Nashville, TENN--Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia feels as if he's got something to prove.

The veteran signal caller is embracing that as he get his first opportunity as a power-five quarterback against Virginia Tech.

"People don't know what I can do and it's for me to prove it on Saturday," Pavia said.

Pavia is used to that, he's used to having to prove that the undersized guy from Albuquerque can play.

Beyond that, Pavia wants to prove that he's a winner, that he can guide a team to that status and that he can make his mom Antoinette Padilla proud.

"Win at all costs, that's how I was raised from my mom," Pavia said. "If I won I got gifts, so that's kinda the mentality."

Pavia remembers that mentality showing up on the wrestling mat as a fourth grader. Padilla raised the then nine-year old a challenge.

The then three-sport athlete responded.

"It was the national championship for wrestling in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and my mom said ‘hey, you win and I’ll get you anything you want,’" Pavia recalls. "I wanted a dirt bike pretty bad. I ended up winning and they got me a dirt bike the next week.”

Pavia remembers the dirtbike to this day. More importantly, he remembers the feeling of earning it, the feeling of winning.

That feeling was reinstilled in Pavia by Jerry Kill, who was his head coach at New Mexico State and joined Vanderbilt as a chief consultant to the head coach as well as a senior offensive advisor this offseason.

Kill has had a bigger role than just that to Pavia, though.

"Coach Kill is like a father figure to me so it’s the same thing, keep on it and do anything to win," Pavia said. "He's still basically the head coach of the offense so I still look at him as my head coach so whenever he has something to say I keep it at top importance...Coach Kill is just someone I look at who gave me an opportunity. I'll do anything for him just because of the opportunity.

"He knows how important it is to win, too. Me and him being on the same page is great.”

Pavia's mentality has also been apparent to Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea.

"I need his personality to infuse into our team and I think he’s working on that," Lea said. "He is very consistent and very driven. He’s got clear goals for himself and clear goals for the team so I respect that and I’m excited to see him continue to grow in that way and the team needs him to."

Vanderbilt's locker room has seemed to respond to Pavia's demeanor, that was evidenced over the weekend as Pavia was named a captain.

That was a decision that was made entirely by Vanderbilt's players.

“I don’t select leadership," Lea said. "When it comes to captain votes, that all happens in the team. We voted on Saturday, and I’m really proud of the five guys that have been named. I’m impressed with Diego, having been able to make that kind of impact.”

That impact has been made as a result of the confidence that Lea reference. Not only confidence in his ability, but also confidence in his ability to lead a team to becoming winners.

Pavia is determined to have that effect rub off on Vanderbilt.

“That’s who I am, how I was raised," Pavia said of having a chip on his shoulder. ""I like to think of myself as an electric quarterback, just doing whatever it takes to win."