For Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt, just making it to the 2025 College Football Playoffs is not enough. The Commodores are eyeing a national title at the end of the season, and anything else would be a disappointment in their eyes.
Pavia reiterated Vanderbilt's goal ahead of the team's matchup with Texas in Week 10. The Commodores traveled to Austin as the No. 9-ranked team in the country, causing the sixth-year quarterback to remind fans how they reacted when they initially set their goal.
“We set out a goal to win a national championship,” Pavia said on the SEC Network. “A lot of people laughed in our face, but we want to go do it. We feel like we got the tools to do it. Our defense played lights out; they've been playing lights out. We'll depend on them and they'll depend on the opposite. If we play complementary football, we'll be fine.”
“This is the Louis Vuitton vs. some underground yard sale.”
Diego Pavia tells @MartySmithESPN that people need to stop sleeping on @VandyFootball 😤 pic.twitter.com/DCWokK5GXx
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 1, 2025
Vanderbilt brought a 7-1 record into its Week 10 meeting with Texas. Their only previous loss came in Week 6, when they dropped a 30-14 contest against Alabama.
Since losing to Alabama, the Commodores have collected two consecutive top-15 wins. They beat LSU 31-24 at home in Week 8 before outlasting Missouri 17-10 in Week 9.
The team has unsurprisingly followed Pavia's lead into another hot start to the 2025 season. Pavia brings 1,698 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions into Week 10, a stat line that has vaulted him into the Heisman Trophy conversation. The gritty dual-threat quarterback also has 458 rushing yards and five touchdowns through nine games.
Vanderbilt's recent wins give it a 3-1 conference record, good for fifth in the SEC. They remain in play for the conference championship game, though they likely need Alabama to suffer another loss before the end of the regular season to qualify.
