One Burning Question: Vanderbilt Commodores Football

By Chris Marler

Can Vanderbilt and everyone’s favorite giant slayer, Diego Pavia do it all over again? 

Vanderbilt came into the 2024 season with a projected win total of just 2.5 games. They almost surpassed that in their first three games. They would have if it weren’t for a road game at Georgia State. As wild as that seems, it was a foreshadowing of the chaos that Vanderbilt went on to cause the rest of the season. 

Vanderbilt is one of the most unique teams in the SEC because they don’t have any true rivals. There isn’t a fan in Athens, College Station, or Baton Rouge that has any hate in their heart for Vanderbilt the way they do for other teams around the league. Nobody hates them. There are a lot of people who hate that one guy who whistles for four straight hours at every one of their baseball games, but that’s another story. 

Vanderbilt was America’s team in 2024. Diego Pavia became an icon or cult hero. Maybe both. In his first year in the SEC, he reached a rare level of celebrity where he was universally loved. It was like if Sam Pittman was playing quarterback or Morgan Freeman was doing his postgame interviews. He could do no wrong and made everyone in the country an instant fan.  

That’s what happens when you beat Alabama for the first time in 40 years. Then, follow that up with a win over Auburn for the second straight year in Jordan-Hare. Sprinkle in a three point loss to mighty Texas and a bowl win to clinch Vandy’s first winning season in over a decade. It was a legendary season in Nashville. 

Oh, and if you couldn’t have liked him anymore after reading that resume, Pavia closed out his historic season by suing the NCAA. And, just like every game he’s ever played against the state of Alabama, he won. 

Now, he returns to Nashville for the 2025 season, and he’s not just bringing back his right arm, he’s bringing back something Vanderbilt hasn’t had in over a decade – expectations. 

So, for 2025 the question for Vandy and their Husky Johnny Manziel quarterback, is what will this year’s measuring stick be for success? One would assume they won’t go into Tuscaloosa or Austin and beat Alabama again or play Texas down to the wire. One would also have to assume that Hugh Freeze won’t go 0-for-3 against Diego Pavia. Right? 

That’s the beauty of Vanderbilt  and how they exist in this conference. They aren’t judged the same way or held to the same standards and expectations as everyone else. They’re a little brother who beats his older brother in a game of horse once every decade or two. And sure, big brother may be 99-1 all-time against them, but everyone knows that one win is going to be the one talked about for the best 20 years. 

That was part of the charm of Vanderbilt. 

Not anymore. Now the Commodores head into 2025 with expectations, with excitement, and for the first time since James Franklin was the coach, a target on their back from other teams around the league. What a difference a Diego makes.