After leading Vanderbilt to a 7-1 record, their best start since 1941, and pushing them into the AP Top 10, Diego Pavia looked like a lock to stay in the thick of the Heisman conversation. His dual-threat playmaking and gritty leadership had turned the Commodores into one of the year’s biggest surprises. However, now it seems even Pavia’s heroics might not be enough to fend off the sport’s most unlikely Heisman challenger. A walk-on kicker from outside the Power 4 who literally learned how to play football by watching YouTube tutorials.

The Heisman Trophy official just dropped their Week 10 Heisman Fan Vote Leadership board on X, and as expected, Ty Simpson is leading the charts with 27.3% of votes. But the shocking part is that Diego Pavia is in the 7th position with 2.7% of votes, behind the internet’s favorite underdog kicker, Hawaii’s Kansei Matsuzawa, who’s holding the 6th position with 4.2% of votes.

So, in the Heisman Fan Vote 2025, fans get a chance to cast their votes every day on the official Heisman website to support their favorite player. What’s interesting is that this collective fan vote will count as an official ballot in the Heisman Trophy race, which will give them the power to impact the outcome alongside media members and former winners. So, in total, there are 872 ballots, of which 870 are from media, one from former winners, and one from fans. Now, all these numbers will get verified by Deloitte, an independent firm, and will be kept a secret until the final night. For now, it looks like Diego Pavia is losing the fan vote in front of Matsuzawa.

Matsuzawa’s story is such that you can’t help but be surprised. Before becoming college football’s most talked-about kicker, he was just a soccer kid in Japan who stumbled upon an NFL broadcast and fell in love with American football. With no coaches and no playbook, he built his own training ground online. Rewatching YouTube tutorials until he could mimic every motion, every kick.

That self-taught obsession carried him across the Pacific. He landed first at Hocking College in Ohio, where his raw accuracy and leg strength began to turn heads. Two seasons later, after hitting 12 field goals with a long of 50 yards, he made another bold leap, this time to Hawaii, chasing both a new challenge and a new home. He spent 2023 in redshirt mode, learning the rhythms of Division I football and earning the trust of coaches who didn’t quite know what to expect from a YouTube-trained kicker. Then came Week 0, and with it, his moment. Three field goals, two extra points, and a cold-blooded game-winner against Stanford.

“It was one of the best moments in my life. D1 football in America and a Japanese kid has a big dream,” Matsuzawa said afterwards. “In the beginning, when I was in Japan, I had no coaches. So, I feel like I have to do it myself.” Now, you know why fans are supporting him; his success story feels like a personal win to fans.

Even if Pavia couldn’t win the fans’ race against Matsuzawa, he sure has clear intentions against the Texas Longhorns.

Diego Pavia gets real in their game against Texas

Vanderbilt enters the game as a 3-point underdog against Texas, which already puts them in a tricky position. But for Diego Pavia, it’s his redemption game after coming up short against them last season. Pavia gave Vandy an early lead with an 18-yard touchdown run, but then the Longhorns held him to 143 yards and even intercepted two of his passes.

Reflecting back on that loss, Diego Pavia took the entire blame on himself. “As a quarterback, I feel like I put the blame on myself for every loss that we have,” Pavia said. “Texas—that’s where two of my interceptions came by tip balls, and so I need to get better. I need to find those throwing lanes. We score on one of those, and then it flips. I’ve just got to be better in my craft and what I do. We’re going to Austin this year, so it’ll be a super exciting environment.”

But let’s not forget that this year, Steve Sarkisian’s defense will go up against explosive Diego Pavia. Who has thrown for 1,569 yards and rushed for 438 yards with 15 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions? Even Steve Sarkisian knows it: “Obviously, the quarterback is the tip of the spear. All the praise that he’s getting is well-deserved,” Sarkisian said. “He’s a very good football player. One thing about playing quarterback is that it’s not always about the passes you throw. It’s not always about the runs you make.”

And what might work in Vanderbilt’s offense’s favor is Pavia’s chemistry with tight end Eli Stowers; in eight games, he has recorded a team-high 31 receptions for 397 yards with 2 TDs, and receivers Junior Sherrill and Tre Richardson. Now, it will be interesting to see how Pavia and his team hold up their game against the Longhorns this Saturday.