For CJ Heard, His Big Play Has Been in the Making

Vanderbilt cornerback CJ Heard came up with the play of the night in No. 10 Vanderbilt’s win over No. 15 Missouri.

Vanderbilt's safety CJ Heard (8) tackles Missouri's tight end Brett Norfleet (87) during their game at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt safety CJ Heard walked up to the podium Saturday night not just with a good mood that you could almost feel, but with a football in his hands. Heard is known for his tenacious play and for his ability to hit and tackle his opponents. But on Saturday, he earned the game ball for a different reason.

In a 10-10 game as the clock was prepared to hit the seven-minute mark in the fourth quarter, Missouri was lined up for its 10th play of a drive that had already progressed from its own 24-yard line up to midfield.

And then, in a game that had already taken some strange twists and turns, it took another one. Missouri quarterback Matt Zollers handed the ball off on 2nd and 10 to running back Jamal Roberts. But before Roberts could even fully grasp the ball and look ahead at a hole to run through, it was Heard who reached into Roberts’ stomach and ripped the ball out of his arms, getting the Vanderbilt defense off the field in what was a crucial point in the game.

It was such a bang-bang play that Zollers had essentially handed the ball off to Heard and it changed the rest of the game. Before the ball was snapped, Missouri had started to gain more momentum by the play. The Tigers had finally broken through on its previous offensive drive and forced Vanderbilt’s offense into a three-and-out.

Had Missouri continued marching down the field, the result of the game could have easily - and in fact probably - gone in a different direction. But instead, Heard swung the pendulum of momentum back into Vanderbilt’s favor with a quick strip of the ball.

“We showed that we were blitzing. We came back out and I still blitzed. I got the message that he was giving the ball to the running back and I just basically took the ball from the running back,” Heard said.

It was without a doubt a game-changing play and the Vanderbilt offense made sure to take full advantage. The Commodores chewed 5:10 off the clock as quarterback Diego Pavia ran in a touchdown from the 1-yard line and got what ended up being the game-winning score.

But for Heard, he earned the game ball from that play. The Vanderbilt offense would not have been set up in great field position had it not been for Heard’s incredible play. But even with that play, Heard stayed locked in. While his teammates were excited and jumping around for him, Heard knew there was still plenty of game to play and that he and the rest of the defense needed to make one more stop.

“Honestly, if you’re watching me after the play, I told them [Heard’s teammates] the game is not over yet. So I wasn’t celebrating until that clock hit 0:00,” Heard said. “I appreciate coach Lea for giving it to me, but man, I was tuned into the game until the clock hit zero.”

Heard was exactly right. Despite Vanderbilt going up 17-10, there was still 1:52 left on the clock, which is plenty of time for any team to go down a field and tie the game. Heard and the defense knew that Saturday just so happened to be a day where the defense was going to have to finish the game.

Missouri did indeed drive the field all the way to the Vanderbilt 37-yard line. The Commodores put eight of their 11 defenders back toward the goal line for the final play. On the final play, Missouri completed a hail mary, but it was the defense that kept the Tigers out of the end zone and gave Vanderbilt a victory.

“Coach Rice [Vanderbilt safeties coach Melvin Rice] told me right before that drive ‘if we want to win, we got to go take it.’ And we got to go take it,” Heard said.

Ultimately, Heard’s forced turnover was emblematic of why he transferred and joined this roster. His tenacity showed up in full force. Heard knew he could tackle and make plays before he arrived in Nashville, but Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea knew he could coach Heard’s skills up to a new level when Heard transferred to Vanderbilt.

“When I got here and talked to coach Lea on my visit, he told me that I was a really good tackler, but he told me he could make me into a great tackler. I feel like when I first got here, it was just the small stuff that I was missing as a young player that he helped me fix because I became a better player on and off the field,” Heard said.

In the end, the two defensive stops were among the biggest of the season for Vanderbilt. Now the Commodores moved to 7-1 and have put themselves in a position that all FBS teams would want to be in as the calendar turns to November: very much in the playoff conversation.

“I loved the big play by CJ,” Lea said. “The play of the day was CJ’s turnover.”