Mac Daddy

By Staff     Sep 17, 2004

Thad Allender/Journal-World File Photo
Kansas University red-shirt freshman Brandon McAnderson, a Lawrence High graduate, is enjoying the opportunity to hit the field for his hometown Jayhawks. McAnderson, a running back, scored his first collegiate touchdown in Saturday's game against Toledo, a 63-14 KU win at Memorial Stadium.

Lawrence High coach Dirk Wedd probably wishes he wasn’t watching one of his prized running backs from the stands.

Former LHS standout Brandon McAnderson could aid the struggling Lions, but now the 6-foot, 235-pound fullback is playing at the city’s highest level of football — for his hometown Kansas University.

“It’s exciting to see the progress that he’s made,” Wedd said of McAnderson, who has scored as many rushing touchdowns this season — one — as the 0-2 Lions. “He’s worked very hard to get there.”

The red-shirt freshman, nicknamed B-Mac, relishes the role he played in KU’s 63-14 thrashing Saturday of Toledo. It’s been the kind of thing he’s dreamed about for a long time.

“It was great to get that feeling back,” said McAnderson, whose two-yard touchdown dive late in the fourth quarter was KU’s final tally in a night of total domination by the Jayhawks. “I’m glad we got up enough for me to get in. My whole family was there, they were probably the only ones left in the stadium.”

Kansas coach Mark Mangino said he had seen more standout plays from McAnderson during practices and games.

“He’s done a good job of getting himself ready to play,” said Mangino, who said a year ago McAnderson was not ready to fill the role of backup fullback or the middle of the line on the kickoff team. “We told him last year that we thought he needed to get in the weight room and redistribute his lean muscle. He’s done that. He’s worked hard to improve his quickness and speed.

“We like his intensity going down on the kickoff team. If you’re in his way, he’s going to clean your clock. He’s done that several times already. We really like what Brandon is doing. He’s got a bright future here.”

McAnderson — who holds the second-highest marks at LHS in rushing yards (3,052) and touchdowns (41) — attributes the improvement to an attitude adjustment.

“I’ve just done anything they’ve asked of me in terms of working hard, because I had developed a reputation for not being as hard a worker as I could have been,” McAnderson said. “I had to improve because I knew that more than anything in the world I wanted to be a contributor on this football team.”

McAnderson credits “a ton of cardiovascular work,” to getting his weight right, and senior starting fullback Austine Nwabuisi for “showing me the ropes.”

“I try to take a lot from him, he’s just the most veteran guy that I’ve ever met,” McAnderson said of the solidly built Nwabuisi (6-0, 235). “He just has a lot of wisdom to pass on. It’s good to learn behind a guy that’s that physical, strong and fast. I can take things from him every day.”

McAnderson had a message for this year’s LHS players.

“They’re struggling a little bit,” McAnderson said of the Lions. “But they have a lot of underclassmen and seniors who just need to realize their roles and get control of them, and then go from there.”

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