Diego Pavia silent after UTEP win, won't speak for rest of season

Oct. 19—EL PASO — The room went silent when Cade McConnell walked in, still dressed in full pads, following the 100th Battle of I-10. He walked to the table, slumped in a plastic chair behind it and stared ahead with soft eyes.

He exhaled.

"Alright," the UTEP quarterback murmured, a pained smile on his face.

It got the point across. In his second career start, McConnell finished 15-of-32 passing for 179 yards and no touchdowns in a 28-7 loss to NMSU. Not as good as he was in his first start, a 27-14 win over FIU. Not that bad either.

"But not good enough for us to win," UTEP head coach Dana Dimel added.

Diego Pavia could relate. In the 99th Battle of I-10 — also in El Paso — the Aggie quarterback came off the bench and finished 7-of-20 passing for 100 yards with 69 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a furious second half rally that fell just short. He was hardly the reason NMSU lost 20-13 in a rivalry game that came down to the final play. But he was just short of getting his team the win.

At this point, coming up just short of a victory is an unfamiliar feeling. Pavia finished his second night at the Sun Bowl 15-of-25 passing for 186 yards and two touchdowns, with another two rushing touchdowns to boot. He is not the only reason NMSU has won three in a row, four of their last five, and is poised for its second straight bowl appearance.

Nor is he the only reason why they're steadily inching their way into the picture for a run at a Conference USA title. But Pavia's the face of a team that's starting to stack wins without a coveted complete performance, a program Kill said might be ahead of schedule.

"The thing I'm excited about, we're still not where we need to be," NMSU coach Jerry Kill said. "And we still got a lotta room to get a lot better."

How Pavia, a Volcano Vista graduate, feels about that is unknown. On Wednesday night, Pavia was made unavailable to the media for the third straight week. He has not been made available to the media in any form since a video of him urinating on a Lobo logo in the University of New Mexico indoor practice facility was published by KOB-TV Channel 4 on Sept. 24.

It is unclear whether Pavia not speaking to the media is part of the internal discipline Kill alluded to in the wake of the incident. What is clear is it won't be changing anytime soon.

"No," said Kill when asked if Pavia would speak again this season, "I'm Diego. I get to make all the calls there. That's all I can say about that."

So for another night, Pavia shined in another NMSU win, his numbers growing more impressive since the video surfaced: 55-of-92 passing (59.7%) for 728 yards and 257 rushing with 10 total touchdowns (six passing, four rushing) and one interception.

And for another night, Pavia's play and teammates spoke of and for him.

"He's kind of like how old Brett Favre used to be," Kill said. "You take the good with the bad. And sometimes you just shake your head."

The good is there in abundance. Dropping back on second and goal, Pavia offered a play fake nobody bit on. He saw the blitz, looked to the end zone, jumped, pumped once and released.

Two Miners dropped him immediately as tight end Thomaz Whitford caught his first touchdown of the night, a 6-yard reception to put NMSU up 14-7 early in the third quarter.

"He's a playmaker," Whitford said. "He's tough. He doesn't give up. He's just gonna ball regardless.

"That's really it — it's grit."

The bad still flares up. With a little over three minutes left, Pavia fired a deep shot on 3rd and 9 to Trent Hudson. Cornerback Amir Boyd-Matthews broke it up and lunged over Hudson, who lay on the field clutching his side after the whistle.

Kill promptly gave it to Pavia on the sideline.

"You're not supposed to do that," Kill said. "He's supposed to throw the ball or run in the boundary. We're trying to kill clock, you know? C'mon, man."

Coach breathed in.

"But we take the good with the bad," Kill added, "because there's a lot of good in there. He's a special competitor, a special player, all those things. But the biggest thing is, he's tough. And your leader, he's got to be tough. That's who I am."

And for now, he is Pavia. It gets the point across.