CLEVELAND, Ohio, April 26 --
University of
Akron issued the following news release:
The first day on NFL free agent signings saw the
University of
Akron's
Brandon Anderson ink a deal with the Indianapolis Colts, while
Akron native
Bryan Williams signed with the local Cleveland Browns. Please continue to check GoZips.com for additional signing over the coming days. Anderson, a corner back, started 16 of his 48 career games played with the Zips at both corner back spots, as well as rover and strong safety over his career. This past season, he was credited with 42 tackles and led the team with 10 pass breakups.
He added one interception to rank third in the Mid-American Conference and 56th in the NCAA in passes defended (0.92 per contest). After missing the Army game due to a slight injury, Anderson closed the season getting at least one pass break up in seven of his last eight contests, including three versus Temple. In a three-game span, Anderson tallied 17 tackles, getting five each versus Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan. He added an interception in the win over Eastern Michigan. Anderson concluded the three-game stretch with a game-high seven tackles, including one for a loss, in a win over Toledo. Anderson finished his career with 108 tackles with three interceptions and 17 pass breakups. Williams had a record-breaking career in his two short years at Akron. In addition to setting UA and MAC records for kick returns, he owns the distinction of being the first player in MAC history to be named All-MAC on offense and defense. Williams ranked second in the NCAA in 2007 in kick returns (31.9 yards per return) - setting UA and ranking second on the MAC single-season records, while ranking sixth in kick returns for 2008 (29.0 yards per return) - third-best on the UA seasonal list. Teams were not very willing to kick to Williams this season. However, the few times they did he made them pay as, of his 21 kick returns in 2008, 13 went for 25-plus yards, including longs of 50 yards twice and 49 yards twice. For his career, he returned 42 kicks for 1279 yards, an average of 30.5 yards per return, both Akron and MAC records. He was named third team All-MAC as a kick returner in both 2007 and '08. This past season, after playing running back in 2007, Williams was named third team All-MAC as a safety. He ranked fifth on the squad with 64 tackles, while his 7.0 tackles for losses was the second-best total on the team (the team lead with 8.5). Williams was the only Zip to record an interception, a pass breakup, a fumble caused and a fumble recovery this season. Williams started his career on defense in impressive fashion, getting five tackles with an interception and PBU at Wisconsin. His pass breakup came in the second quarter and would eventually force the Badgers into a field goal. His pick came in the endzone, which he returned 62 yards, allowing the Zips to kick a field goal with 22 seconds left in the first half to go into the locker room down just 17-10. He followed that with seven tackles and a forced fumble at Syracuse and getting a career-high 11 stops versus Ball State. The senior only had two tackles at Army, but had TFL, a forced fumble and a 16-yard fumble recovery, while registering nine tackles versus Cincinnati. Over a three-game span, Williams logged two PBU and 2.5 TFL as the Zips were just edged by Bowling Green and claimed victories over Eastern Michigan and Toledo. He then closed his home away from home - the Rubber Bowl - with 11 tackles versus Buffalo. Williams burst onto the collegiate scene the first play of the 2007 season - ironically at Cleveland Browns Stadium, returning the opening kickoff 70 yards versus Army. As a running back he was named third team All-MAC. Although he only had 728 yards on the season, Williams had 612 of those yards in league play, averaging 4.9 yards per carry versus MAC opponents. Although Western Michigan kicked away from Williams, the junior still had a big role in the Zips win, getting 72 yards on 14 rushes (5.1 avg.) and catching three passes for 74 yards with a 60-yard TD. The following week, Williams broke the century mark for the first time, gaining 114 yards on 22 attempts. He capped the season with a career effort, gaining 145 yards on 18 attempts (8.1 avg.) thanks to TD runs of 61 and 56 yards. Williams ended the season 10th in the MAC in rushing yards (60.67 per game) and seventh in all-purpose yards per game (133.50), which also ranks 51st in the NCAA. While Akron had its recent run of success end in the draft, being one of 23 teams in the NCAA and the only non-BCS school to have at least one player drafted in the first four rounds from 2005-08, Akron football has had success going the free agent route as well. Most notably of late, Chase Blackburn signed as a free agent with the New York Giants, was a part of their world championship team and earned eight starting assignments with 61 tackles this past season.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
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