Why Tennessee, Diego Pavia are playing nice about Vanderbilt QB's spicy offseason comments

Tennessee football defensive back Jalen McMurray called Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia a “very gritty great player” and said the quarterback’s spicy offseason remarks about the Vols has “nothing” to do with who will win their rivalry game.

“At the end of the day, it’s being able to do our job when it comes to the field,” McMurray said.

UT coach Josh Heupel also gushed about Pavia’s play this season during his weekly press conference on Nov. 24. And he didn’t mention anything about the quarterback’s offseason remarks.

Meanwhile, Pavia didn’t take the opportunity to double down on what he previously said about the Vols.

“Yeah, I know you’re trying to get me to say something or whatever,” Pavia said on Nov. 22, replying to a question about Tennessee after passing for a school-record 484 yards in a 45-17 win over Kentucky.

It appears that No. 18 Tennessee (8-3, 4-3 SEC) and No. 12 Vanderbilt (9-2, 5-2) don’t plan to fight a war of words before their game on Nov. 29 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Neyland Stadium to cap the regular season.

But the Vols are well aware of what Pavia said about them this offseason. And just because they’re not addressing that publicly doesn’t mean it’s ignored privately.

“We can beat Tennessee literally any given Saturday. They think they’re going to destroy us. (Expletive) every single one of them dudes,” Pavia said in the Netflix documentary, “SEC Football: Any Given Saturday,” which was released on Aug. 5.

And on the “Bussin with the Boys” podcast, which was released on June 16, Pavia challenged the Vols’ supremacy in the home state they share with Vanderbilt.

“Vanderbilt's going to run Tennessee after this year,” Pavia said. "The new staple of college football is going to happen here at Vanderbilt. Everyone wants to come to Tennessee because of Nashville. And then when we have the most money in NIL, why not come here? We literally just have to win this year and the rest will take care of itself.”

ESTES Josh Heupel's Tennessee is Clark Lea's big obstacle at Vandy

Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt team not like others Tennessee has faced

Pavia’s brash approach is unlike players of past Vanderbilt teams. But because of Pavia, this team doesn’t play like the Commodores of past seasons.

Vanderbilt is in the College Football Playoff hunt, and a win over Tennessee would keep it in the mix toward the bracket selection. That puts the Vols in the unfamiliar role of spoiler in this rivalry game.

Nevertheless, this is a game against two good teams. For the first time in 119 games between these teams, both Tennessee and Vanderbilt are ranked in the Top 25.

Pavia is the biggest reason that this is a marquee matchup.

He is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate who leads the SEC in total offense (325.9 ypg) and TD passes (26). And he ranks third nationally in passer rating behind two other Heisman candidates, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.

“(Pavia) certainly has the ability to use his feet and make plays. He’s thrown it extremely well,” Heupel said. “He’s continued to get better throughout the course of the season. And (him) being efficient with the football has created a bunch of big plays. But his ability to be a part of the run game is a huge part of what they do offensively.”

Pavia is Vanderbilt’s leading rusher with 661 yards and eight TDs. And he’s guided the Commodores to rank No. 9 nationally in scoring offense (38.9 ppg). Among SEC teams, only Tennessee (42.3 ppg) has scored at a higher clip.

Last season, the Vols sacked a clearly injured Pavia three times, picked him off once and held him to 104 yards passing. Tennessee won 36-23 in Nashville.

But this isn’t the same Pavia or Vanderbilt. Both are better. However, this game is in Neyland Stadium where Pavia has never played.

“I’ve heard a lot about the stadium,” Pavia said. “I’m excited because we have everything we want ahead of us.”

Pavia was referring to the Commodores having a chance to squeeze into the playoff if they beat Tennessee on its home field. Rest assured, he’ll have plenty to say if that happens, and it’s up to the Vols to prevent it.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Tennessee, Diego Pavia are handling Vanderbilt QB's spicy comments