Diego Pavia put together one of the best seasons Vanderbilt has seen, good enough to land a spot in the Heisman ceremony. His only real regret from his final year is missing the playoffs. Still, at 10–2, Vandy earned a trip to the ReliaQuest Bowl against Iowa on December 31, 2025, in Tampa. And the big question has been whether the 23-year-old will suit up for that game, a question that head coach Clark Lea has now finally answered.

“I’ve never known Diego to shy away from a challenge. We’re going to enjoy the chance to compete with him one more time,” Lea said.

Pavia has always carried that underdog vibe with him ever since his days at New Mexico Military Institute. He has built a reputation for playing like a “maniac” and being “reckless,” always ready to take on contact or try something bold. He even finished the second half of the 2024 season with a torn hamstring. As he likes to say, “I like putting that pressure on myself, ‘It builds diamonds.”

He’s so competitive that he even took on the NCAA to earn an extra year of eligibility at Vanderbilt. So there’s absolutely no chance he’s walking away from the final game of his college career.

In 2025, Pavia put up 3,192 passing yards with 27 touchdowns and just eight picks, plus another 826 yards and nine scores on the ground. Stat-wise, he easily outperformed the other two Heisman finalists, Fernando Mendoza and Julian Sayin. But because Vanderbilt missed the playoffs, he ended up stuck in the No. 3 spot in the Heisman race.

Diego Pavia’s relentless push to win the Heisman

Diego Pavia is leaving no stone unturned in making his Heisman bid. Ask Pavia why he belongs there, and he doesn’t flinch.

“Well, the Heisman Trophy winner goes to the best player in college football,” Diego Pavia told OutKick on December 10 when asked why he’s a Heisman favorite. “I believe that to be myself.”

Numbers and tape don’t lie. His late-season stretch backed that up. Over the final three games against Auburn, Kentucky, and Tennessee, he produced havoc on the ground with his dual-threat ability.

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Auburn was the first warning shot. Vanderbilt needed that game to keep its season dominance intact, so Pavia did the deed. He went with 377 yards passing, three touchdowns through the air, plus 112 rushing yards in a 45–38 shootout win. One bad series and the entire narrative might’ve flipped. But he kept bailing them out with chunk plays and off‑script magic. Then came Kentucky, the night he rewrote the record book. Pavia threw for 484 passing yards and six total touchdowns. He broke the school passing mark that had stood since 1981.

But if you’re going to win over voters, you do it in a rivalry game, on the road. In Knoxville against Tennessee, Pavia’s stat line wasn’t spotless. Pavia had two interceptions, but he compensated for the narrative with his legs. He gashed the Vols for 165 rushing yards, one of his two 100‑yard rushing games on the year. He took over in the second half of a 45–24 win after the teams went into the locker room tied. Neyland Stadium had “Pavia for Heisman” signs in the crowd. His resume is undeniably the greatest.

That stat line earned him SEC Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-SEC. He became the first Commodore to win the league’s top offensive honor since Jay Cutler in 2005.​