The quarterback position is played on offense, but for Bowling Green, they have one on the defensive side of the ball.

His name you may ask? Darren Anders

Anders plays middle linebacker on the defensive side of the ball for the Falcons and was all over the Akron offense in Bowling Green’s 41-14 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Anders had six total tackles, five solo tackles, two sacks, and three tackles for loss which were career highs on sacks and tackles for loss.

The cherry on top? A forced fumble which put Bowling Green in a prime position to score a touchdown in which they did capitalize with a touchdown.

“We had a really good week defensively, Coach Mo [Steve Morrison] really challenged us this week to be even better and I think we were and we’re forcing a lot of turnovers,” said Anders postgame. “I know we lead the country in forced turnovers and we had a lot of that today so if we can keep doing that and keep putting our offense in position to score and we keep doing that we’re a really dangerous team.”

This is a Bowling Green defense that now leads the entire country in turnovers, and Anders is a big reason for that.

Anders was a part of nine other seniors that were honored Saturday, a day that will hold a special place in Anders’s heart.

“This is what football is all about, we had a good crowd, pouring rain, perfect football weather,” said Anders. “My last Saturday game at the Doyt, just trying to enjoy every moment of it. Take advantage of it and as a team I think we did, playing like that. That’s what I’ve been looking forward to this whole year so yeah just a lot of fun”

Anders has been with the orange and brown since 2019, which was also Scot Loeffler’s first year at Bowling Green.

The senior linebacker has been through some rough seasons over his career at BG, but he’s stuck with this process and seeing the progress build each and every year has been something he’s been waiting for.

“This is my fifth year so you know every year just slowly getting better and better and better and this year I think we know how good we can be. We can have the best record here and put ourselves in a position to play in the MAC championship, make a bowl, and win a bowl game so today was awesome but just taking one game at a time,” said Loeffler postgame. “We’re 1-0 right now and looking to build upon that next week.”

Loeffler and Anders have been together through thick and thin and Loeffler is proud of the defense he’s built, especially Anders.

“We want to play good defense and we’ve done a great job at recruiting really good defensive lineman. A couple of them are gonna be great offensive linemen and we just need to continue to keep building the defense and you do that you have a chance to win a lot of football games,” said Loeffler.

Over his five seasons here at Bowling Green, Anders has racked up over 320 tackles, 9.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, and and interception, which he returned for a touchdown.

So it’s safe to say he’s left his legacy here at Bowling Green for the players that come after him.

Anders and the rest of the Falcons are gearing up to try and close out the next four games on a high note, as they start midweek ‘MACtion’ next Wednesday, November 1, against Ball State.

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