With the No. 17 Vanderbilt football team taking on the No. 10 LSU Tigers, it is no doubt a crucial game for the Commodores to show that they are a real deal in the nation. As the Vanderbilt football team comes off a loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, quarterback Diego Pavia gives insight into the program's mindset.
The senior quarterback has been impressive to start the season as he has thrown for 1,409 yards to go along with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions, while also having 352 yards on the ground with two scores. He would say on “The Pat McAfee Show” that the team is a “bunch of misfits” and that they “don't care what anyone thinks” as they block out the outside noise.
“I hate losing, but a lot of guys here, you know, [wide receiver] Richie Hoskins, right here. He's come from a D3 school and came up. We're a bunch of misfits here, but we really don't care what anyone thinks about us,” Pavia said. “What the outside noise had to say, whatever. I was off the internet, but you guys told me, I guess we are favored for the first time, or whatever. So obviously, you know, I guess we're making improvements there, or whatever. I think Vegas just didn't like losing so much money, you know.”
"We're real gritty here and we all hate losing..
We're a bunch of misfits and we really don't care what anyone thinks about us" ~ @diegopavia02 #CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/MXetdBEuvF
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 18, 2025
Vanderbilt football's Diego Pavia on the belief around campus
While Pavia has championship aspirations for the Vanderbilt football team, the program has to get back on track with what would be a huge win against the Tigers. The one aspect that has fueled them is when he mentioned the biggest change being the “belief” in the team, despite what some might think about the school.
“Well, I think the biggest thing is belief, you know, and since we stepped on campus, I felt like everyone just started believing, you know, there's like a new mojo in town,” Pavia said. “But everyone here wants to win. You know, people think of us as, like, a smart school, a privileged school, kind of thing like that. But we're real gritty here. You talk to our coaches, they want to win, you know, more than anyone.”
At any rate, the Commodores are 5-1 as they look for another win in the column against the Tigers, as the schedule only gets harder from here with Missouri and Texas after.
