INCOMING: Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia: The Offensive Straw that Stirs the Commodores’ Drink
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide keeps the season rolling this week with an SEC road test in Nashville. While the opponent isn’t quite on par with last week’s Georgia Bulldogs, the Vanderbilt Commodores aren’t to be overlooked.
The Commodores, led by fourth year head coach Clark Lea hired Tim Beck from New Mexico State as its new offensive coordinator last December but the real prize may have been the quarterback Beck brought with him.
New Mexico State quarterback Deigo Pavia followed Beck to Nashville and has helped infuse the program with a sense of belief previously nowhere to be found. The Commodores entered the year with a Las Vegas win total of 2.5 wins, projecting them as one of the worst Power 4 teams in college football. Vanderbilt’s already secured two victories this season and was a bounce here or there away from claiming two more, falling in dramatic fashion to Georgia State and Missouri.
Pavia has been a fine passer for Vanderbilt, completing 63-percent of his passes with six touchdowns and no interceptions this year, but its his ability to threaten defenses with his legs that has added an extra element to the Commodores offense.
“As we go into Vanderbilt, I think this team is playing with a lot of energy.” Alabama defensive coordinator said. “You look at their sideline, you look at the level of competitive attitude that those guys play with, you see that come from their quarterback. The dude is a real baller. He’s physical. He’s tough. He makes the non-traditional plays on the field numerous times. He’s going to be challenging for us when you look at an option-style offense and the way their quarterback navigates their offense. You can tell there’s a confidence from the rest of his teammates that I think he breathes into their football team. You see it on the sidelines. When you watch live copies, the defense feeds into it. The whole team is into it. They play with a great bit of enthusiasm and energy.”
In two games against Power 4 competition this season Pavia’s passed for 368 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions while also running for 188 yards and another touchdown. His 104 yards rushing against Virginia Tech and his 84 yards rushing against Missouri led all Vanderbilt ballcarriers while securing an upset over the Hokies and losing in overtime to the Tigers.
Alabama has to be ready to play assignment football defensively as the Commodores routinely utilize multiple option concepts. Lea has been fearless using Pavia in the run game as the signal-caller has 71 rushes on the young season. Of Pavia’s 26 carries against Virginia Tech only five were scrambles from passing situations. He put up similar numbers against Missouri scrambling on five occasions out of his 17 carries in the game.
The Crimson Tide faced a mobile quarterback in the second week against the South Florida Bulls. Redshirt sophomore Byrum Brown rushed for 108 yards on 23 carries, but most of Brown’s production came in off structure situations on passing plays.
“Yeah, I think the ability to extend plays – I mean this kid [Pavia] is extremely competitive and his ability to make things happen when maybe it’s not there that just forces us to not relax and play through the whistle and that’s been the main focus,” Alabama safeties coach Colin Hitschler said. “It’s not necessarily his running skills that we’re worried about on the back end but it’s the extension that are the scary things.”
The Crimson Tide should have no issue with beating the Commodores on Saturday as the oddsmakers have Alabama as a 23-point favorite. Vanderbilt is No. 50 in the 247Sports Talent Composite compared to Alabama’s No. 1, meaning the matchup should be no contest.
However, if Alabama is emotionally spent coming off its win over Georgia and isn’t ready to defend a unique, option-style offense with a firecracker at the helm the Crimson Tide faithful could be in for some anxiety as Pavia presents enough challenges to be dangerous.
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