Hugh Freeze on Diego Pavia: 'I'm sick of seeing that quarterback'

The Auburn Tigers are preparing to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores this week. That means that head coach Hugh Freeze needs to be ready to take on quarterback Diego Pavia.

Pavia, who while leading New Mexico State upset Auburn last season, has proven to be capable in the SEC. Now, Freeze joked that he would rather not see him anymore.

“I’m sick of seeing that quarterback,” Hugh Freeze said while laughing.

In that 2023 game between Auburn and New Mexico State, Freeze couldn’t find a way to stop Pavia. The Aggies scored 31 points in the win, largely thanks to Pavia throwing for three touchdowns. Of course, that game wasn’t the first time that Freeze had run into Pavia. The two also met when Freeze was at Liberty. There, Pavia beat Freeze for the first time, scoring six total touchdowns in the process.

Now in his first season in the SEC, Diego Pavia has done well for himself. He pulled off an upset win over Alabama, which was one of the biggest wins in program history for the Commodores. Later, he played well and kept Vanderbilt in their game against Texas.

Unfortunately, he did get banged up in the game against Texas and now appears to be dealing with an injury, which head coach Clark Lea recently shared an update on.

“You know, as far as I know, and we’ll need to get an assessment afterwards, so I don’t wanna comment on, you know, obviously he finished the game out. He was banged up there and needed attention,” Clark Lea said. “I thought Nate [Johnson] came in and was able to do a good job and get a conversion. But this is going to be Diego’s – the reality of him closing the season out. He’s taken hits. He’s played tough. I thought he was gutsy tonight in the way he led the offense at the end. And he’s a fighter.”

For his part, Hugh Freeze is going to need to find a way to beat Diego Pavia this time. Auburn is now 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in SEC. With four games left to play, the Tigers need to win three out of their final four games to get to bowl eligibility. Dropping the first game of that stretch would be a major blow to their hopes.