Just another overachiever that makes things happen.
<H1>Oregon State defensive tackle Brennan Olander: a self-made football player with a little help from his friends</H1>
<H5>Published: Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 1:52 PM Updated: Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 2:53 PM</H5>
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Paul Buker, The Oregonian
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Wednesday, with Oregon State football:
Maybe it was the noise from the wrestling matches that got to the neighbors first. Or maybe it was the ritual stick fighting outside that required the combatants to wear nothing but towels around their waists.
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Dennis Wolverton, OSU athletics
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<DIV ="entry_widget_large entry_widget_left">With his play the last few games, Brennan Olander has caught the attention of NFL scouts.When the people next door called the cops, that was a signal to Oregon State football players and housemates Kevin Frahm and Brennan Olander and Brandon Hardin that maybe they should keep the horseplay behind closed doors, or make sure all of that pent-up aggression takes place on the football field.
Lately, that is exactly what Olander is doing for the Beavers.
OSU's very vocal and very animated starting right defensive tackle leads the team with eight tackles for loss â€" he ranks No. 3 in the Pacific 10 Conference â€" and he's tied for the team lead in sacks with three.
On a team where most of the pre-season publicity went to All-American candidate defensive tackle Stephen Paea, Olander's breakout senior season has been attention-grabbing, not only for OSU fans but NFL scouts who suddenly have No. 78 on their radar.
"He's been playing great,'' said Beavers coach Mike Riley, "and I think he will be impossible for (NFL scouts) not to notice.''
Said position coach Joe Seumalo, "whatever he's doing, it's working. I just want more of it.''
Olander was a two-time state wrestling champion at North Valley High School in Grants Pass and he was on the OSU wrestling roster in 2006-07 as a redshirt, but football beckoned and he showed up one day in the coaching offices holding a skateboard and wearing board shorts, asking if he could walk on.
Why not? At Oregon State, walk-ons can become stars, even if they are skateboarding ex-wrestlers.
Olander makes his 15th straight start Saturday when the Beavers (3-3, 2-1) meet Cal (4-3, 2-2) at Reser Stadium.
"He's become a very good player,'' said Riley. "He and Stephen together, that's one of the strengths of our team.''
For Olander, nothing has come easy. He didn't get a scholarship until the beginning of last season, and Riley said the player would come into his office occasionally to voice his frustration at not being able to afford school.
"He's a very honest kid who wears his emotions on his sleeve,'' said Riley. "There were times I thought we might lose him.''
Last spring, Olander got sick with mono and a 275-pound tackle who is strong as an ox was suddenly down to 252. He remains under-sized for his position, playing at 260 to 265 pounds.
After the mono, no one dared predict Olander would turn into an impact player in 2010 except maybe his housemates but he managed to get some of the weight back on and he didn't appear to lose any strength.
This season, Olander had five tackles and two sacks against Arizona State, five tackles against Boise State, and six solo tackles â€" three tackles for loss â€" in the Washington game.
The play everyone talks about was a fourth-and-1 from the OSU 45 in the third quarter at Husky Stadium.
Olander single-handedly blew up the Huskies' interior line and stopped UW running back Chris Polk for a three yard loss.
Riley clipped out that jaw-dropping play and showed it to the entire team.
"I think he's a special player,'' said Frahm, himself a high-energy defensive tackle.
Frahm should know. He has unusual insight into Olander's struggle to make his mark.
"I think one of the reasons he's doing so well is that so many people underestimated him because of what he's done in the past, and I think that's kind of a travesty,'' said Frahm.
It was Frahm who took in Olander and helped keep him in school when he couldn't afford rent.
And it was Frahm who helped counsel Olander after he made headlines in May for the infamous stolen golf cart incident that involved former players Lyle Moevao and Keaton Kristick.
There were message board judges and jurys that dismissed Olander as a "thug'' because of the golf cart caper and two other incidents he was involved in â€" a high school prank that backfired at North Valley and a situation on the OSU campus when he bought a stolen bike.
Riley wasn't happy that Olander kept finding trouble, but he didn't believe for a minute that Olander was a bad guy.
"I think you get an inherent belief about players after you get to know them,'' said Riley. "I don't think any of his stuff has been malicious. There have been some bad choices and I think he's grown from that.''
Olander has declined interviews since training camp because of his displeasure over what he read in the wake of the golf cart incident.
He said he didn't recognize the player who was villified on the internet.
"It kind of scared me,'' he said. "You think you know what kind of person you are, and then you go on there. "¦ it really got me down for awhile.''
Riley, and Frahm, and Hardin convinced Olander it was time to talk about his future and forget the past.
The person who was ignoring the writers wasn't the same person who lit up practices with his enthusiasm and had teammates shaking their heads during games because of what he could do to blockers with his uncanny leverage and his wrestling mentality.
"He's explosive, and I think his wrestling background has been really good for him physically,'' said Riley.
"There's also the mental attitude. He brings a lot when he plays. He's very, very competitive. And he's a lot of fun. He's a great team guy, and I also think there's a special appreciation (among the players) for any guy who has worked his way through the ranks.''
Olander said being the defensive tackle opposite Paea has its rewards. "Everybody knows about Stephen, and with him taking the double teams that leaves me with a single block and it forces me to make plays,'' he said. "If I'm not (beating single blocks) and making plays, then I'm not doing my job.''
When Frahm and Olander are on the field together, said teammate and fellow housemate Hardin, "it's like a storm.'' A very noisy storm, because both players love to talk.
To each other. To the opposition. To their coaches and teammates. "If we're making plays and we're doing good, it definitely isn't going to be quiet,'' said Olander.
"If you let me have a little bit of momentum, I'll be in your ear. "¦ I love talking to people when they hold me. I'll tell them, ‘you can't block me, and I'm coming again.'"Â
Hardin is a little guy at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds compared to Frahm (6-2, 275) and Olander (6-1, 265) so he stays out of the way when they start wrestling in the house.
"They broke a closet door once, but no real damage otherwise,'' said Hardin. "You would think our house would just be chaos all the time but actually out house life is kind of quiet compared to the football field.''
On the football field, Olander is playing like someone who wants to be in the NFL. "I never really thought any of that was possible,'' he said, "but after these last few games. "¦''
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Paul Buker (also on Twitter)
Edited by: celticdb15