College football Week 6 storylines: Diego Pavia seeks to cement his status as all-time Alabama villain

There are a few names in history that still evoke shudders from modern Alabama fans for what they did to the Crimson Tide.

Cam Newton for the "Camback." Stephen Garcia for turning into a "Michael Vick/Peyton Manning mix," as one Alabama friend told me. Johnny Manziel for running all over the Tide inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Hunter Renfrow pick-play touchdown that stole a title away from Alabama down in Tampa. 

If Diego Pavia can lead Vanderbilt to another win over Alabama, he'll earn his own wing in the Alabama Hater Hall of Fame. 

There's something about Pavia's swagger and that he's doing it for Vanderbilt, of all places, that seems to so thoroughly get under opposing fans' skin. He's the kind of player you adore if you're a Vanderbilt fan and loudly complain about if your favorite team has to play him. He's the closest thing we have to Johnny Manizel, who will be in Tuscaloosa this weekend rooting for Vandy ... in 2025. 

Pavia has zero problem talking trash, as he did again this week, predicting that if "we play our game, it won't be close." That would typically be a bad idea against Alabama, but he's already beaten the Crimson Tide once and then watched Florida State QB Thomas Castellanos beat Alabama after an offseason of providing bulletin board material. 

Pavia right now owns the state of Alabama, and fans understandably hate it. It's not just Alabama fans, either. 

Pavia has two wins over Auburn (one with New Mexico State, the other at Vanderbilt) and has a chance for a third consecutive win over the Tigers on Nov. 8. An 0-3 record against Pavia won't bode well for Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, whose seat is quickly heating up. There's a real chance Pavia could finish his career 5-0 against Alabama and Auburn, which is almost impossible to comprehend for a 24-year old quarterback who started his college career at the New Mexico Military Institute. 

If he can do that, Pavia would earn special villain status in a football-crazed state that has a long memory of the players who have gotten the upper-hand over Alabama. 

More Week 6 storylines ...

Battle of the Mids

At the start of the season, Week 6's Clemson at North Carolina matchup looked like one of the most intriguing in the ACC. You had the conference's most accomplished coach, Dabo Swinney, versus the NFL's greatest coach, Bill Belichick. In a league that has struggled at times in developing brands and household names, these were two of the biggest in the conference. 

Yet, both have been tremendous disappointments thus far. Swinney's Clemson team started the season as a national title favorite and is already out of the hunt after a 1-3 start with losses to LSU, Syracuse and Georgia Tech. UNC has been an even bigger mess than anyone could have expected and has looked awful in losses to TCU and UCF. Technically, someone has to win this game, but it's a good bet that whomever emerges victorious won't look great doing so. 

Tobacco roadblock: The Bill Belichick experiment at UNC is an even bigger disaster than expected

John Talty

Arch vs. Lagway

Shockingly, the above "Battle of the Mids" title could apply to Arch Manning and DJ Lagway, too. They entered the season as the two most hyped quarterbacks in the country, but both have struggled to meet the lofty preseason expectations. Lagway has the 92nd best quarterback rating (46.9), while Manning isn't much better at No. 71. 

Lagway has been banged up and has never looked fully healthy this season, though that still doesn't completely excuse just how bad Florida's offense has looked this season. Manning's struggles have been even more surprising; they've been more mental than physical. Manning has won his last three games since the season-opening loss to Ohio State, but this will be his first real test since after beating San Jose State, UTEP and Sam Houston State. Both these QBs could use a strong performance to get their seasons back on track, while Lagway's coach, Billy Napier, is in desperate need of a marquee win to keep his job. 

Former Alabama QBs duke it out

Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan were not only once teammates but arrived at Alabama together in the same recruiting class back in 2023. Now, the two former Alabama quarterbacks are on opposing sides when Boston College takes on Pittsburgh. This isn't exactly the most high-profile game of the weekend -- BC is 1-3 while Pitt is 2-2 -- but it's an important game for both sides. 

Holstein struggled late last weekend and was even benched when Pitt coughed up a big lead in a loss to Louisville. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi says Holstein will start against BC, but it'll be interesting to see how long a leash he gets. (Update: Despite his comments earlier in the week, Narduzzi has benched Holstein in favor of freshman QB Mason Heintschel). Meanwhile, Lonergan is lighting it up as BC has the nation's fourth-best passing attack, but it hasn't resulted in wins. BC lost in double overtime to Michigan State and then by one score to Cal last week. If BC wants to go bowling again under Bill O'Brien this season, it needs to beat Pitt. 

Salty Talty

Each week this space will be my airing of grievances, my opportunity to let the audience know what has been really grinding my gears. Hopefully it'll be mostly college football-related, but it's a good bet travel, family and other day-to-day life annoyances will find a way in. 

First it was USC coach Lincoln Riley complaining about the Trojans having to play a noon ET game against Illinois.

"Going from the absolute latest kick in the country to the absolute earliest kick in the country has its challenges," Riley said. "But the challenges -- like, it is what it is. We don't make the schedule, clearly."

And then there was Oregon's Dan Lanning, who seems to dislike his schedule so much he believes it is retribution for including the Ducks in the conference. 

"We're traveling 15,000 miles this year, and we play seven teams that have more prep time than we do," Lanning told John Canzano. "That's unique, isn't it? It's almost like they didn't want us in the Big Ten, or something, right? We snuck our way in, didn't we?"

He's not necessarily wrong about Oregon sneaking its way in. The Ducks did, after all, miss the cut of the first Big Ten expansion that included USC and UCLA, and only seemed to get the golden ticket after agreeing, along with Washington, to take a reduced share of money.

And I get that it wasn't Riley or Lanning who made the decisions to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in the first place. 

But, honestly, there's only one thing that comes to mind any time a coach like Riley or Lanning complains about the more arduous travel of the Big Ten compared to what they were accustomed to in the Pac-12.

This is what these schools signed up for! They willingly eschewed better travel and TV kickoff times in the Pac-12 for more money in the Big Ten. No one associated with those schools should be surprised that now being in a conference mostly located in the Midwest would come with worse travel. It's the point everyone made when the news first broke. But significantly more money in the Big Ten -- and all that it could pay for -- was too alluring to say no to. 

Lanning and Riley should be thankful they are only playing one game a week. It's much more challenging for other sports like basketball, as UCLA coach Mick Cronin made very clear a year ago in a rant that included the hilarious line, "we've seen the Statue of Liberty twice in the last three weeks."

The next time these coaches want to complain, they should look at their bank accounts and remember why they are so highly paid in the first place.