Bowling Green State University Athletics
2023 Football Roster
Jersey Number 23
Darren Anders
- Position:
- Inside Linebacker
- Height:
- 6-0
- Weight:
- 225
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- North Olmsted, Ohio
- High School:
- North Olmsted
Honors
2023
2020
2019
High School
- 2023 second-team All-MAC
- 2023 Academic All-MAC
- 2022 Academic All-MAC
- 2022 PFN preseason first-team All-American
- 2022 Butkus Award Watch List
- 2022 Bronko Nagurski Watch List
- 2022 Bednarik Award Watch List
- 2022 Lombardi Award Watch List
- 2022 Athlon Sports preseason first-team All-MAC
- 2022 Phil Steele preseason first-team All-MAC
- 2021 first-team All-MAC
- 2021 Academic All-MAC
- 2020 Academic All-MAC
- Finished career playing in 54 career games, which is tied for No. 2 all-time in program history
- Finished career No. 8 all-time at BGSU with 360 tackles
2023
- One of BGSU's five captains
- Started all 13 of BGSU's games
- Had career highs with 10.5 TFL and 4.5 sacks
- Made six stops at Liberty
- Notched six tackles against Eastern Illinois and broke up a pass
- Led BGSU with seven tackles and 1.0 sack at No. 2 Michigan
- His sack against the Wolverines was the first of J.J. McCarthy all season
- Made five more stops and 0.5 TFL against Ohio
- Recorded five tackles in win at Georgia Tech with 2.0 TFLs
- Helped tip a GT pass that Jordan Oladokun intercepted inside the red zone
- Made six tackles, 1.0 sacks and returned a fumble 17 yards at Miami (OH)
- Made five stops at Buffalo
- Named MAC East Defensive Player of the Game for efforts against Akron, which included six tackles, 3.0 TFLs and 2.0 sacks
- His strip sack in the third quarter set up BGSU for its second touchdown of a 21-0 third-quarter run
- Led BGSU with 10 tackles in win over Ball State
- Also notched 0.5 TFL against the Cardinals
- Recorded eight tackles, recovered a fumble and notched 0.5 sack with Chace Davis in the win at Kent State
- Led BGSU with 11 tackles and 2.0 TFLs against Toledo
- Made seven tackles and broke up a pass at Western Michigan
- Started all 13 of BGSU's games
- Made three stops at UCLA
- Made nine tackles against Eastern Kentucky
- Recorded four stops in win over Marshall
- Notched five tackles at Mississippi State
- Recorded nine tackles, 0.5 sacks and one pass breakup at Akron
- Notched four stops against Buffalo
- Led BGSU with seven tackles against Miami (OH), helping a defensive effort that held the RedHawks to just 189 yards of total offense
- Also had 1.0 sack and broke up two passes against the RedHawks
- Recorded five tackles and forced a fumble in win over Western Michigan
- Had a team-high 11 tackles against Kent State
- Made seven tackles, 0.5 TFLs and two QB hurries at Toledo
- Notched four stops at Ohio
- Shared team lead with eight tackles against New Mexico State in the Quick Lane Bowl
- Started all 12 of BGSU's games
- Notched double-digit tackles in seven of BGSU's 12 games
- Finished the year No. 1 in the MAC with 124 tackles
- Added 3.0 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss
- Named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week (9/6) after notching 14 tackles and 1.0 sacks at Tennessee
- Recorded a "pick-6" for 27 yards against South Alabama
- Notched at least one TFL in eight of BGSU's 12 games
2020
- Started all five games for the Falcons
- Led the Falcons with 55 tackles, an average of 11.0 per game
- His 11.0 tackles per game were the highest single-season average for a Falcon football player since Dwayne Woods averaged 11.2 in 2010
- Had at least 10 tackles three times, including a season-high 14 against Buffalo
- Added 4.5 tackles per loss, picking up 1.5 in a game twice, at Toledo and vs. Buffalo
- Had a forced fumble at Ohio and a fumble recovery at Toledo
- Also had his lone pass break-up at Ohio
2019
- Played in 11 games, starting once
- Finished the season with 20 total tackles, including 10 solo tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack
- Had two tackles and 1.0 sack in a victory over Morgan State
- Tallied four tackles, including two solo tackles, in a game at Miami
- Recorded a career-high nine tackles, including a career-high five solo tackles, in a game at Buffalo
High School
- Played four years on varsity, earning four varsity letters at North Olmsted for Coach Tim Brediger
- Also lettered in basketball
- Named team captain in both junior and senior seasons
- Recorded 260 tackles over high school career; including 21 sacks, 26 tackles for loss, and nine forced fumbles
- Played both ways, finishing with 3,960 total yards in his career and 43 touchdowns
- Two-time second team All-Ohio at linebacker
- 2018 Southwestern Conference Defensive MVP
- Two-time first team All-Southwestern Conference and two-time first team all-district
- Son of Mark and Megan Anders
- Father played football at Baldwin-Wallace and holds multiple rushing records and was an All-American
- Has one brother, Mason, and one sister, Avery
- Major is management
BG Football Press Conference vs EMU 11.3
Monday, November 03
BG FB : Postgame Interviews 11.01
Saturday, November 01
BG Football Press Conference vs Buffalo 10.27
Monday, October 27
BG Football Postgame vs Kent State 10.25
Sunday, October 26
