Diego Pavia Gets Strong PFF Grade in Week Four Win; PFF Takeaways

NASHVILLE—If Diego Pavia leading Vanderbilt to six-consecutive touchdown drives in the first half of Vanderbilt’s eventual 70-point outing against Georgia State wasn’t enough, he’s got the Pro Football Focus seal of approval to back up his performance.

Pavia was Vanderbilt’s highest-graded offensive player that played a minimum of 10 snaps with an 80.8 overall grade, a 71.8 passing grade and a 76.3 grade as a runner.

“I always think that whoever you play, there’s always gonna be one kid who that’s his last game seeing you,” Pavia said. “I don’t come from a lot of money, so going to one game was my only impression of [players], so I just want to be the best version of me for those kids who can only come to one game.”

The Vanderbilt quarterback was 9-for-10 on throws of 1-to-10 yards between the numbers, 3-for-4 on throws of 10+ yards and was awarded an 88.9 grade on non-play action dropbacks–which accounted for 58.9% of his dropbacks–as well as a 59.4 on play-action dropbacks.

Pavia was PFF’s highest-graded quarterback in the country through two games and received a grade above 90 in each of those games. He had an uncharacteristically poor grade in Vanderbilt’s 31-7 win against South Carolina, but rebounded on Saturday in PFF’s eyes.

Vanderbilt’s backup quarterback grades and snap counts

Pavia left the game with 10:10 to go in the third quarter as his longtime backup Blaze Berlowitz–who Pavia says is good enough to force Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea and offensive coordinator Tim Beck to avoid adding a transfer portal quarterback–entered the game and eventually passed it off.

Berlowitz played 16 snaps on the night and posted a 67.9 overall grade, a 55.2 grade as a passer and a 70.4 as a runner. The Vanderbilt junior passed it off to Drew Dickey, who posted an 89.5 overall grade in his five snaps. Vanderbilt redshirt freshman Whit Muschamp made his college debut on Saturday with a 66.0 grade in seven snaps.

Still nothing conclusive enough to solve Vanderbilt’s post-Pavia quarterback situation, it seems.

Tristen Brown’s best outing

The Vanderbilt sophomore flashed throughout fall camp, but had been on severely limited snap counts and didn’t receive a grade above 60 through Vanderbilt’s first three games. Saturday saw him turn the corner a bit, though.

Brown played a season-high 26 snaps on Saturday and received a 76.9 overall grade as well as a 74.9 grade on his 17 snaps on passing plays. The sophomore receiver caught three passes for 71 yards on Saturday.

Perhaps Saturday could propel Brown into a more prominent role down the stretch.

Standout offensive linemen

Vanderbilt tackle Bryce Henderson led Vanderbilt’s offensive line union with a 73.2 overall grade and an 84.2 grade in pass protection. Liberty transfer center Jordan White–who was the week three SEC offensive lineman of the week–was right behind him with a 71.8 overall grade and an 82.8 grade in pass pro.

"Jordan White has been such a bright spot on our team this year,” Lea said.

Perhaps Vanderbilt’s biggest surprise on the offensive line was Northern Arizona transfer Clinton Azibuke, who played 27 snaps in the blowout win and posted a 69.4 grade–which was the fourth highest among offensive linemen.

Khordae Sydnor leads the team in grade

Among qualified players, Sydnor was significantly the best in PFF’s eyes. A year ago, the Vanderbilt pass rusher couldn’t play in the matchup against Georgia State due to injury, but he made up for his absence in Vanderbilt's Saturday win.

“It felt so good,” Sydnor said of the win. “We played a complete game today and it was a blessing to be out there.”

Sydnor posted an 86.7 overall grade, 85.5 grade in pass rush and a 75.8 tackling grade. He was followed by Randon Fontenette, Nick Rinaldi and Joshua Singh–who all graded out above 80.

A rough day for Martel Hight

17 of Hight’s 26 snaps came at cornerback on Saturday and in PFF’s eyes they weren’t all that pretty.

Hight was Vanderbilt’s lowest-graded defensive player on Saturday with a 37.5 overall grade and a 37.9 coverage grade. It was an uncharacteristic performance from perhaps Vanderbilt’s most productive cornerback in the past.

The Vanderbilt three-way standout received a 53.2 grade in his nine offensive snaps. He will look to rebound in Vanderbilt’s week five matchup with Georgia State.