No. 10 LSU football is gearing up for another weekend of conference play, during which the Tigers will be traveling to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on No. 17 Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea — who is familiar with LSU head coach Brian Kelly because of their time coaching at Notre Dame together — leads the Commodores, who are currently 5-1, just like the Tigers.
Despite the similar records, there’s talent stacked on both sides of the ball. Here are three Vanderbilt players to watch out for.
Diego Pavia
Dominating the field in passing and rushing yards is graduate quarterback Diego Pavia. From Albuquerque, New Mexico, Pavia entered the transfer portal in 2024 to join the SEC and compete for the Commodores.
Pavia got his collegiate start at the New Mexico Military Institute and later transferred to New Mexico State University for his sophomore and junior year, where he threw 39 touchdowns while recording 322 completions and 4,423 passing yards. On top of that, he managed to rush 13 touchdowns and 1,436 yards across 270 rushing attempts.
With all of that attached to his name before coming to the SEC, it’s no surprise that Pavia has only improved while at Vanderbilt.
As a Commodore, he’s thrown 34 touchdowns, recorded 292 completions and 3,702 passing yards, as well as rushing for 10 touchdowns and 1,152 yards across 352 attempts. These numbers are only expected to go up during the next half of the season.
Now that a lot of numbers have been thrown around, what are Tiger fans meant to make of them?
Well, all of this is to say that this quarterback’s talent in both passing and rushing is definitely a threat to LSU’s defense if it can’t keep him squared away on the field.
Eli Stowers
Graduate tight end Eli Stowers is ready to make his mark on the field once more in receiving yards this weekend.
Also transferring to Vanderbilt in 2024 from New Mexico State University, Stowers got his career as a Commodore kicked off with two receiving touchdowns, 35 receptions and 366 receiving yards to his name.
Since playing in Nashville, the Denton, Texas, native has recorded seven receiving touchdowns, 74 receptions and 961 receiving yards.
When it comes to passing and rushing, he’s both thrown and rushed two touchdowns over his career, recording 132 rushing career yards and 116 passing yards.
Stowers suffered from a minor preseason injury that kept him off the field until the season opener. Since then, he’s continued to prove to be a valuable asset for Vanderbilt. His season high in reception yards was recorded in Vanderbilt’s 45-3 victory against Charleston Southern, with 86 yards across four receptions.
CJ Heard
On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore safety CJ Heard is lurking on the field, ready to snuff out LSU’s offense.
After joining the transfer portal at the end of the 2024 season, Heard found his way to the Commodores from Florida Atlantic University.
At FAU, the Atlanta, Georgia, native finished his freshman year with 80 total tackles — 53 of those solo and 27 assisted.
Now that he’s in the middle of his first season with the SEC, he’s had 31 tackles, 24 of those being solo and seven assisted, as well as one sack. He previously had zero sacks to his name.
Heard saw his season high in Vanderbilt’s 31-7 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks with 12 total tackles, all completed on his own.
Only one team is walking out with a win this weekend. If LSU can’t hold it together, then Heard has a chance of cruising straight through the offensive line’s efforts. He’ll have to play a big game to lead his team to victory.
