NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Clark Lea can tick off all the statistics Diego Pavia piled up leading the Vanderbilt Commodores to their best season ever as the quarterback put himself all over the program's record books.

Defining what Pavia means to the Commodores is much simpler.

“This guy deserves all the attention, all the credit, all the accolades that are coming his way because he has been such an important part of the heartbeat of our team,” Lea said.

Pavia has gone from unrecruited out of high school to junior college, New Mexico State and finally Vanderbilt in 2024 through the transfer portal to become the first Heisman Trophy finalist for the charter Southeastern Conference program.

Brash and confident to the point of cockiness, Pavia is the guy rival fans hate and begrudgingly respect w

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