After taking college football by storm and taking Vanderbilt to historic heights, quarterback Diego Pavia will have his hands full in his final game with the Commodores.
No. 14 Vanderbilt, which has already set a school record with 10 wins this season and finished just outside of the College Football Playoff, will look to send the program-changing quarterback out with a second straight bowl victory on Wednesday against No. 23 Iowa and its stingy defense in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
“It means a lot. He’s excited to go out,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said of Pavia’s last game. “This is about his connection with his teammates. This is about trying to finish a historical season in a historical way.
” … Like every competitive moment for Diego, it’s a chance for him to prove himself. He’s got one chance remaining to show what he can do to NFL GMs and coaches and to the world. I know that’s going to have his fire lit.”
Pavia threw for 3,192 yards and 27 touchdowns while rushing for 826 yards and nine scores this season.
He didn’t handle losing out on finishing as the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza well, posting “F all the voters” on an Instagram story the night of the Dec. 13 ceremony before issuing an apology the following day.
The Vanderbilt quarterback will have to play his final game for the Commodores (10-2) without his favorite target.
All-American and Mackey Award-winning tight end Eli Stowers, who led Vanderbilt in receiving yards each of the last two seasons with a combined 1,407 yards and nine touchdowns over the 2024-25 seasons, opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL Draft.
The Hawkeyes (8-4) will challenge Pavia with a defense ranked seven in total yards (270.6 yards per game), scoring defense (15.2 points) and passing defense (158.2 yards).
“Going against a guy like that, you definitely have to be on your ‘A’ game,” Iowa defensive back Deshaun Lee said of Pavia. “It’s going to be a great competition.”
Pavia’s potential replacement, incoming five-star QB Jared Curtis who flipped from Georgia in early December, has been practicing with the team in the lead-up to the game, although he’s not eligible to play.
On the other sideline, this will also be a sendoff for Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski, who won back-to-back FCS championships at South Dakota State in 2022-23 before joining the Hawkeyes for his final season of eligibility.
He has just eight passing TDs this season, but was a major threat with his legs, racking up 15 rushing scores which was a program record for QBs and tied for fifth-most in program history. He has 52 rushing touchdowns in his collegiate career.
Gronowski is aided by an offensive line which won the program’s second Joe Moore Award this season honoring the best OL in college football.
“That was such a special moment for the entire team, honestly,” Iowa center Logan Jones said of winning the award.
This will be Iowa’s sixth time under Kirk Ferentz playing a bowl game in Tampa, but the first since 2018 when it was the Outback Bowl. The Hawkeyes are 2-3 in Tampa bowls under Ferentz and 10-11 overall in bowls over his 27-year tenure.
Vanderbilt is looking to win a bowl in consecutive seasons for just the second time in program history (2012-13).
This will be the first-ever matchup between Iowa and Vanderbilt.
