How Mario Anderson went from Division II walk-on to South Carolina's starting running back

COLUMBIA — By the time he was in second grade, Mario Anderson was obsessed with football.

While he loved watching college games and the NFL every weekend, Anderson's family didn't have a strong rooting interest in any specific team. His favorite running back was Adrian Peterson, the Minnesota Vikings star player and 2012 NFL MVP, but he had a passion for studying the old-school superstars — Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Emmitt Smith — with his uncle Sam Addison.

"Me and my uncle used to go through a whole list of like, 40-plus running backs," Anderson said. "As a kid, I always dreamed of playing big-time football, and I just knew that one day if I was blessed enough to have this opportunity to play Power Five football, I would give it all I can."

Anderson was an invisible prospect out of Stratford High School in 2019, landing at Division II Newberry as a walk-on. Five years later, the 5-foot-9, 208-pound running back is starting for South Carolina football and ranks No. 9 in the SEC with 645 rushing yards and averaging 5.5 per carry.

It's a surreal experience for Addison, who just a year ago was watching his nephew at a 4,000-seat stadium and now gets to witness 80,000 fans cheer him on at every home game.

"Newberry, I could get there 15 minutes before the game, parking was free and I'd walk right in at kickoff," Addison joked. "I remember (this year) he said 'Uncle Sam, you know when you play Madden and the crowd is getting up and your joystick starts shaking? ... He was like, 'The whole ground was shaking. It felt like a Super Bowl atmosphere.' "

Why Anderson flew under the radar as a recruit

Anderson is no stranger to competing against bigger and stronger athletes: He was underage when he joined his first football team at five years old, but he convinced his father Mario Sr. to let him play after watching older brothers Damien and Davon. Both were star running backs in the Summerville community, and Anderson was determined to keep up.

Though he was always undersized, Addison helped him find advantages through technique and football IQ.

"I would show him how the styles have changed over the years, and we would break it down to the level of situational moments," Addison said. "Watching what a guy does with his vision, what he does with his legs, his awareness of someone right behind him so he's kicking up his feet as he runs, just different techniques about how to be elusive and get away from defenders."

Despite a breakout 2018 season at Stratford, Anderson didn't see the recruiting interest he had hoped for. He rushed for 1,134 yards and 11 touchdowns averaging more than 100 yards per game in his senior year, but the team went just 4-8 and failed to make it out of the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Still, Addison remembers that Anderson never wavered in his commitment to continuing his football career at the next level — whatever that level was.

"He's so used to being one step behind, but he believed he was going to show up every day, do what he was supposed to do, and somebody out there would see the value and take a chance on him," Addison said. "The passion and the standards he not only held himself but held everyone else to, some folks didn't want to play with him because they're like eh I don't take football that serious. He did. This is life to him."

The season at Newberry that changed everything

Anderson redshirted his first season at Newberry, which restricted his access to team facilities and practice time. He called Addison frustrated by his limited hours in the weight room, and it didn't take the pair long to find a solution.

"I found a little gym in town, and I said find out what the gym costs per month. He came back with a number, so I said OK, I'll pay for the year," Addison said. "Him taking advantage of that told me he was at the next level. He found a way to make it happen, and he spent that year working out while the other freshmen weren't. Him and one of the offensive linemen got in the gym together, and he came out of that year a monster."

As soon as Anderson got on the field for the Wolves, it was clear that work paid off. Newberry played six games in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Anderson rushed for 504 yards and four touchdowns on 69 carries to help the team to a 5-1 record.

He took another leap forward in 2021, making the All-South Atlantic Conference first team in his first full season. But what caught the attention of Division I programs was Anderson's record-breaking 2022 season. His 1,560 rushing yards were a program record, as were his 35 touchdowns. He earned Division II All-American honors and was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II equivalent of the Heisman.

"I knew he had it in him, and the dog comes out of him," Addison said. "He came in that year like, I'm the man, and I'm going to show everyone I'm the man ... It was just like a machine out there. He was unstoppable."

How Anderson proved himself at South Carolina

When Anderson entered the transfer portal after his breakout season, Addison expected him to land somewhere up north. Once he visited South Carolina though, Addison said it felt like the decision was made.

"We always thought Mario would be more of a Big Ten (player), because they're giving running backs the ball 25, 30 times and he's a real greedy type of running back," Addison said. "But he went to South Carolina, loved the way they treated him ... and Mario is big on support. I think was like, 'I'm interested in them, and if they're interested in me then I'm going.' "

At South Carolina, Anderson had to prove himself all over again. Dakereon Joyner, a wide receiver-turned-running back, earned the starting spot over Anderson in the season opener, but it only took three games for offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains to make a change.

"He learned how to play without the ball ... He's become a more physical downfield runner, and you can see his confidence," Loggains said. "He's won our confidence. He wasn't playing that way in August and September, and now he is. He'll continue to play that way because he continues to be a professional and do things the right way."

When Anderson made his first start against Mississippi State in Week 4, he made the most of it. The redshirt senior rushed for 88 yards and scored his first career touchdown with the Gamecocks in the 37-30 victory.

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It was during that game Addison realized his nephew was ready for the SEC, though it wasn't any one play. It was when he saw quarterback Spencer Rattler begin to trust Anderson with the ball in his hands.

"Spencer has a ton of experience, and he's someone who's used to playing at this high of a level," Addison said. "You see him start to hand the ball off checking down from a pass to run because he sees something in a person of that caliber being able to do that. That's huge ... That's what I feel is the purpose of the running back, and he is serving his purpose."

Follow South Carolina football beat reporter Emily Adams on X @eaadams6 and subscribe to The Greenville News for exclusive Gamecocks content: https://subscribe.greenvilleonline.com/offers.

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This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina football: How Mario Anderson became starting running back