Bison football: Anderson shows what he can do when healthy

By Jeff Kolpack

September 10, 2010 at 11:02 PM

The surgery to repair a bulging disk near his neck last fall left Matt Anderson's North Dakota State football career in limbo. Last weekend, the senior linebacker showed his team what it was missing.

He had seven tackles and made a key fourth-quarter interception in the 6-3 win at the University of Kansas. Riddled with injuries his first three years, he left Memorial Stadium with a different feeling: good health.

"It feels perfect and that was surprising to be honest," Anderson said earlier this week. "I was expecting to feel something once in awhile, but Saturday night I didn't feel a thing."

That was good news to the Bison defensive coaches, who only rotated four players in the three linebacker spots. True freshmen linebackers Don Carter and Grant Olson played mainly on special teams.

Anderson's neck problem developed over time and finally reached the can't-play point early last season. He sat out spring football because he wasn't medically cleared to play.

He played in eight games in 2008 and only four games last year.

"I feel like my feet are finally back underneath me after all of this stuff," he said.

Anderson has yet to play against Northern Iowa missing the game at the UNI-Dome two years ago because of an injury. He was at home watching it on television.

"He's back," said NDSU middle linebacker Preston Evans. "We were wondering if it would be a tough fall for him, but he's had no problem with that after he took the first hit."

The interception with the Jayhawks was in the end zone when Anderson took his normal drop and read the eyes of KU quarterback Kale Pick. Asked if the Matt Anderson of old would have made that play, he said, "I would like to think so. I felt coach put us in a great call and put me in the right position."

He'll need to be in the right position again today - the Panthers have been good offensively against NDSU the last two years.

"They're going to bring it and we're going to bring it," Anderson said. "It's going to be a

60-minute game."

Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack can be heard on the Saturday Morning Sports Show, 9-11 a.m. on WDAY-AM (970). He can be reached at (701) 241-5546.

Kolpack's NDSU media blog can be found

at www.areavoices.com/bisonmedia

By Jeff Kolpack

Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he's covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU's Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: "Horns Up," "North Dakota Tough" and "Covid Kids." He is the radio host of "The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack" April through August.