Diego Pavia has long been a college football folk hero—he probably earned that title when he suplexed his way to a win over Auburn while playing quarterback at New Mexico State. He's taken things to a new level since transferring to Vanderbilt ahead of last season, and after Saturday's win over No. 10 LSU, he should be firmly in the Heisman Trophy race.
He made his candidacy for college football's greatest prize known after rushing for a touchdown late in the third quarter to push the Commodores' lead to 31–21. It was his second rushing touchdown and third overall of the day, and would prove to be the decisive score on Saturday, as Vandy would hold on for a 31–24 victory.
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Pavia was solid through the air, compelting 14-of-22 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown, but really made hay on the ground, leading the Dores with 86 rushing yards and two touchdowns. As a team, Vanderbilt ran all over a very good LSU defense, carrying the rock 45 times for 239 yards and three scores.
Pavia outdueled one of the preseason Heisman favorites in the process. Garrett Nussmeier had one of his best performances for the season in LSU's loss, throwing for 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but the Tigers were forced to punt on their final two drives. Receiving the ball with a one touchdown lead and 3:12 to play, Makhilyn Young opened the drive by breaking off a 43-yard run. Pavia called his own number on the next three plays, picking up a first down and going down at the LSU 1-yard line, passing up on a potential fourth touchdown to allow his team to kneel out the rest of the clock.
On the year, Pavia is up to 1,569 passing yards with 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. He has 438 yards on the ground and four rushing touchdowns.
With the performance, Pavia finds himself in the heat of a wide-open Heisman race, vaulting up to +2000 to take home the award at a number of sportsbooks. Per BetMGM's John Ewing, his odds were +4000 last week.
Ty Simpson and Fernando Mendoza, the quarterbacks for Alabama and Indiana, respectively, are the current favorites to win the award, while the Ohio State duo of Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith, Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed and Notre Dame QB CJ Carr are among the other players with better odds than Pavia as of Saturday afternoon.
As we saw from Carson Beck's disastrous Friday night game, one bad week can knock a player from contention in a tight Heisman race. Beck has tumbled to +4000 after throwing four picks in Miami's first loss of the season, vs. Louisville. Others like Arch Manning and Nussmeier have played their way out of contention.
Few players will have the narrative winds at their back like Pavia, a fan-favorite underdog powering Vanderbilt from SEC laughingstock to legitimate College Football Playoff contention. That can be a powerful thing in a tight Heisman race in which no player has truly separated himself.
