Diego Pavia led the NMSU Aggies to a historical 10-5 record in 2023. Since then, they have come a long way from the glory days as Tennessee, led by Joey Aguilar, piled upon their misery with a 42-9 win on Saturday. The fans could all but watch helplessly as Joey Aguilar dominated with his dual-threat play. He compiled 204 yards and two touchdowns. But the Aggies have now hit rock bottom, becoming part of an undesirable record.

While Diego Pavia enjoys an amazing season with the Vanderbilt Commodores, the NMSU Aggies are in a free fall. Chris Vanini, a senior writer for The Athletic, tweeted about it on Nov 17. “North Texas is ranked in the AP Poll for the first time since 1959, snapping the longest active streak between poll appearances among FBS teams. That now falls to New Mexico State, last ranked in 1960. Then Rice, last in 1961.” North Texas made it to the AP polls this week, making NMSU inherit the unwanted record.

New Mexico State is having a historically bad season with a 3-7 record. The Aggies have lost the offensive might they were proud of under former coach Jerry Hill and quarterback Diego Pavia. Quarterback Logan Fife has struggled after being thrust into a difficult position. He has compiled 2,240 yards with 11 touchdowns against 12 interceptions and a 56.4% completion rate.

On the other hand, Diego Pavia has been a part of the Heisman conversation with 2,440 yards and 21 touchdowns. One couldn’t help but think what if he were here now. Although he was unable to feature them in the AP polls in his breakout 2023 season, he became an unwilling participant in the record.

It’s not just the quarterback who has been an issue for NMSU. But their offense has been really bad as its rush offense ranks lowest among the 136 FBS teams in the nation, averaging 2.2 yards per game. They have been inconsistent and wayward with their plays, with a 41.03% third-down conversion rate.

At the same time, the NMSU defense has been its saving grace. The defense limits opponents to 396 yards per game and 26.9 points, a decent performance given their overall results. But the secondary has struggled consistently, and they have recorded just 16 sacks in 10 games. All these things indicate that they have become confused and failed to execute any plan.

All this is a far cry from their campaign from two seasons ago, when they won the conference first time since 1960 and established Jerry Kill as an elite title-winning coach. But unfortunately, he left for an off-field consulting role with Vanderbilt and took Pavia with him. This started the downward trajectory of NMSU, which has left everyone baffled. Meanwhile, the Vanderbilt Commodores have emerged as the challengers for the SEC title.

Vanderbilt’s rise as the dark horses of college football

When Clark Lea took over at Vanderbilt in 2022, they were at the lowest point historically. Lea has completely transformed the Vanderbilt Commodores into a dark horse in the playoff race. Now with an 8-2 overall and a 4-2 SEC record, they are very much in the SEC title race. Vanderbilt is 12 in the AP polls, their highest rank since 1947. What makes it even more remarkable is that Vanderbilt has achieved it without the resources of a traditional SEC powerhouse. While Diego Pavia has played a major role in the rebuild.

Most significantly, they accomplished the unthinkable by defeating No. 10 LSU 31-24, the Commodores’ first victory over the Tigers in 35 years. LSU entered that contest as a Top 10 program with playoff aspirations, but they exited watching their SEC title hopes fade. Diego Pavia was amazing in that win, completing 14 of 22 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown while adding 86 rushing yards and two more touchdowns. He was responsible for 246 of Vanderbilt’s 399 total yards. More importantly, 2025 became the first season in Vanderbilt history in which the Commodores defeated multiple Top 15 opponents.

Vanderbilt’s most recent upset came through a 45-38 overtime victory over Auburn when they erased a 20-10 halftime deficit to secure a thrilling win. Diego Pavia delivered a career-defining performance, compiling 489 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. Pavia threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 112 yards and another Touchdown. Beyond LSU and Auburn, Vanderbilt showed its capacity to compete with genuine Power 4 programs by winning against Virginia Tech 44-20 in Week 2.When the offense exploded with its multi-dimensional attack. Pavia led an offense that averaged 33 points per game (a 10-point increase from 2024), showcasing the dual-threat capability that makes them virtually impossible to defend.