New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia is listed at six-feet tall. He weighs in at a slight 200 pounds. And, most crucially, he is a quarterback, and entered Saturday’s contest against Auburn without a tackle to his name.
However, Pavia is also something else—an accomplished former wrestler for Albuquerque’s Volcano Vista High School.
On Saturday, he demonstrated his grappling chops with a vicious slam on Tigers cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett. Pritchett had intercepted Pavia on a play destined to be negated by an offsides penalty, only to encounter the quarterback at midfield with disastrous results.
The hit drew a 15-yard unnecessary roughness foul and touched off a brief skirmish between the two teams.
State champion wrestler Diego Pavia.
— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaverTV) November 18, 2023
If a 5'9 QB does this to you, do you have to retire? pic.twitter.com/GW8aMiKVP4
The Aggies are in the midst of one of their best-ever football seasons, and continued it with a stunning 31–10 win at Auburn on Saturday.
New Mexico State now has a 9–3 record after Saturday’s win, representing their highest winning percentage since going 7-2-1 in 1967. Pavia has been a big part of that, throwing 22 touchdowns against six interceptions.
With those numbers, it's not hard to see why New Mexico State brought swagger to Auburn—something that might have been impossible in the recent past.
