Dec. 7, 2010
Birmingham, Ala. – Vanderbilt defensive standouts Casey Hayward and Chris Marve earned All-Southeastern Conference honors following a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches that was announced Tuesday.
For Hayward, a junior defensive back from Perry, Ga., the honor follows similar recognition he received Monday from a select panel of Associated Press sportswriters across the Southeast.
For Marve, a redshirt junior from Memphis, Tenn., the honor concludes a season that began in excellent fashion only to conclude with the linebacker trying to play through debilitating injuries.
Both Hayward and Marve to listed on the Coaches’ second team unit. A third Commodore standout, junior tight end Brandon Barden was named second team All-SEC by the Associated Press.
The coaches’ squad was topped by Alabama and LSU, who had 12 and eight players, respectively, named to the unit. SEC champion Auburn had four players named to the first team. Every SEC squad had at least one student-athlete represented in the ballot that did not allow coaches to vote for their own players.
SEC individual award recipients from the coaches’ ballot will be announced Wednesday. The Coaches’ SEC All-Freshman Team will be announced on Thursday.
Hayward put together his finest season in a Commodore uniform, finishing the year ranked among the NCAA elite in both interceptions and passes defended.
Hayward topped the SEC and ranked second in the nation with 17 passes defended. He also had six interceptions, ranking second in the SEC and fifth in the NCAA.
Hayward also set career highs in solo tackles (59) and total tackles (70) while contributing two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He contributed at least four tackles in 10 games, and posted interceptions in four consecutive early-season encounters.
Marve ranked among the SEC tackle leaders until suffering a knee injury at Connecticut that limited his productive during two stretches late in the season. Through four games, he averaged nearly 10 tackles per game, yet finished with 80 total tackles, including 59 solo stops. It marked the first year that Marve failed to reach the 100-tackle plateau. He did finish the season with a career-high eight tackles for loss, including 2.5 quarterback sacks.
Marve reached double-digit tackles in five games as a third-year starting inside linebacker, including a 10-tackle, 2-sack effort against Florida.
