WVU Set at Fullback
August 22, 2006 03:30 PM | General
August 22, 2006
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| Maxwell Anderson |
About the same time snowflakes were floating on to your roof last winter, Maxwell Anderson was floating on cloud nine.
Why not?
There he was sitting in the Georgetown student section, four rows behind the basket at the MCI Center, watching the Hoyas dismantle the previously unbeaten and No. 1-rated Duke Blue Devils.
As the student section stormed the floor, Anderson liked what he saw. He could see himself as a member of that student section -- a member of the Georgetown football team -- and a student at Georgetown.
It was a done deal.
His recruiting visit couldn’t have gone any better, the school’s football coach said all the right things and the financial aid offer was just what he needed to make it work.
Shocked and puzzled are probably the best two words to describe what Max Anderson was feeling the day he opened the official financial aid offer from Georgetown. The numbers that had been promised had been drastically reduced. In short, it just didn’t add up.
He said thanks but no thanks to an offer from VMI and decided to stay home and give it a try at West Virginia as an invited walk-on. Sure there was history on his side -- his dad Ernie had played for the Mountaineers -- but other than that, there was no promise of playing time or a scholarship. The only guarantee was that he would be given a chance.
What a difference two weeks makes. The kid that had visions of hustling around for the Hoyas has become one of the biggest surprises in preseason camp. Anderson’s move up the depth chart is unprecedented for a true freshman, let alone a walk-on true-freshman.
Rich Rodriguez says that Anderson fastened himself on to starting fullback Owen Schmitt this summer. Whatever Schmidt did, Anderson did. The result is that WVU now has a capable back-up at fullback and a solid special teams performer.
Thanks to the folks at the Georgetown financial aid office, WVU is set at the fullback position for years to come.
Anderson’s emergence got me to thinking of just how many sons of former Mountaineer players are members of this year’s team. We have J.T. Thomas who will also play as a true freshman this season at linebacker and special teams. J.T.’s father was a fantastic, hard-hitting linebacker in the mid-90s. Thor Merrow is working hard to make the grade after enrolling last January. His father Jeff was a standout Mountaineer who captained the 1974 team and enjoyed a very productive NFL career with Atlanta. Scott Macerelli is a redshirt freshman whose late father Jeff captained the 1978 squad. Justin Hostetler is a walk-on defensive back whose father Jeff led the resurrection of the Mountaineer program before going on to win two Super Bowl titles with the New York Giants.
This past Friday night while driving away from my house I saw another possible father-son Mountaineer combination. Rhett Rodriguez, son of WVU’s head coach, hauled in a pass and ran like a jack-rabbit by two smoke trees into an invisible end zone for a touchdown. As I provided the play-by-play call, Rhett pumped his fist into the air to celebrate the score. Later that evening I watched Rich’s daughter Raquel running at full speed, juke by a would-be tackler and leaving him on the ground. I feel it’s in the best interest of everyone involved not to reveal the name of the defensive player on the grounds that it would incriminate him and his father who makes his living teaching people how to tackle.
I was blown away by number of people who turned out for Fan Fest on Sunday. Several thousand fans made the trek to Morgantown to get autographs or have pictures taken with players and coaches. A few rounds of Let’s Go Mountaineers! also intermittently echoed throughout the Indoor Practice Facility. To say the Mountaineer faithful are ready for the season would be an understatement. This year’s crowd was easily the largest in the six years of Fan Fest.
It was great to see the WVU helmet flying high above the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend last weekend. The folks at the shrine of college football hang the helmets of the nation’s Top 25 teams in the main entrance. WVU is also featured prominently in a Sugar Bowl display which features a picture of WVU’s Owen Schmidt from last January’s game.
The plaque honoring newly inducted Don Nehlen is also a must-see if you ever get the chance to visit.
