A.J. Hendy Earns National Defensive Honors

Maryland junior defensive back A.J. Hendy was named the National Defensive Player of the week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on Sunday, the school announced on Sunday. Hendy becomes the first Maryland player to win the weekly award, following his dominant performance against the Mountaineers at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore this past Saturday.

Hendy got the ball rolling for Maryland on Saturday, recovering a muffed punt from West Virginia's Ronald Carswell's at the Mountaineers' 24 yardline, midway through the 1st quarter. Three players later, Maryland scored their first touchdown of the game in route to their blowout, 37-0 win.

On WVU's next possession, Hendy struck again, intercepting Ford Childress' pass and returning it 28 yards for a touchdown. It was Hendy's second career interception, both of which have been returned for scores.

"West Virginia's offense has some good receivers. They're quarterback has a strong arm but I feel like today we had a good plan for them and we prepared well" Hendy said following Saturday's game.

"We actually called that play out" freshman defensive back Will Likely said about the interception. "I told him it was going to the out route, so we were confident we could make a play when they threw the ball."

Hendy also recovered a fumble by Childress late in the 4th quarter, securing Maryland's first shut out of an opponent since 2008.

We'll have more on Hendy's play, the performance of the secondary, and how the Terps' defense shut down West Virginia in the coming days.