NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Another Vanderbilt football student-athlete was recognized on Tuesday when CJ Heard was chosen Defensive Player of the Week by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.
He’s the fourth member of the program to be recognized following the Commodores’ win over nationally-ranked South Carolina on Saturday, joining Jordan White (SEC Offensive Player of the Week), Martel Hight (Hornung Award national Player of the Week) and Nick Rinaldi (Burlsworth Trophy Walk-On of the Week).
Heard led all players with a season-best 12 total stops—all solo—in the victory, the first time this season a Vandy defender has recorded a double-digit total in the category. The Atlanta native was credited with 10 tackles in the first half, including one on third down to force a punt while the contest was still tied early in the second quarter, to help the Dores build a 14-7 advantage at the break that they would not relinquish. Early in the final period, Heard made a third-down stop immediately followed by a quarterback hurry on the next snap to force a turnover on downs as well.
It was the second straight week that Heard and the Vandy defense shut out its opponent in the second half, as the Commodores limited the Gamecocks to just 86 yards on the ground in the game. As a result, Vanderbilt earned its first victory in the series since 2008 as well as the program’s first win in Columbia dating to the previous fall.
The Dores, who are now ranked in the top 25 of both the Associated Press and AFCA coaches’ polls, play again on Saturday with a contest at FirstBank Stadium against Georgia State. The matchup with the Panthers gets underway at 6:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPNU.
