Justin Anderson
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Justin Anderson (born July 4, 1986) plays running back for the Northern Illinois University Huskies in the NCAA college football tournament. After spending much of his freshman year on the shadows of conference MVP Garrett Wolfe, Anderson has emerged to become one of the team's most potent offensive ground weapon in 2007. Only as a sophomore, Anderson quickly wrote himself in the school's record books as the ninth consecutive Huskie to rush for more than 1,000 yards after finishing his second year with 1,245 yards rushing (4th in the MAC) and scoring 8 of his 274 carries. After a dismal 2007 season, the Huskies expect better things to come with Anderson manning the ground attack for NIU.
Contents |
[edit] Personal Life
Justin is a pre-business major at the Northern Illinois University. He is a fan of both quarterback Michael Vick and running back Barry Sanders. Aside from football, Justin also likes to play basketball, in fact when asked if there's a chance he would try any sport, he would like to give shooting hoops a go. He however had to give up playing b-ball and other activities he liked to do with his friends after suffering from a knee injury in the latter stages of the 2007 season. Justin's first impression of his coach Jerry Kill is that he is "so unpredictable." Despite joining the elite group of rushers who have amassed over a thousand yards in a season, Justin said that he doesn't pay much attention to the hype.
[edit] High School
Anderson was a two-sport athlete at Steinmetz Academic Centre High School where he suited up for both basketball and football teams and earned four and one letters, respectively. The versatile Anderson began his high school career playing the quarterback and safety positions at Steinmetz although he did venture out to other playing roles as his career progressed. As a sophomore, he gained 922 yards on the ground to go with 9 touchdowns as Steinmetz went 12-1 in the standings. The following year, he became the school's first 1,000-yard rusher after gaining 1,288 yards and 18 touchdowns, before racking up 1,541 yards of total offense and scoring a total of 26 TDs for the year with a school record 92-yard long rush as he led Steinmetz to a conference championship and a berth in the playoffs. His efforts also earned him several post-season accolades including a first team all-section, a first team Chicago Sun-Times All-Public League and a special mention all-area selection aside from the MVP plum he received from his team. His performance also started to garner the attention of several publications as the Chicago Sun-Times ranked him #18 among the Top 30 Junior Prospects and named him into the Top 100 Area Player while the Chicago Tribune listed him as the conference Player to Watch.
Entering his final playing year, Anderson was listed #67 in the Sporting News' Midwest Top 100 Players and #80 in Score.com's Midwest Hot 100. During his senior season, he ran for 840 yards and 12 scores on 97 carries for an 8.7 yards per carry average as he led Steinmetz to a Class 8A playoff appearance enroute to claiming his second consecutive team MVP award to go with a first team All-Section selection from the Chicago Public League and a spot at the second team All-Public League from the Chicago Sun-Times. For his career, Anderson accumulated 4,225 yards of total offense and 58 touchdowns while playing as option quarterback.
[edit] College
Rivals.com's #29 prospect in Illinois and #65 in the nation was recruited as an athlete because of his ability to play multiple positions. Among the three-star recruit's school of choice were Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, and the teams that offered him scholarships, Ball State, Northern Illinois and Illinois. After making his trip to Northern Illinois, Anderson liked the possibility of seeing playing time right away for the Huskies which eventually prompted him to sign his letter of intent with NIU.
[edit] 2005
With Garrett Wolfe, Adrian Davis, Montel Clanton, and several other rushers in the fold, Anderson was forced to sit the year out on a redshirt.
[edit] 2006
As a redshirt freshman, Anderson still played behind eventual conference MVP and rushing champ Wolfe but managed to sneak in some minutes of playing time, starting at the season opening loss to Ohio State where he tallied a solitary tackle. After appearances against Ohio and Buffalo, he tallied his first career carries (6), receiving yards (53), and touchdown (15 yards) in the 48-14 win over Indiana State. He also had a couple of carries in the 40-28 victory @ Ball State, had 4 carries for 8 yards in the 43-21 win over Temple, and registered a season high 10 carries to match his season best of 53 rush yards in the 27-0 shut-out of Eastern Michigan in the regular season finale. He went on and made his postseason debut at the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, rushing thrice for 4 yards in the 7-37 loss to TCU. He ended the year as the team's third leading rusher with 25 carries for 117 yards and 1 TD.
[edit] 2007
With Golfe gone to the NFL, the Huskies' starting running back position was up for grabs. Candidates for the spot include front-runner Montell Clanton, Anderson, linebacker-turned-RB David Bryant, injury-plagued Cas Prime, and Ricky Crider. Anderson, now a sophomore, pleaded his case by leading all rushers with 14 carries for 111 yards and two scores that include a 45-yard run in the spring game.
