Diego Pavia's role in the Vanderbilt football spring game wasn't that of starting quarterback. Instead, Pavia stood alongside the coaching staff, helmet off, wearing sweats.
Pavia not playing in the spring game wasn't because of injury. Rather, it was a matter of risk avoidance.
"There's more to lose than to gain," said Lea after the spring game on April 12. "Diego's had a good spring. We've limited him a bunch in scrimmage opportunities. I think getting through the bulk of the work was important, but there was nothing he was going to do today that was going to help us win in the fall."
During a scrimmage last week, Pavia played just one drive and a half before exiting. During the 2024 season, Pavia played through multiple injuries, which in part led to the decision to keep him out of the spring game and other scrimmage action.
Even when Pavia did participate in practices and scrimmages, he wore a non-contact jersey. Part of what makes Pavia so effective in real games is his ability to evade tacklers, but in the spring the Commodores did not even force the issue.
"We've limited his reps quite a bit now," offensive coordinator Tim Beck said on April 10. "We let him go a little bit more today but we've got several other quarterbacks that we need to get reps so we don't let him go live at all, just because we've seen him live for several years now, and we know what he can do. Where the younger guys, you haven't seen as much, so it's more important for them to get some of the live reps."
Vanderbilt hopes a rebuilt offensive line can help Pavia stay healthier, too. One impact addition came very late: South Dakota tackle Bryce Henderson. Other transfers that the Commodores brought in include Liberty's Jordan White, Oklahoma State's Isaia Glass and Texas Tech's Sterling Porcher.
White is familiar with Pavia from their days competing against each other in Conference USA. White's Liberty team faced Pavia's New Mexico State once during the regular season in 2023, then again in the Conference USA championship game, though Pavia did not play in that game.
"Diego's unbelievable," White said. "I've been in multiple programs with multiple quarterbacks, Diego, he's a hell of a quarterback. He's a great dude, great person, great personality."
Pavia's backup in 2023 with the Aggies, Blaze Berlowitz, got the first-team reps during the spring game and is currently the leader to be Vanderbilt's backup in 2025 should Pavia once again deal with injuries.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.
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