Diego Pavia gives respectable response to question about the trash talk he directed toward Tennessee this past summer

Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia backed up his summer trash talk on Saturday evening in Neyland Stadium in a 45-24 blowout win over the Tennessee Vols. Pavia said on Bussin with the Boys in June that Vanderbilt was going to “run Tennessee” after the 2025 season. “Vanderbilt is gonna run Tennessee after this year,” said Pavia. […]

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia backed up his summer trash talk on Saturday evening in Neyland Stadium in a 45-24 blowout win over the Tennessee Vols.

Pavia said on Bussin with the Boys in June that Vanderbilt was going to “run Tennessee” after the 2025 season.

“Vanderbilt is gonna run Tennessee after this year,” said Pavia. “This is gonna be the new staple of college football. It’s going to happen here at Vanderbilt.”

“Everyone wants to come to [the state of] Tennessee because of Nashville,” continued Pavia. “They want to come to Nashville, so Vanderbilt [is in Nashville. And then when we have the most money in NIL, like, why not come here? So, we literally just have to win this year, and throughout the rest of the year, it’ll take care of itself.”

Pavia passed for 268 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 165 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Volunteers.

Diego Pavia gives respectable response to question about the trash talk he directed toward Tennessee this past summer

Pavia was asked after the game about the comments he made about Tennessee in the summer.

The Heisman Trophy contender gave a somewhat subdued response, especially considering he could’ve easily taken a few loud victory laps.

“A lot of people thought I was a fool, and just speaking about whatever,” said Pavia. “But all it takes is faith, and our faith is with God. And I feel like he gave me a vision. He gave me this platform. Obviously, not all of us are perfect, but I just spoke my mind that day. And I think a lot of people’s feelings were hurt. But it felt good to come in and back it up.

“Obviously, if the score was different and we were on the opposite side — I would be getting a lot of hate right now. So, it’s two-sided, it’s how you see it. I’m just glad that our team was able to win today.”

Pavia probably isn’t the most popular guy in East Tennessee, but he’s genuine and authentic — and I think that’s always something worth appreciating in sports.

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