ShareThisBy RON HIGGINS
Monday, November 20, 2006
It wasn't that long ago when Jamaal Anderson was tracking down passes, not quarterbacks.
Three years ago, he left Little Rock's Parkview High as the school's all-time leading receiver, cracking the school mark held by former Green Bay Packers and Oklahoma tight end Keith Jackson.
At 6-6 and 215 pounds, he could have been the tallest and eventually one of the best receivers in University of Arkansas history.
Until Hogs' coach Houston Nutt decided Anderson's moonlighting position in high school _ defensive end _ might just be his future.
Three years and 65 pounds later, Anderson, a 280-pound junior, leads the Southeastern Conference with nine sacks, including three in Saturday's resounding 31-14 victory over Tennessee.
"I was just really feeling it," said Anderson, who introduced himself to Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton on the Vols' opening series by chasing down Crompton for a 5-yard loss. "I even trash talked a lot and that's something that I haven't done much before. I don't know what got in me. Maybe it was the environment or something."
His sack showed the way for the Razorbacks' defense. It blitzed from every direction and kept the freshman Crompton on his heels all night.
"We want to go out and set the tone at the beginning of each half," Anderson said. "We feel like it's a priority to take away the energy of the opposing offense. We knew he (Crompton) was a first-time quarterback, so we wanted to rattle him. Our defensive backs did a great job in coverage, so we were able to get to him."
The Hogs (9-1 overall, 6-0 in the SEC's Western Division) have one of the most underrated defensive lines in the league, and it's helped them climb to No. 7 in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings and within a win Saturday at Mississippi State of clinching the West. The speed of Anderson and sophomore end Antwain Robinson is causing a lot of offensive tackles to commit holding penalties. Plugging the middle are senior defensive tackle Keith Jackson and junior tackle Marcus Harrison.
Anderson gives a lot of credit to Jackson, the son of the former Parkview receiver whose high school career receiving record Anderson broke.
"Keith's really a coach on the field for us," Anderson said. "He keeps everybody level, or if you're down, he gets you up."
Anderson prefers to lead by example. Since he took over as a starter in the final five games last season, the only thing that slowed him down was a preseason hamstring injury a week before the season opener against Southern Cal.
"I missed practice all that week before USC; I maybe practiced 30 minutes," Anderson said. "I tried to play in the game, but I was a step slow."
But as Nutt said, once Anderson's hamstring healed "he was good to go."
By game three against Vandy, he was laying the wood to the Commodores, recording a career-high 11 tackles. Against Alabama, he had a then-career high two sacks. Finally against Auburn, when he was named SEC Player of the Week, he had 11 tackles, 21/2 tackles for loss and 11/2 sacks.
Along the way, Anderson's motor has never quit. In fact, since the Hogs have lost starting linebacker Freddie Fairchild and free safety Michael Grant to season-ending injuries, Anderson and his teammates have played with fiery, focused relentlessness.
"We're a family on defense, and when somebody goes down hurt, we all play harder and have the confidence to step up," Anderson said.
Anderson never thinks about what would have happened if he had stayed at wide receiver. He transformed his body and never looked back.
"I ate a lot and worked hard in the weight room," he said. "The weight really stayed on me."
Nutt is glad his decision to move Anderson has paid off in a big way.
"I thought he would be a good wideout," Nutt said. "But once we made the switch, you could see his toughness. And he's so quick, he's really hard to block one-on-one."
