Diego Pavia on 'Poor Man's Trace McSorley' comment: 'I'm more of a comparison to Johnny Football'

During his Vanderbilt debut, Diego Pavia said he heard about a player calling him a “Poor Man’s Trace McSorley” against Virginia Tech. He pointed that out after the game, but on Wednesday, offered a new comparison: Johnny Manziel.

Pavia had a huge day in his first game with Vanderbilt and led the Commodores to a season-opening victory over Virginia Tech. He completed 12 of 16 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns while adding 104 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.

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Afterward, Pavia said a Virginia Tech player compared him to McSorley. That, he said, gave him some fuel to put on a show – and he instead made the comparison to Manziel.

“It was through the grapevine. So I just had to show them what I do,” Pavia said on SEC Network’s Out of Pocket, via Robbie Weinstein. “I feel like I’m more of a comparison to Johnny Football. That’s who I am.”

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Pavia is coming off a big year at New Mexico State under Jerry Kill, who’s now on Clark Lea’s staff at Vanderbilt. He threw for 2,973 yards and 26 touchdowns to go with 923 yards and seven rushing touchdowns in the run game.

Pavia certainly made his presence felt in his first game as a Commodore. His confidence was apparent during his postgame press conference, as well.

“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.”

Diego Pavia received plenty of recognition for his performance, as well. ESPN’s Dan Mullen listed him as one of his top performing quarterbacks from Week 1, and he shared SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors with Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. He will look to build on his big debut this week against Alcorn State on Saturday afternoon.