Diego Pavia struck the Heisman pose after one of his three touchdowns in No. 17 Vanderbilt's 31-24 win over No. 10 LSU . It's a celebratory move reserved only for the most elite, or the most self-confident, players in college football . Pavia is both of those things. And he had his Heisman moment on Saturday.

It would be difficult to identify a player more important to his team's success than Pavia is to Vanderbilt. The Commodores had not been to a bowl game in six years when he transferred in from New Mexico State , and they promptly posted a winning season in his debut campaign and suddenly have momentum in the College Football Playoff race . The program's rise coincides entirely with Pavia's emergence as a star.

Saturday's victory was a step forward in both of those realms.

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