took to his Instagram account to share an IG story of ESPN, which read, “Diego Pavia had zero FBS offers out of high school and a partial scholarship to wrestle at Nebraska.” Pavia wasn’t ranked as a high school recruit and although he drew interest from some programs, it was too thin for his liking. In fact, his hometown college New Mexico State, was also not keen at first.

“They called my head coach and basically said that they didn’t want me because they thought I was arrogant. But there’s a difference between arrogance and confidence, and so they took it the wrong way,” Pavia said. Playing for his high school, Volcano Vista, he had completed 108 of his 165 pass attempts for 1,485 yards and 14 touchdowns to five interceptions. His exploits led the team to the state championship game as a senior. But when it came to college recruitment, the offers didn’t arrive as he expected.

But then New Mexico Military Institute took a chance. OC Chase Kyser and then-New Mexico Military head coach Joe Forchtner were impressed by Pavia and gave him the ball at the junior college. His debut was delayed due to the pandemic, but once he got his start, he went from No. 3 on the depth chart to rotating with another quarterback and soon the role was his.

New Mexico’s interest piqued in Pavia and they were ready to make an offer in 2022. Overall, Pavia had offers from only three other programs apart from Aggies. The teams that were interested in Pavia included Eastern New Mexico,  Saint Francis, and Deion Sanders-led Jackson State.

However, with New Mexico in the frame, it was a no-brainer for Pavia to opt for them and he signed in January 2022. Notably, after his performance against Alabama, Deion Sanders Jr. took to X to appreciate him and also reminisced about what could have been. He wrote, “Diego Pavia… Bro has an incredible story! He was also supposed to come to Jackson State. Good game; you deserve it. Congratulations, my brother!”

Interestingly, Jackson State made an offer to him on January 3, 2022, nearly a month after New Mexico State’s offer on December 8, 2021. Who knows how things would have turned out had Deion Sanders and co. came up with an offer early.

Well, even if Diego Pavia had to struggle to secure any team after high school, he became an overnight sensation after his exceptional gameplay against the Alabama Crimson Tide last week. Pavia completed 16 out of 20 passing attempts while throwing for 252 yards with two touchdowns. Moreover, in the offense, he also had 20 carries and 56 rushing yards as the Commodores beat the Crimson Tide in a 40-35 upset. This was also the program’s first win against Alabama in 40 years.

Taking down the number one team in the country is no mean feat, especially if you are an unranked college program and Pavia was at the center of it. Apart from making an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Monday, Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel also brought up Pavia’s performance and had some advice for him.

Late in the third quarter, Vanderbilt were facing a 4th-and-1 and holding on to a 23-21 lead. With the Crimson Tide swamping the field, Pavia delivered a 36-yard touchdown pass to Junior Sherrill. This play was discussed on the BBOC, where Manziel dissected why it was so effective.

He said,

“You know you’re playing man coverage and as he comes off the fake I think the best thing that Pavia does off this you know when you see a guy open like this you can at times throw this ball a little flat. I think the thing he does best is after he comes off the play fake just putting air under this ball  so Cheryl can run and go grab this ball.”“I think it’s an unbelievable throw to give him enough you know air under it let him go out and run and grab it,” he further added. While euphoria from the sensational win will linger, Pavia is already looking forward to the next challenge.

Diego Pavia’s take on their next game

Vanderbilt Commodores are going to face the Kentucky Wildcats next week. If you think, looking at his past performance against Alabama, it should be a piece of cake for Diego Pavia, then you are naive. Kentucky’s defense is one of the best in college football. The Wildcats have not allowed more than 265 total yards in their last four games, so it won’t be easy for the Commodores to move the football against them.

Even Pavia feels the same during an interview talking about their next week’s faceoff against the Wildcats. Pavia said, “Tomorrow, I gotta worry about Kentucky.”

Well, looks like Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea and the team’s offense need to have a good showing against Kentucky’s defense of they are to keep this momentum. Let’s see how that turns out for them.