Defensive Points + Giant Killer Award

After struggling throughout the 2011 season, the Oregon State defense kicked off the 2012 season with one of their best performances in years. The Beavers held Montee Ball, one of the Nations top running backs to 61 yards on the ground and showed solid pass coverage as well.

This week, cornerback Rashaad Reynolds took top honors in the weekly BeaverBlitz.com Defensive MVP's. The Badgers seemed determined not to throw to senior Jordan Poyer's side of the field, and Reynolds was up for the challenge. Reynolds finished the day with seven tackles and two key pass break-ups.

The Beavers secondary was solid all day. Sophomore safeties Tyrequek Zimmerman and Ryan Murphy tallied 11 tackles on the day and helped to keep the Badgers third down conversion percentage to 14% on the day (2-14).

The linebackers showed a renewed sense of athleticism, led by sophomore DJ Welch, who earned MVP honors for the unit. Welch, Feti Taumoepeau, Rueben Robinson, and Michael Doctor all supported the run and pass defense adding 17 tackles for the game.

There were a lot of questions about the defensive front going into the season, but Castro Masaniai, Andrew Seumalo, and Mana Rosa all were able to hold up the middle freeing up the defensive ends to wreak havoc in the backfield. Of note, Devon Kell was not given credit in the official stats for Rudolf Fifita's sack. It was Kell however who stunted to disrupt O'Brien and give Fifita time to come from the backside to make the sack.

Defensive ends Scott Crichton and Dylan Wynn both dominate the line of scrimmage, but Wynn had the monster game for the Beavers on Saturday accumulating six tackles, one sack, one TFL and one forced fumble. It was enough to earn him MVP honors for the defensive line for the week.

 

GIANT

KILLER STONE AWARD: RASHAAD REYNOLDS

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN MVP: DYLAN WYNN

LINEBACKER MVP: DJ WELCH

SECONDARY MVP: RASHAAD REYNOLDS