Bears at Browns

8 tonight;  Cleveland Browns Stadium

TV WKYC-TV Channel 3

CLEVELAND Don’t call Derek Anderson the Browns’ No. 2 quarterback just yet.

Feel free to call him Double-Ex when he makes another run at the job tonight against the Bears.

One year and one day ago, Anderson had no idea he’d soon be an ex-ex-Brown, with a chance to be Cleveland’s 2006 top dog if anything happens to Charlie Frye.

On Sept. 1, 2005, Anderson became the toast of the Baltimore Ravens, who became the ex-Browns after the 1995 NFL season. In overtime of the Ravens’ preseason finale, Anderson fired a 66-yard touchdown pass to Randy Hymes to beat Washington, 23-20.

He’d set the stage late in regulation, going 4-of-5 including a 22-yard TD pass to provide a 20-17 lead.

Washington rookie Jason Campbell drove the Redskins to a field goal that created overtime, but Anderson took it from there.

Then the Ravens took a chance.

They tried to save a roster spot by putting Anderson on the practice squad, but to do that they had to release the rookie Round 7 pick from the regular roster.

Phil Savage, the Ravens personnel man turned Browns general manager, swiftly claimed Anderson off waivers.

Anderson spent the rest of 2005 as the Browns’ No. 3 QB and now is the hero of Cleveland’s preseason. His late touchdown passes to Jerome Harrison and Joshua Cribbs set up wins in the last two games. His preseason passer rating is a through-the-roof 132.7.

As Anderson prepares for another preseason finale, he hasn’t forgotten his last one.

“It’s part of the reason I ended up here,” he said. “I had a pretty good game and wound up getting picked up by the Browns, which is a good thing.”

CAPTAIN LATE?

Browns Head Coach Romeo Crennel won’t openly opine how good a thing Anderson is. Crennel doesn’t go further than to say, “He’s been competitive all camp.”

He’s been Captain Late in games. His fourth quarter at Buffalo on Saturday mirrored his preseason masterpiece in Baltimore, in that he delivered decisive scoring drives the last two times he had the ball.

“Some people like pressure, some don’t,” Anderson said. “You put a lot of pressure on yourself to do well, and you have to handle it.

“It’s different when you get to live action. A lot of guys can look awesome in seven-on-seven. It matters when it’s live.”

At Oregon State, the 6-foot-6 Oregon native became known for a strong, accurate arm and big passing stats. He came close to catching Carson Palmer for the all-time Pac-10 record for career air yards, winding up second with 11,249.

Yet, Anderson remains a mystery to many Browns fans. He played in a big-time conference but was seldom seen on TV in this region.

His home stadium wasn’t much bigger than the Rubber Bowl. The best home crowd he played to was 37,154 in the 2002 season finale, when he led a 45-24 victory over Oregon.

He played for two head coaches who were coming off NFL head coaching jobs, Dennis Erickson (2001-02) and Mike Riley (2003-04).

He kept having the same season. The Beavers were 8-5 with his passer rating at 121.6 in 2002, 7-5 with his rating at 124.4 in 2003, and 8-5 with his rating at 125.1 in 2004.

The team was 5-6 the year before he became a starter and 5-6 the year after he left.

Oregon State never ranked higher than No. 22 during his three years as a starter, but had some notable close calls against some top teams. He lost, 36-30, to then-No. 6 Washington State in 2003, 22-21 in overtime to then-No. 3 LSU in 2004, and 28-20 to then-No. 1 Southern Cal in 2004.

He responded well to adversity his senior year, which opened with that thriller against LSU — he threw three TD passes, but a freshman kicker missed three extra points. The season bottomed out at 1-4 after a 49-7 home loss to California. Then it was rally time; the Beavers went on a 6-1 tear.

FINALE VS. IRISH

Anderson’s last game was a 38-21 win over Notre Dame in which he threw an Insight Bowl-record four TD passes and outdueled young Brady Quinn.

Afterward, Riley said, “Derek has constantly gotten better. It’s been really fun working with him, because he’s like a sponge, He just loves to learn and get better. I wish we had another year.”

What did the best PAC-10 rival quarterbacks have that Anderson didn’t? Feet.

His career rushing stats, which count sacks, were 182 attempts for minus-533 yards. Cal’s Aaron Rodgers had 160 attempts for 336 yards, Southern Cal’s Matt Leinart 132 attempts for minus-70 yards.

Oregon State was Air Anderson. He put it up 1,024 times his final two years. Rodgers threw 665 times those same two years. Leinart threw 843 times in his final two years, 2004 and ‘05.

Now, Anderson is trying to prove he shouldn’t drift into the netherworld of college stars whose limitations made them NFL wallflowers.

How might he fit if given a long run as Cleveland’s quarterback?

If he wins the No. 2 job and young Frye gets hurt, Browns fans would find out.

“It’s a matter of confidence,” Anderson said. “Early on in camp, it wasn’t pretty. I fought through the struggles. It’s getting better.

“In college, we threw down the field a lot. This is more a run-the-ball-first kind of offense, which is new to me.

“I’m gaining confidence. I’ve been getting better ... I’m happy with that.”

Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .