Senior nose guard Tim Anderson is a preseason candidate for the Outland
Trophy. He is a confident guy, but knows that Washington will be a tough test.
“They are a very good team,” he said. “The reports I’ve heard, they’ve
lost two of their starting offensive linemen, but they’re going to be a good
team. I’m sure they are looking forward to coming in here to play us and we’ve
got to be ready. We’re definitely not going to take them lightly. We’re
going to be focused and we’re going to be ready to play.
“They are a very good team. Obviously, Cody Pickett is a Heisman candidate
and (Reggie) Williams is one of the top receivers in the country. So, they’re
going to be an explosive team.”
With so many young players patrolling Ohio State’s secondary, especially at
safety, Anderson knows that the defensive line will be counted on to get
pressure on the quarterback. Players like Pickett and NC State’s Philip Rivers
will pick you apart if you give them time. But if the D-line can get pressure
without help from the linebackers, it will be a long year for opposing QBs again
this year.
“I think that helps the DBs whether you have young guys back there, or
seniors,” Anderson said. “If we can get pressure with just our four down
guys, that’s going to allow us to drop our linebackers into pass coverage, as
well as our DBs, and make it a little more difficult to pass. So, obviously we
want to get pass pressure, but our safeties are very good. They are young guys,
but they’re talented guys and they’ve learned behind two real good safeties
last year with Donnie Nickey and Michael Doss, so we’re not too concerned.”
Quarterback Craig Krenzel recently mentioned that he removed all reminders of
the 2002 season from his room. Anderson has followed suit.
“It’s my mindset,” he said. “I didn’t know Craig took everything
out of his room, but I did the same thing. Before I came in a couple weeks ago,
I went through my room and I put the rings away, I put the hats away, I put the
shirts away. They’re all in a box taped up. You know, I don’t want to be
reminded of that, because that’s in the past. We’re in the present now and
we’ve got to focus on the season and put last year behind us.”
Although there is a different format to camp this year with the new NCAA
rules, Anderson hasn’t noticed a big difference.
“I think it’s similar,” he said. “I think every camp is kind of the
same because you want to come in, learn the defense, work on your fundamentals
– your little techniques – and just try and improve every day and get
better. That’s what we’ve been trying to do this camp and it’s pretty much
the same thing we tried to do last year.”
Anderson (6-4, 305, Sr.) says OSU’s defense wants to make even more of an
impact than it did last year. That might sound difficult to accomplish, but one
area it can improve on is scoring touchdowns on turnovers. Penn State fans might
not agree, but it’s a fact.
“Our offense can make big plays and so can our defense, so that definitely
bodes well for us,” Anderson said. “Coach (Mark) Dantonio talks a lot about
scoring on defense. We didn’t do it as much as we should have last year. We
need to put points on the board because that can really crush a team’s morale.”
Anderson is a stand-up guy and it’s a good bet he’ll get voted captain by
his teammates. But he’s also a bulldog on the football field who’s been in
his share of scraps. At last Saturday’s jersey scrimmage, he got into one with
Adrien Clarke.
“I think for every guy, when we get inside that white line on Saturday
afternoon, or even during practice and stuff, you’ve got to have a different
attitude; a different mentality,” he said. “Adrien is a great guy and we’re
good friends. It was just two competitors going at each other and we’d been
hitting each other all day and it just boils over. But, we just want to win and
we want to do whatever we can to win. We were both playing hard, it happened and
we put it behind us. We shook hands and said, ‘Hey, it’s no big deal.’”
Anderson was asked what it takes to play the gritty position of nose guard.
A lot of heart,” he said. “You can’t give up. You’ve got to be tough
– both physically and mentally. I wouldn’t classify myself as being nasty,
but at the same time I’m not nice either. I’m going to go into a game and
the other players on this team and the coaches know that I’m going to do what
I need to do to get my job done. And what it takes? That’s kind of a hard
question to answer. I just show up and do what I have to do.”