Diego Pavia’s gutsy, mobile play broke Alabama and brought Vanderbilt football back to life

Butch Dill-Imagn Images

Diego Pavia etched his name into college football history during Vanderbilt’s upset of Alabama.

The main ingredients for the biggest upset since 2007 came from Las Cruces, New Mexico.

In the offseason, Vanderbilt hired former New Mexico State offensive coordinator Tim Beck, and he brought over his quarterback Diego Pavia from the Aggies to the Commodores. A Vanderbilt team that was 2-10 in 2023 needed an influx of talent, and they looked to New Mexico State to find it.

Well, it truly looks like Vanderbilt found their spark.

Vanderbilt knocked off number one ranked Alabama 40-35 in Nashville to secure the biggest win in program history, and the mind-meld between Beck and Pavia was the biggest reason for their offensive explosion. Over two years worth of constant growth for both the coordinator and QB leading to the biggest moment in both of their respective lives.

With Beck as their coordinator, Vanderbilt has gone to more a pistol, option-based offense with Pavia’s legs being the difference maker. The DNA to every big upset that Alabama has found themselves on the wrong side of has been a mobile threat at QB who absolutely played out of his mind against the Tide. Pavia saved the best game of his career for this one, going 16-for-20 for 252 yards and two touchdowns on the air, while adding 56 yards on the ground to steer the Commodores to the victory.

Vanderbilt was incredible on third down, going 12/18 and Pavia was the big reason why. So many plays against the Crimson Tide where Pavia beat the Tide downfield with aggressive throws and runs to beat the aggressive Alabama defense. Throws like this touchdown that stunned the Crimson Tide, and showed the insane level of trust Beck has in Pavia.

Beck was in his bag with calls like this shovel pass that Pavia operated perfectly:

Pavia was terrific on Saturday, a testament to the success of the transfer portal and why college football is one of the best sports on Earth. The offense is legitimately fun, and they have a QB who can beat anyone, including the Crimson Tide.

And it all came from a small school in Las Cruces.