Clanton, Anderson, and Spann were the three main backs on the rotation at the start of the season with Clanton on the starting role. On the season opener against Iowa, the Huskies were limited to merely a field goal in the 3-16 loss, with Anderson making his season debut with 3 carries for 3 yards and 5 receptions for 27 yards. Against Southern Illinois, Anderson came off the bench and displayed his versatility by producing three touchdown scores, 1 ran and 2 other caught while manufacturing 165 all-purpose yards in the heartbreaking 31-34 loss to the Salukis. The Huskies had another collapse against Eastern Michigan as they failed to capitalize on a 13-0 start, losing 19-21. Anderson made his first start of the season against the Eagles, producing a season best 213 all-purpose yards (season-best 168 rushed, 45 received) in addition to a one-yard touchdown run. The Huskies finally won one, but had to hang on in the latter stages of the game to win 42-35 in Idaho. Anderson chipped in 167 rush yards in 35 carries, 94 of which came in the second half. The following game against Central Michigan, Anderson contributed 157 yards on 28 carries but the turnover-prone NIU fell to the Chippewas, 10-35 for its second conference loss. A couple of close losses ensued for the Huskies despite Anderson's 4th and 5th 100-yard games of the season after rushing 163 and 2 scores in a 15-16 loss to Temple and gaining 132 against Western Michigan in the 13-17 defeat. Anderson also had his lowest output since opening day in the 3-44 loss @ Wisconsin after being limited to 14 rush yards on 13 carries. NIU also got crushed by Toledo amidst Anderson's sixth 100-yard rushing day of the season (116 yards on 24 carries).
Upon returning home to host Kent State, Anderson scored two TDs and rushed 98 yards to give the Huskies a 1,000-yard rusher for the ninth consecutive season and only their second win of the season, 27-20. NIU finished the season with back-to-back losses @ Navy and against Ball State, with Anderson tallying 140 rushing yards, 1 scoring run, a season high 39 carries, 7 receptions, and 36 receiving yards against the Midshipmen and recording only 6 carries for 9 yards against the Cardinals after getting hurt early in the game. Anderson suffered a knee injury in the first quarter of the Ball State game to become the 32nd NIU player to go down in the season.
Despite a disappointing turnout for the Huskies, it was still quite a successful breakout season for Anderson who completed the year as the team's leading rusher with 1,245 rushing yards and 8 TDs on 274 carries. He also posted the best receiving year by a running back with his 45 receptions for 263 yards and three scores. He received a spot at the All-MAC second team honors for his efforts.
[edit] 2008
Coming off a PCL tear in his left knee, Anderson returned and participated in the Red-Black Scrimmage, rushing 13 times for 35 yards. He lost 12 pounds during the offseason. Under new head coach Jerry Kill, Anderson began the year atop of the NIU depth chart alongside returning senior Montell Clanton. He began the season leading the team in rushing, as usual, producing only 34 yards on 13 carries with a two-yard scoring run in the second quarter of the 27-31 loss at Minnesota. The following week at Western Michigan, he only had 4 carries---his least since attempting thrice vs. Iowa on Nov. 1, 2007---for 4 yards in the 26-29 defeat. Against Indiana State, he came off the bench for the first time in a very long while, backing up freshman Me'co Brown and rushing for a season high 42 yards on 7 carries in the 48-3 victory. At EMU, he helped the Huskies secure their first MAC win via a 37-0 shut-out of the Eagles after rushing 7 times for 37 yards with an 8-yard scoring run in another off-the-bench performance. In the 9-13 loss at Tennessee, his carries declined to 4 (for 6 yards), the same number he had in the 17-13 win over Miami where he gained 17 yards. Against Toledo, his numbers improved to six carries for 37 yards in a 38-7 win. In a 16-13 win over Bowling Green, Anderson had no touches for the first time since Nov. 17, 2006 against CMU. At No.16 Ball State, he attempted 4 times for 31 yards and returned a kickoff for 9 yards in a 14-45 loss. He was held without an attempt again in the 3-point loss to CMU then gained only a yard in four carries in the 42-14 win at KSU. He also did not have any touches in the regular-season ending drubbing to Navy as the Huskies' bowl aspirations came to an end.
As it turned out, Anderson's "sophomore jinx" came out a year later with a lackluster performance that paled in comparison with the previous year. He ended the season only fourth in carries (53) and rushing yards (209), averaging only 3.9 yards per carry, 17.4 yards per game, with only two scoring runs in 12 games. He also lost his starting spot to Brown only two games into the season.
[edit] Highlights
| Justin Anderson's 15-yard TD run in the 48-0 shutout of Indiana State (2006). |
[edit] Career Stats
| Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
| Year | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 2006 | 25 | 117 | 4.7 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 274 | 1245 | 4.5 | 52 | 8 | 45 | 263 | 5.8 | 23 | 3 |
| 2008 | 53 | 209 | 3.9 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] 2008
- Phil Steele Preseason All-MAC First Team
[edit] 2007
- All-Mid American Conference Second Team
- Collegefootballnews.com's #4 RB in the MAC
- NIU Offensive Most Valuable Player
- Northern Star Online's #7 athlete in the Top 10 athletes of 2007-2008
- Phil Steele All-Mid-American Conference Second Team
[edit] References
- Five minutes with 1000-yard rusher Justin Anderson
- Illinois Athlete - Justin Anderson
- Justin Anderson Cfbstats.com
- Justin Anderson ESPN.com Profile
- Justin Anderson Northern Illinois Profile
- Justin Anderson Scout.com Profile
- Justin Anderson Wikipedia
- Top 10 athletes of 2007-2008: No. 7 Justin Anderson
