Mark Stoops gives his impression of Diego Pavia

If college football didn’t know who Diego Pavia was before, they do now after last weekend.

Now, ahead of his next game, Mark Stoops has assessed the game of Vanderbilt’s quarterback. He sees him not only as a quality player but one that’s distinct too and unlike many others that he has come across before.

“Diego Pavia is, you know, as I mentioned, a very good quarterback,” Stoops said during his press conference yesterday. “I’d say he’s a little bit unique to somebody we’ve seen, you know, in a bit of time.”

As for what sets him apart, Stoops thinks it’s some of the menace that he presents as a playmaker. He’s more efficient than some might realize and, when you combine that with his skillset of making things happen on the field, he can become quite the problem to have to answer.

“I think he’s extremely good at ball-handling. You know, he makes very good decisions,” said Stoops. “He’s good in rhythm and on time and he’s very accurate. He’s much more accurate. I mean, he’s completing, like I said – I think it’s 80%, you know, right in that range. It’s not just short passes, you know.”

“He’s very good with the ball in his hands. He’s good at feeling pressure. So, when he escaped pressure, he does a remarkable job of finding people down the field and hitting open receivers. That’s, you know, obviously a gift, you know,” said Stoops. “He’s a very good player, he’s very well-coached but, you know, he’s special in that regard.”

Through five games at Vandy, Pavia is 70-105 (66.7%) in passing for 973 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions. He has also rushed for 335 yards and two more scores.

While he was quite good in the first four, Pavia will be remembered for what he did in his most recent outing with the Commodores. He finished 16-20 (80%) for 252 yards and two touchdowns plus 56 rushing yards in a 40-35 win over No. 1 Alabama on Saturday.

Despite coming into the season in a quarterback battle, Pavia has led Vanderbilt to a 3-2 record this season. Two of those have been upsets as a two-score and three-score underdog respectively over Virginia Tech and then ‘Bama. One of the losses was almost another one in a three-point, double-overtime defeat on the road to Missouri.

The conference and the sport are well aware of Pavia after this past outing for Vanderbilt. Kentucky will now be the next team to face him and his team with kickoff this weekend being at 7:45 ET from Kroger Field.