Brandon McAnderson spent his first three years at Kansas perfectly filling the role of fullback: He willingly and adeptly blocked for his quicker and more famous teammates and plodded down the field three yards at a time on the rare occasion he got the ball.

Brandon McAnderson the fullback was nowhere to be found Saturday night at Texas A&M.

Instead, the senior running back shot through gaps rather than filling them and dodged defenders instead of pummeling them as he cut and galloped his way to 183 rushing yards and two touchdowns. McAnderson certainly looked different, but he had not altered his attitude.

“I really don’t want people to think nothing about me,” he said. “I just want to be a part of this offense and make some plays here and there.”

The Lawrence native made plays almost everywhere in last Saturday’s 19-11 Kansas victory. He broke three runs of 20 or more yards in the first half and placed an exclamation point on his stellar night with a career-long 40-yard sprint down the left sideline in the fourth quarter. He rushed 21 times and averaged nearly nine yards per carry, providing the Kansas offense with consistency when the Aggies bottled up sophomore running back Jake Sharp and pressured sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing.

“They gave us some creases and gave us a chance for an extra gap, and our offensive line did a good job of moving them,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “And Brandon McAnderson has good vision so he’s going to find the lanes.”

McAnderson started his career at Kansas moving defenders and making lanes. As a redshirt freshman in 2004, McAnderson saw limited playing time as a fullback but emerged as a special teams standout and played in all 11 games. In 2005, McAnderson’s role in the offense increased and he won the team’s Most Improved Offensive Player award. Last season, he earned All-Big 12 Second Team recognition for his blocking as the Jayhawks’ starting fullback. During his first 35 games, the Lawrence High graduate carried the ball 56 times for 227 yards.

This season, McAnderson eclipsed those totals before Big 12 Conference play even started. Serving as the “thunder” in the Jayhawks’ “thunder and lightning” rushing attack, McAnderson has tallied 688 yards and nine touchdowns in the team’s first eight games. McAnderson is spearheading the 14th-ranked rushing offense in the nation, but opponents and the national media have not paid him much attention.

Most of the hype surrounding Kansas football’s 8-0 start has been devoted to Reesing, and after Saturday’s game, Texas A&M defensive end Michael Bennett said he was not impressed by McAnderson.

Bennett and the experts may not have noticed, but McAnderson has become one of the most effective running backs — not fullbacks — in the Big 12.

— Edited by Rachel Bock