"DEI award," "Worst Heisman of all-time": CFB fans react to Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia become favorite to win prestigious honor

Diego Pavia had an impressive 2025 campaign with the Vanderbilt Commodores. He helped the program to its first ten-win campaign in history, ending the regular season with a 10-2 (6-2 SEC) record.

As per On3, Pavia is now an emerging favorite to win the Heisman after Saturday's Ohio State vs Indiana Big Ten clash. BetMGM has the Vanderbilt quarterback at -110 odds to win the coveted award, while both Julian Sayin (+300) and Fernando Mendoza (+175) threw interceptions in the conference championship game.

Fans on social media shared their reactions to Diego Pavia potentially emerging as the favorite to win the 2025 Heisman award.

"They should just keep it this year. None of these dudes deserve to join the HEISMAN fraternity," one fan commented.

"Dumbest s**t ever. Kids season is done. This is a pity award at this point," another fan said.

"This would be an absolute joke," this fan wrote.

"DEI award," another fan said.

"Would be the worst Heisman of all time," one fan wrote.

"If he wins. The heisman becomes a meaningless award," this fan commented.

Diego Pavia began his collegiate journey at the New Mexico Military Institute in 2020. In 2022, he joined the New Mexico State Aggies, spending two seasons with them. He transferred to play for the Vanderbilt Commodores in 2024 and took over as the starting quarterback of the team.

During his debut campaign with the program, Pavia led them to a 7-6 record and a Birmingham Bowl victory over Georgia Tech. He recorded 2,293 yards and 20 TDs passing. This season, the quarterback tallied 3,192 yards and 27 TDs passing, while rushing for 826 yards and nine touchdowns.

Skip Bayless' rips into Fernando Mendoza's performance while supporting Diego Pavia as the Heisman favorite

The Indiana Hoosiers defeated Ohio State 13-10 to lift the Big Ten championship title. Fernando Mendoza completed 15 of 23 passes for 222 yards, one touchdown and one interception against Ryan Day's team.

However, this performance was not enough to impress Skip Bayless. On X, he extended his support to Diego Pavia to win the coveted award this season.

"Gus Johnson just said give Mendoza the Heisman now. DID GUS WATCH DIEGO PAVIA PLAY???? Mendoza was tough and made a big 3rd-down throw that iced the Indiana upset tonight. But PAVIA DID SO MUCH MORE WITH LESS IN A MUCH BETTER CONFERENCE. HE DESERVES THE HEISMAN."

The Heisman finalists will be announced on Sunday, with the ceremony taking place on Dec.13 in New York.

Edited by Priyam Hazarika