Diego Pavia: 'I feel like I'm the best player in the country'

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia became a sensation Saturday when he led the Commodores to a 34-27 overtime win over Virginia Tech.

The transfer QB was quite confident after the win too. He said he was the best player in the country.

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Well, we don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but Pavia certainly played at a high level to lead Vanderbilt to the upset win over the Hokies.

“I feel like I knew who I could be from the start,” Pavia said. “It’s a compliment to coach Beck and coach Kill trusting me to recruit me like out of the portal. People wanted me, but it was never Power Five, and I just feel like I’m the best player in the country, and I’m here to show it. That’s what I want to do, week in, week out, whatever it takes to win. And that’s my mentality every single week that I step on the field.”

Pavia finished the game 12-of-16 passing for 190 yards, two touchdowns and 26 carries for 104 yards and one rushing touchdown.

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As a member of the Class of 2020, Pavia was a three-star recruit out of Albuquerque (N.M.) Volcano Vista, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Pavia also clapped back at critics who called him a “poor man’s Trace McSorley,” the former Penn State quarterback.

“Someone said I’m a poor man’s Trace McSorley,” Pavia said during his postgame press conference. “When you stop me, then you can talk.”

McSorley was not a bad quarterback by any means, having success with Penn State. He helped the Nittany win the Big Ten during the 2016 season and played in the Rose Bowl after just missing out on the College Football Playoff. Just under 10,000 career passing yards on McSorley’s resume before being drafted in the sixth round by the Baltimore Ravens.

Not many Big Ten teams were able to stop McSorley and Virginia Tech was in the same boat against Pavia on Saturday.Pavia likely just wants there to be some respect to his name. No better way to make your presence known than coming from behind and earning a win in overtime, a huge victory for the program over an ACC opponent — the school’s first P5 win since taking down Florida at the end of the 2022 season.