AUBURN, AL (EETV)- Auburn fans will shudder remembering last year’s matchup against New Mexico State, in which the then 6-5 Tigers fell 31-10 to the 9-3 Aggies. The Aggies' then-quarterback, Diego Pavia, now commands the red-hot Vanderbilt Commodores– and they’re set to play Auburn this Saturday.
Coach Freeze’s first thought when asked about Pavia was “I’m sick of seeing that quarterback,” which was met with a smattering of chuckles from the media, who’d seen what Pavia did to the Tigers last year.
Freeze is clearly no stranger to Pavia’s playstyle, reminding the media that “last year when we played (Diego), the first time we touched the ball in the first quarter, I believe, was with 5:05 left.” Coach described this reality as “uncomfortable,” as this Auburn team has traditionally performed better when they’ve been able to control the time of possession.
Similarly, the Pavia-led Vanderbilt team has excelled in controlling the clock, taking up 42 of the 60 possible game minutes in their victory against Alabama. In fact, in this matchup, Vanderbilt had a touchdown drive that lasted almost ten minutes, echoing Freeze’s concern about the Commodores’ slow, methodical offense.
Freeze again praised the Vanderbilt QB, stating “[Pavia] moves and makes plays and is savvy and smart and tough and, again, makes everybody do their assignment on every single play or you get burned. It’s three yards here, even on a broken play, and it’s four yards, and it’s third and three and they get three and a half. A lot of it’s due to their system, which they’re very well coached.”
To beat Vanderbilt, Auburn will need to be able to limit Vanderbilt’s time of possession- a factor that even powerhouses like Texas and Alabama struggled with. This is nothing new to Auburn, though- they’ve been forced to control the clock in every game they’ve played, including a close matchup against Georgia.
If there was ever a team to slow and stop Diego Pavia, it’s Auburn- Coach Freeze tells the media “We are going to tell [our players] the truth. We got some good cut-ups from their team. They play extremely hard, extra effort. Not just him (Pavia). I got some good clips to show our defense that this is what you are up against.”
Freeze believes this game will be a matchup of “toughness, leadership, and fundamentals;” this Auburn team has shown no lack of the first two, and is daily improving on the latter.
In fact, Freeze’s main praise for the team following their statement win against Kentucky fell mostly in the vein of praising fundamentals, whether it be from the offensive line, defense, receivers, or even QB Payton Thorne.
One final aspect this Vanderbilt team is yet to face is the challenge of playing in a stadium like Jordan-Hare. The third-most difficult stadium to play against in the SEC (according to si.com) will surely provide some headache for Pavia, especially since he’s likely grown used to the sounds of jackhammers renovating the Vanderbilt stadium- the roar of the fired-up Auburn faithful following a definitive win will surely be unlike anything he’s ever experienced.
Auburn is on the rebound, there’s no question about it- they’ll look to continue their forward momentum Saturday at 11:45 am C.T. at home against the Commodores.
