The defense showed up big on Saturday as the Washington Huskies came to town
and were dominated by the Beavers attack. While the Huskies officially scored
21 points in the game, two of the touchdowns came late in the game after Oregon
State had started substituting liberally and the game was already out of reach.

There is no denying that while the defensive line may not tally the points
of the linebackers or defensive backs, the Beavers success on Saturday started
with the play up front. Defensive line MVP Stephen Paea was unstoppable and
caused the Husky offensive line headaches all day long. Brennan Olander also had a good day as did defensive end Matt LaGrone.

Because of the pressure generated by the line, the linebackers were hot on
Saturday, racking up nearly half of the total defensive points awarded for the
game against Washington. Led by Keaton Kristick, who earned his third Giant
Killer Award of the year, he had an early interception that led to the
Beavers first touchdown. David Pa'aluhi, Kevin Unga, Dwight Roberson and Keo Camat all had strong games, as did Keith Pankey who accounted for 1.5 sacks
(I would have counted it as two, but I'm not the official statistician.)

Helped by a strong special teams effort, true freshman Jordan Poyer earned
his first MVP honors of his young career, narrowly edging out fellow safety
Lance Mitchell. Cornerback Brandon Hardin and safety Suaesi Tuimaunei also had
solid performances for the defensive backs.