First Down Kentucky: Stopping Diego Pavia

The Vanderbilt football program is flying high in year four under Clark Lea. The Commodores have installed a new offense on the West End and teams are having a difficult time matching up. Quarterback Diego Pavia is a big reason why.

Kentucky will have their hands full attempting to stop the New Mexico State transfer on Saturday night at Kroger Field. Pavia is receiving Heisman Trophy buzz this week after knocking off Alabama in Week 6 and will get his numbers in any matchup.

“He’s so savvy and he’s got so much moxy, so much toughness to him. No environment, no situation seems to really rattle him. I know there’s sort of been a lot of Johnny Manziel comparisons and you can see that in the number and all that,” Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White said when asked about Pavia. “My initial thought when I watched him was I thought sort of Baker Mayfield in terms of that savvy and that moxy and that gunslinger.”

“He’s gonna make his plays. We understand that.”

On Wednesday after practice, White opened up on Pavia and what makes this Vanderbilt offense so unique. KSR’s First Down Kentucky is breaking down the latest as Vandy prep continues at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility.

Vanderbilt’s unique scheme

Diego Pavia is the engine of the car, but senior offensive advisor Jerry Kill and offensive coordinator Tim Beck have built this unique attack at New Mexico State that is now giving SEC defensive coordinators some real issues. The offense is now beginning to get a ton of buzz nationally after scoring 40 points against Alabama.

Some are comparing it to a triple-option offense. Brad White sees some similarities.

“It’s not to the extent of the Air Force Academy, but I was there obviously, for two years,” White said. “What they do out there is so unique, and obviously, they’re more under center triple but they would jump into the pistol and give people fits. So there are elements of that.”

“They’re very unique in their own style and they do it formationally. What they do route concept wise, honestly, it starts with the quarterback.”

Pavia is the star but this pistol offense with heavy option looks, pre-snap motion, and heavy misdirection will test Kentucky’s gap control and eye discipline on Saturday night. The quarterback gets heavy attention but the scheme presents winning opportunities for this offense constantly.

“When you watch the tape, and you watch them, you understand why they’re able to do what they do. It’s a great scheme with really good football players executing at a really high level playing with great passion,” White told the media.

Kentucky has a stiff challenge on defense in Week 7.

Kentucky must get Vanderbilt off schedule

Vanderbilt ranks outside the top 30 in both yards per play and success rate. Tim Beck’s offense has been very explosive in the passing game but this is a run-heavy attack that is extremely methodical. The Commodores want to win by playing ball control and keep their defense on the sideline. Against Alabama, the big underdog was able to bleed the clock on offense, and that played a big role.

Kentucky knows that possessions could be extremely limited if they let Vanderbilt move the chains multiple times in any drive. Winning on third down will be critical, but those wins could be created by finding an advantage on early downs.

“First and second down is a huge deal because they want to stay on track and on target and ahead of the sticks, but third down is a vital down. And it is every game, but I think specifically, you saw last week they were just so efficient on third that they’re able to continue and extend drives,” Brad White explained. “Then if they gotta go for it on fourth they were successful there.”

Any takeaway could be a game changer, but Kentucky must win their fair share of battles on third down or the offense on the home sideline could be spending most of the game watching on Saturday.

“The goal for any team is to try and break some of that rhythm of the opponent. So that’s going to be our task this week is to try to break some of that rhythm that they’ve got right now,” White said. “Obviously, an extremely tough task. Easier said than done.”