Vanderbilt took down No. 11-ranked South Carolina in convincing fashion over the weekend with a 31-7 victory on the road at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC. Stand-up comedian and podcaster Theo Von was on the sidelines during the game and had a special interest in rooting for the Commodores to pull off the upset.
Apparently, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia told Von that if Vanderbilt beat South Carolina, he would reward him by setting up a date with his mom.
During the broadcast, SEC Network’s Cole Cubelic revealed the friendly wager on air. “You don’t even want to know what (Theo) told me about Diego Pavia‘s mom,” he said. “The way that I understand this story is that if Diego Pavia wins this game, he promised you he would set you up on a date with his mom?”
Pavia Shoots His Shot With Pop Star Tate McCrae
Von played up the scenario with a friendly joke, claiming that he enjoys being Pavia’s friend and doesn’t want to end up being his step dad.
“Yes, it’s true,” Von said. “My goal is I’d like to marry a nurse someday so that’s why. He was telling me about that. I like being his friend, so I don’t want to end up being like his stepdad or something. We’ll see what happens.”
However, one small stipulation was omitted from the report, according to Pavia. The Vanderbilt quarterback took to Twitter to reveal that he also requested that Von set him up a date with pop star Tate McCrae.
what @TheoVon forgot is, I said it was a deal if and only if he told @tatemcrae to lemme take her on A1 date in Nashville 🤝 twitter make it happen 👀 https://t.co/x2ODiluXcQ
— Diego Pavia (@diegopavia02) September 15, 2025
While McCrae has yet to comment on the situation, the Canadian pop star has been on an incredible run of her own and is currently winding down first ever arena tour with Miss Possessive Tour
Pavia Has Played Himself Into The Heisman Conversation
With Pavia under center, Vanderbilt has raced out to a 3-0 record, including back-to-back upset wins on the road over Virginia Tech and South Carolina.
Through three games, Pavia has thrown for 645 yards while completing a career-high 73.5% of his passes with seven touchdowns and only two interceptions. With Vanderbilt looking like a darkhorse contender in the SEC, Pavia has quietly entered the Heisman Trophy conversation.
He currently owns +5500 odds following Vandy’s 3-0 start and those odds could improve in the coming weeks, especially with two winnable home games on the schedule to end September. This week, Vanderbilt will host Georgia State at home, followed by a matchup with Utah State.
Pavia will have another chance to prove his worth next month with a gauntlet of games against some of the top teams in the country. Vanderbilt will play five consecutive top-25 teams beginning with an Oct. 4 matchup versus No. 14-ranked Alabama. After a much-needed bye week, Vanderbilt will take on No. 3 LSU, No. 23 Missouri, No. 8 Texas, and No. 22 Auburn.
