LARAMIE -- "08/23/2020"

Those numbers, scribbled in black permanent marker, are featured every fall Saturday on Kaden Anderson's white wrist tape. It's an unwanted pregame ritual, one that helps keep the task awaiting him on the field in perspective.

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That's the date his father, Ronnie Anderson, succumbed to brain cancer in a Texas hospital bed. He was just 48 years old.

"It just kind of reminds me that something is bigger than yourself," the redshirt freshman said, voice cracking. "That was the day he passed. I play for him, because that was part of our dream, growing up, was to play college football. I'm living that dream for him."

Anderson was summoned to the head coach's office Monday morning. The news he received admittedly brought on the butterflies. Head coach Jay Sawvel officially named him the Cowboys' starting signal caller. The two-quarterback experiment lasted just one game.

A smile creased his unshaven face. Anderson rubbed his chin and pondered: What would dad think about this moment?

He can almost hear the advice.

"I think he would just say to stay calm," Anderson said. "Just get the ball to your playmakers, and if you do that, this job is pretty easy. Let your playmakers make plays. I think he'd be here supporting me. I know he is. He's looking down, smiling.

"He was just a great dad."

Ronnie Anderson's obituary speaks about his devotion to family and the memories he created with his children. Skiing in Steamboat Springs was a passion. So was fly fishing in Idaho's Bogus Basin and Sun Valley, just outside of Boise. He loved his boat and cruising the lake.

When the question was posed to his wife Susan and three children Trace, Blayke and Kaden, where do you want to go on vacation, beach or mountains? The latter always won out.

His son said that memorial forgot to mention his humor. He was always quick with a joke, until it was time to get serious.

Kaden Anderson possesses those very traits.

"He's had that little fire in him," he said. "I kind of got that from him."

That was on display last Saturday night inside War Memorial Stadium when Anderson was pushed out of bounds by a Utah State cornerback. He tumbled over the padded signage on the sideline and crashed into the concrete in front of the east stands.

Yellow flags flew.

Anderson immediately rose to his feet and confronted JD Drew.

"I came up pretty hot there," Anderson said, flashing a grin. "I was not happy about that one."

His final stat line read like this: 15-of-24 passing, 182 yards in the air, 25 rushing. The Southlake Carroll product led the Cowboys on five of their six scoring drives on the night.

Still, Wyoming wound up in the loss column, something that has happened seven times in eight tries this fall. On this night, red-zone struggles were the main culprit. Three trips inside the Aggies' 15-yard line resulted in the same number of chip-shot field goals.

Though Anderson has appeared in six games this fall, mainly in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter with the contest no longer in doubt, he has a calmness about him. Despite throwing a pair of interceptions late in a loss at San Jose State, he was never rattled.

On the visitor's final possession, he trotted back onto the field and calmly fired a 63-yard scoring strike right into the hands of tight end John Micheal Gyllenborg.

He did the same on the team's last offensive series of the season opener at Arizona State, leading his team on a nine-play, 74-yard drive that culminated with a three-yard touchdown toss to Chris Durr Jr.

Not a bad result for his first-ever college outing, huh?

Where does this confidence come from?

Well, when your first high school start is at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, and you toss three touchdown passes and run for another against Highland Park, the most-successful program in football-crazed Texas, this becomes second nature, he said.

Anderson, who connected on 16-of-24 throws for 261 yards in the 45-21 victory, was also replacing the nation's top recruit, Quinn Ewers, who left Southlake Carroll a year early to enroll at Ohio State. He had a three-week notice. This highly anticipated matchup was also broadcast on national television.

Anderson threw for 3,036 yards and 34 touchdowns while leading the Dragons to a 14-1 record and a trip to the state semifinals during the 2021 campaign.

Anxiety, he added on Monday, never crept into the picture. It doesn't now, either.

"Being thrown into that situation at such a young age, it kind of makes situations like this kind of not as big of a deal as it is," Anderson said. "It is a big deal, sure, but it definitely kind of calms the nerves a little bit. You know, I've been here before and I've played in front of millions of people. I think it'll be fine."

That win came nearly a year to the day after his father died.

It bookended what was a trying time for Anderson. Not only was he grieving, the coronavirus pandemic was also sweeping the globe. In November, he was forced to the sidelines after tearing his right ACL in the first round of the playoffs.

That same injury cost Anderson a good portion of his senior season, too.

The Dallas Morning News once listed him as one of the top recruits in the state. Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine, the Bible of prep football in the Lone Star State, also referred to Anderson as a Top-10 QB prospect.

That was all in the past tense.

"That was a tough little stretch of my life, for sure," he said. "You know, that's why I feel like I'm always in a good mood, because you don't want to take anything for granted."

The calls from Oklahoma State stopped. TCU recruiters also went silent. Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma's tire kicking was complete. Those Power-5 programs moved on.

Wyoming didn't.

 

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Anderson will be under center this Saturday in Albuquerque when his Cowboys tangle with the New Mexico Lobos. He hopes this is the start of a long run as QB1 in Laramie. He's put in the work, knows the system and has the temperament to handle the momentum swings of the job.

He also has dad.

"He'd be very proud," Anderson said. "His goal was for me just to play football at the next level -- whether that's JUCO or D2 or whatever -- he just wanted me to play football, because I wanted to play football at the next level. So, he pushed me for that and, ultimately, we made it.

"I know when I tore my second ACL, I thought the dream was over. I owe a lot to Wyoming and this place."

University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players

During the summer of 2021, 7220Sports.com counted down the Top 50 football players in University of Wyoming history, presented by Premier Bone & Joint Centers, Worthy of Wyoming.

The rules are simple: What was the player's impact while in Laramie? That means NFL stats, draft status or any other accolade earned outside of UW is irrelevant when it comes to this list.

This isn't a one-man job. This task called for a panel of experts. Joining 7220's Cody Tucker are Robert GagliardiJared NewlandRyan Thorburn, and Kevin McKinney.

We all compiled our own list of 50 and let computer averages do the work. Think BCS -- only we hope this catalog is fairer.

Don't agree with a selection? Feel free to sound off on our Twitter: @7220sports - #Top50UWFB

Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players