Will Anderson still feels like an underdog: 'All year we've been disrespected'
Will Anderson is a heck of a football player.
In fact, there’s an argument to be made — regardless of how the Heisman vote shook out — for that star pass rusher being labeled as the best pure player in college football. Of course, the guy who actually won the Heisman, quarterback Bryce Young, would have to be in that conversation as well.
Anderson’s team, Alabama, is also ranked as the top seed heading into the first round of the College Football Playoff on New Year’s Eve. As of right now, the Crimson Tide are 13.5-point favorites over No. 4 Cincinnati, according to VegasInsider.com. Plus, they’re the favorites to win it all.
Still, Anderson doesn’t feel like Alabama has been given enough respect.
Considering what some critics have said throughout the season about this being a “down year” for Alabama, the second-year linebacker may have a point. Of course, all that criticism finally came to a head when the Tide entered the SEC Championship Game as a 6.5-point underdog against Georgia. There weren’t a lot of people picking the Tide.
What was the result? A 41-24 victory for the boys in Crimson.
Since that game, it’s reverted back to the same ole “fatal” rat poison, as coach Nick Saban likes to call it. Most people are back on board with Alabama winning a second national title in as many years, but Anderson hasn’t forgotten — and neither has his teammates. The criticism from earlier this season still fuels them.
On Monday, Anderson was asked about going from being the underdog against Georgia to a heavy favorite against Cincinnati. His response? He still feels like the underdog heading into the Cotton Bowl against the Bearcats.
“To me, I still feel like we’re the underdog in this game,” Anderson said. “All year we’ve been disrespected. I’m pretty sure we’re probably getting disrespected out there. We’re not worrying about the external factors. We just have to worry about what’s going on in the facility and the practice field. That’s our concern, making sure we’re ready and prepared for this game.”
Soon after, Anderson was asked how Alabama channels what they have viewed as disrespect.
“We channel it as positive energy,” he responded. “We love it. It just fuels us up even more. We know what type of team we have. We don’t worry about what other people have to say about us.”
That response should be a concern if you’re one of the other three remaining teams in the hunt for a national championship.
Against Georgia, Alabama was finally able to come together and harness the disrespect. And as I previously mentioned, the result was a three-score victory over the Bulldogs, one of the four teams included in the Playoff.
It was an answer that may shock some, but it shouldn’t.
Whether it’s individual players, position groups or even coaches, Alabama has faced more criticism this year than any other Saban-led squad — at least in quite some time. Sure, the last game remedied a lot of that criticism, but the players haven’t forgotten.
