Anderson Works Way Back Into a Corner

Marques Anderson has regained his job as the starting left cornerback, a move initiated last week at Washington and set to continue Saturday against USC, just in time to get part of the responsibility of containing R. Jay Soward.

Anderson was in the opening lineup the first two games, only to be replaced by Ryan Roques amid harsh words by Coach Bob Toledo as part of the Sept. 21 shake-up that hit the entire secondary. But when Anderson began to play with greater intensity and coaches noticed a slip by Roques, they made another switch.

“He worked his way back,” defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said of Anderson. “I don’t want to be all over Ryan, but Ryan appeared to lose some confidence after the Oregon State game, so we wanted to take some of the load off him. That and the way Marques has been playing prompted the change.”

Roques will remain a prominent part of the defense, playing in defensive alignments where a fifth defensive back is used.

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Tackle Brian Polak missed practice for the second consecutive day because of a sprained right leg and ankle, suffered against the Huskies. His status for Saturday is uncertain.