Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia made waves in his first year as Vanderbilt quarterback, leading the Commodores to a win over Alabama and a 7-6 (3-5 SEC) record.
The swaggering quarterback joined the Bussin with the Boys podcast earlier this week and was his confident self, saying Vanderbilt will beat Alabama again, has the talent to win the national championship while also making bold claims about the Tennessee-Vanderbilt rivalry.
“Vanderbilt is going to run Tennessee after this year,” Pavia said. “This is gonna be the new staple of college football. It’s going to happen here at Vanderbilt.
“Everyone wants to come to Tennessee (the state) because of Nashville. So they want to come to Nashville, so Vanderbilt. And then when we have the most money in NIL, why not come here? We literally just have to win this year and throughout the rest of the year, it’ll take care of itself.”
A New Mexico State transfer, Pavia completed 59.4% of his passes for 2,293 yards, 20 touchdowns and four interceptions during the 2024 season. The true dual-threat quarterback also ran for 800 yards and eight touchdowns.
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While Pavia had a great first season at Vanderbilt, he did not have success against Tennessee. The Albuquerque native completed just eight-of-17 passes for 104 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 36-23 loss against Tennessee. Pavia added 45 rushing yards on 11 carries.
The Commodores jumped out to an early 14-0 lead thanks to a kickoff return touchdown and a Tennessee fumble that gave Vanderbilt a short field. But Tennessee stormed back to take a 24-17 halftime lead before coasting to a 13-point victory to complete the 10-2 (6-2 SEC) season and punch its ticket to the College Football Playoff.
Pavia was originally out of eligibility following the 2024 season before winning a lawsuit that claimed junior college seasons can’t count against a player’s Division I eligibility. That lawsuit set the precedent for Alberto Osuna to transfer to Tennessee baseball. But despite being in extremely similar situations, a judge sided against Osuna and he was never able to play for the Vols in 2025.
Tennessee enters the 2025 season having won six straight games in the instate rivalry series. The Vols own an 81-32-5 advantage all-time in the instate rivalry series. Vanderbilt comes to Neyland Stadium to conclude the 2025 regular season on Nov. 29.
