The Vanderbilt Commodores are having a remarkable season. Not only is the team now bowl-eligible for the first time since 2018, but they are also demonstrating strong gameplay. As they prepare for a crucial game against South Carolina next week, the team appears confident and relaxed. In a recent development, star quarterback Diego Pavia made some bold predictions about their upcoming faceoff.

During the November 5th episode of the ESPN College Football show, Pavia joined analyst Paul Finebaum and expressed his ambition for the team to achieve more than just bowl eligibility. He then went on to share his thoughts on the upcoming game against South Carolina, which was more like a subtle warning for the team. “So South Carolina is the most important game of the season by far up to this point. And so, you know, then coming in, they’re going to be a good team, but they’ve got to see us too,” Pavia said. Well, Pavia’s confidence is impressive, but will the team be able to hold their game against the Gamecocks’ remarkable defense?

Talking about South Carolina’s defense this season, the team has gone up against many high-end teams like Alabama, Ole Miss, and the LSU Tigers. But among them, only the Tigers were the ones who could score more than 30 points against the Gamecocks exceptional defense. Moreover, the player Vandy should be aware of their defensive end, Kyle Kennard, who is ranked no. 3rd in the country in terms of sacks, which is 8.5. Also, the team is in the 3rd position for scoring 3.88 sacks per game. Now you can understand it’s not going to be an easy run for Diego Pavia and the Vandy.

However, the Vanderbilt Commodores also have a pretty strong offense this season. And one sole reason for that is Diego Pavia’s impressive running ability, which has helped the team avoid tackles for loss and sacks in their game. Also, talking about their stats, Vanderbilt is standing on a six-win, three-loss streak in the season, whereas the Gamecocks are on a five-win, three-loss streak. This surely gives some edge to Vandy over them. But the question remains the same: is Diego Pavia enough to take down South Carolina?

Diego Pavia’s gameplay this season

Vanderbilt’s star quarterback totally changed the team’s performance this season. Not only is the team bowl-eligible but is also getting appreciation after coming off with a disappointing 2-10 season last year. Pavia’s addition to the team gave their offense a new rise in the 2024 season. And one such example of his excellence is Vandy’s win against championship-winning team Alabama. Who could have thought that an underdog team could knock out Bama? During their game, Pavia completed 16 out of 20 passes, throwing for 252 yards with two touchdowns.

However, even when Diego Pavia was not in his best form, he gave an edge to his team. In their last week’s game against the Auburn Tigers, Pavia just completed 9 out of 22 passes, throwing for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Well, this might not be Pavia’s best play, but still, Vanderbilt managed to eke out a 7-point lead against the Tigers. Given this, the QB’s warning to his opponents makes sense. It seems like he’s determined to push his team to their limits. Now we’ll have to wait and see how the game unfolds on Saturday. In the meantime, let us know in the comments which team you’re rooting for!