NEW YORK — Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia finished second in voting for the 91st Heisman Trophy, as announced during Saturday’s award ceremony at New York’s Lincoln Center. Recently honored as SEC Offensive Player of the Year after leading the Commodores to historic success in the regular season, Pavia was Vanderbilt’s first-ever finalist for the Heisman, which is given annually to the nation’s best college football player.
Pavia finished second in a four-way race with finalists Jeremiyah Love, Fernando Mendoza and Julian Sayin, earning 189 first-place votes. Mendoza won the award, with Love and Sayin finishing third and fourth, respectively. The only previous Vanderbilt student-athlete to earn any Heisman votes was College Football Hall of Fame member Carl Hinkle, who finished seventh in the 1937 balloting.
Inspired and energized by his charismatic play and infectious confidence, and in conjunction with an enhanced fan experience made possible by the university’s ongoing Vandy United campaign, Vanderbilt has sold out FirstBank Stadium 11 times since Pavia took over as starting quarterback at the start of the 2024 season. With a win in its bowl game, Vanderbilt can match its best two-year win total in school history.
Entering postseason play, Pavia stands second nationally in total offense (334.8 yards per game), is third with an average of 9.39 yards per pass attempt and ranks fourth with a 171.5 pass efficiency rating. Along with pacing the SEC in each of those categories, the Albuquerque, New Mexico, native also tops the league and is among the top 10 in the country in touchdown passes (27) and completion percentage (71.2 percent). Also Vanderbilt’s leader with 826 rushing yards, in addition to nine rushing touchdowns, he guided the Commodores to four wins against ranked SEC opponents.
Ahead of the ReliaQuest Bowl against Iowa on New Year’s Eve, Pavia already led the Commodores to the most single-season wins in school history, their highest ranking (No. 9) in the Associated Press Top 25 since 1937 and back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in more than a decade. In addition to his individual SEC award and All-SEC honors, Pavia recently received the 2025 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award®, which is presented to the nation’s top upper-class quarterback who excels on the field, in the classroom and in the community. He is the first Vanderbilt recipient in the award’s 38-year history.
Pavia is a contender for some of college football’s most acclaimed honors. He is a finalist for Manning Award and was a finalist for Walter Camp Player of the Year honors.
Individually, Pavia leads the SEC and is among the top 10 in the country in six statistical categories: total offense, passing efficiency, passing touchdowns, completion percentage, yards per pass attempt and points responsible for. His efforts have helped the Vandy offense lead the nation in yards per play and team passing efficiency. The Dores also lead all NCAA FBS programs in points per play and rank second among Power 4 schools in points per drive. The team’s 39.4 points per game are the program’s best since 1915, and the unit is No. 1 in ESPN’s FPI ratings.
Vanderbilt fans can watch Pavia take the field one more time for Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl. NCC members interested in tickets should visit the postseason information hub, while all other fans should visit the ReliaQuest Bowl website.
