KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Marques
Anderson has emerged from a redshirt season and scandal to
become one of the key members of the UCLA football team’s
defense.
By Joshua Mason
Daily Bruin Contributor
This time last year, Marques Anderson’s college football
career was undergoing a crisis.
First came the criticism of the his on-field performance. The
1998 season brought with it a backlash against the UCLA secondary,
which was often cited as the weak link in UCLA’s run for a
national championship. Anderson, then a sophomore starting
cornerback, shared in the defensive woes and was unable to match
the level of play he established when starting as a true
freshman.
Next came the most fatal blow, an assault on his character.
Anderson’s involvement in last year’s disabled parking
placard scandal became the final straw among prior disciplinary
problems. Most involved in the scandal were suspended for two
games.
Because of other off-field problems, Anderson received the
stiffest punishment, being cut from the team and forced to redshirt
what would have been his junior season.
Now, you could say that the Marques Anderson of 2000 has a
newfound love for the game.
“Last year was a learning experience as well as a humbling
experience,” Anderson said. “It took being cut from the
team for me to discover that in football, as well as in life, there
are no shortcuts. You have to work for your goals rather than cheat
them, and my troubles last year taught me that.”
Fellow defensive back Jason Bell agreed that last year taught
Anderson something.
“I think last year showed Marques how much he really loved
the game,” Bell said. “Sitting out a year was hard for
him, but it helped open up his eyes to see how important his
football career is to him.”
If last season did anything for Anderson, it was give him the
maturity to take his game to the next level.
“It made me realize what the game gives to me and what I
give to the game,” he said. “If you respect the game
and give it all you’re worth, the game loves you
back.”
Now Anderson is once again back in the thick of things, only
this time in a more positive role. He has a newly discovered
motivation that pushes him to work hard every day. He has a fresher
perspective, a newer maturity that he once lacked. He even has a
new position, having converted from cornerback to strong safety in
the summer.
So just who is Marques Anderson, anyway?
“I would describe Marques as just a fun-to-be-around kind
of guy,” Bell said. “He’s very laid back off the
field, but on the field he becomes an entirely different
person.”
It’s surprising that Anderson has received little media
exposure outside of his troubles off the field last season, and
upsetting because he’s much more than just the thuggish
character that critics wanted him to be.
Anderson the ball-player is one of UCLA football’s best
all-around players. He grew up among a family of athletes. His
father Maurice played running back for Oregon, and his sister
Andrea was a former UCLA track All-American, who is now competing
on the 1,600-meter relay team in Sydney.
A high school track star who was part of a Long Beach Poly High
School record 400m relay team, Anderson may very well be the
fastest Bruin on either side of the ball.
What’s even more impressive is Anderson’s ability to
combine quick feet and strong cover skills with a fierce hitting
ability.
“Though Marques may not have the size of a linebacker,
it’s his ability to hustle and give the big hit that makes
him so valuable to our secondary,” said UCLA defensive
coordinator Bob Field. “His explosiveness helps force
turnovers.”
The characteristic Anderson feels is his greatest advantage,
however, is neither his speed nor his ability to make crushing hits
at the line of scrimmage. Instead, it’s his aggressiveness
that he values.
“I pride myself in leaving it all on the field,”
Anderson said. “I think it’s that unwavering mentality
that gives me my edge.”
And then there’s the leadership Anderson brings to the
program.
“Marques definitely led by example, by coming back and
showing people that he was serious about the game,” Bell
said. “He was out a whole year and came back and outworked
half the team. He proved his leadership by working as hard as he
did and by doing that ““ people respond.”
Anderson’s conversion from cornerback to strong safety may
be the strongest testament to his commitment to winning and acting
as a team player.
“It was a move that we felt was best for the team,”
Field said. “Marques, (Ricky) Manning, and Bell were three of
our best athletes on defense, and (Anderson) seemed to be the best
fit to play the strong safety position.”
It’s a transition Anderson seems to have taken well.
Through the first three games, he proved to be an integral part to
the sixth-ranked Bruins. In the Bruins’ win over then-No. 3
Michigan on Sept. 16, Anderson matched his career high in tackles,
gaining six unassisted and two assisted tackles for eight total.
The last time he had that many tackles was against Oregon in
1998.
“Converting to the safety position was more of a mental
challenge than it was a physical challenge,” Anderson said.
“Knowing how the front seven line up meant that I had to take
on more of a leadership role than I was used to at cornerback. It
was something that the coaches discussed with me when I came back
and a challenge that I wanted to take on.”
As for the future, Anderson’s potential seems
limitless.
“As far as talent is concerned, I don’t think
Marques has begun to scratch the surface,” Bell said.
“I definitely see him as the captain of the team next
year.”
And that seems to be the type of transformation Anderson the
person has undertaken, from team bad boy to team leader.