NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt football’s Eli Stowers and Diego Pavia both received All-America recognition from the same organization for the third time this week when the Football Writers Association of America honored the duo on Thursday. Stowers was a first-team selection while Pavia earned second-team honors.
The two received the same recognition from the Associated Press Monday, and both garnered first-team accolades on Wednesday from The Sporting News.
Stowers—who claimed both the William V. Campbell Trophy® and John Mackey Award this year—has posted 62 receptions for 769 yards and four scores in 12 contests, with three or more catches in every game. He has led the Commodores in receiving yards on four occasions, highlighted by a career-high 146 in Vandy’s matchup with nationally-ranked Texas, as he paces all tight ends nationally in the category. The Denton, Texas, resident was named the John Mackey Award Tight End of the Week following the performance against the Longhorns, and he was twice named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Honorable Mention List this season.
Pavia has passed for 3,192 yards and 27 scores and added 826 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground to finish as the runner-up in voting for the Heisman Trophy last week. He has connected on 242-of-340 attempts this fall, leading the SEC—and ranking among the top 10 in the country as well—with a 71.2 completion percentage and 171.5 pass efficiency rating. Pavia, who hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was chosen the AP’s National Player of the Week twice, the Walter Camp National FBS Offensive Player of the Week on two occasions, and the SEC Offensive Player of the Week following three contests on his way to be selected by the league’s coaches as SEC Offensive Player of the Year.
They are the first members of Vandy’s offense to be named All-America by the FWAA since the 1958 campaign when George Deiderich was honored by the organization.
Stowers, Pavia and No. 13/12 Vanderbilt earned a berth in the ReliaQuest Bowl and will play Iowa in Tampa, Florida, at 11 a.m. on New Year’s Eve.
