NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Clark Lea earned Tennessee Sports Writers Association Football Player and Coach of the Year honors, respectively, as announced Monday by the organization.
Pavia was named the National Player of the Year by The Sporting News, CBS Sports and Premier Player after finishing as the runner-up in voting for the Heisman Trophy. He was voted the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner and was a finalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Maxwell Player of the Year and Manning Awards.
Pavia garnered First Team All-America accolades from The Sporting News, CBS Sports and On3 and was selected Second Team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America, Associated Press, The Athletic, Sports Illustrated and USA Today. He was voted SEC Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-SEC by the league’s head coaches and the Associated Press.
Pavia completed 71 percent of his passes (267-of-378) for 3539 yards, 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 13 contests. He also rushed for a team-leading 862 yards, 5.2 yards-per-attempt), and 10 TDs, helping the Commodores average 463.1 yards per game in total offense with 66 touchdowns for the season. Vanderbilt also converted 51.1 percent on third downs, which ranked sixth nationally in FBS.
Lea was named the FWAA Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year and the American Football Coaches Association Region 2 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Walter Camp, AFCA, George Munger, Paul “Bear” Bryant and Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Awards. He was selected SEC Coach of the Year by both the league’s head coaches and the Associated Press, leading Vanderbilt to back-to-back postseason bowl appearances for the first time since the 2011-13 campaigns.
The Commodores finished the season 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the conference, setting program records with both win totals. Vanderbilt posted victories over four nationally-ranked teams throughout the season, including three – South Carolina, LSU and Missouri – that were among the Top 15 in the polls at the time of the matchup.