Monday (but actually Tuesday) Morning Tail Slap: Easton Mascarenas-Arnold is Taking the Leap
Oregon State's stud linebacker named Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Week
Happy October 3rd, Cream subscribers!
For the second consecutive season, the Oregon State Beavers have taken down a Top 10 ranked team at Reser Stadium (doesn’t sound like behavior of a program the TV networks should want to cancel, but that’s just me…). In last year’s stunning come-from-behind victory over the then No. 9 ranked Oregon Ducks, OSU’s running game was the star of the show. Working with a depleted running backs group, the Beavs somehow erased a 31-10 deficit and did it by calling 19 consecutive running plays.
Friday night’s 21-7 win against No. 10 Utah was a complete team win. Coming off a difficult loss to Wazzu, a well-coached team that rarely makes mistakes like Utah isn’t the most welcoming sight. Yet the Beavs did everything they could to wash away the sour taste lingering from Week Four in one of the more impressive wire-to-wire wins of the Jonathan Smith era.
Wide receiver/return man/all-things-electric-playmaking-monster Silas Bolden showed all the reasons why he’s one of the most terrifying men in college football with the ball in his hands. His 153 yards from scrimmage outgained Utah’s total for their entire team until the depths of garbage time.
However, OSU’s defense ruled the day, holding Utah to their lowest point total in five years, and were mere minutes away from handing the Utes their first shutout loss since 2007. And no orange-tinted lights shone brighter than the one on Oregon State’s do-it-all linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold.
Mascarenas-Arnold flashed his ability as a backup in 2021. He proved his worth as a full-time starter and helped Oregon State field the best defense in the Pac 12 in 2022. Now, he’s showing that it’s not just his turn in line as the next great linebacker wearing orange and black, he might be the best one yet.
The linebacker position was the focus of some muted concern heading into the 2023 season. OSU lost team leader Omar Speights to the transfer portal and eventually LSU, and also Kyrei Fisher-Morris to graduate. Add in the loss of Avery Roberts after the 2021 season and perhaps no other Oregon State position group has seen more outgoing talent over the last two seasons than the linebackers have.
All that out-going talent has been replaced by even more talent. Mascarenas-Arnold isn’t alone out there, either. John McCartan is having another fantastic season, Calvin Hart Jr has played great despite earning a disqualification against Utah for targeting, and redshirt freshman Melvin Jordan IV has entered the fray. It’s a strong list of names on a strong defense, who all played exceptional against Utah. Anytime you hold an FBS offense scoreless for close to 55 minutes of game time, it usually means the entire defense played well. But only one can earn conference Defensive Player of the Week Honors.
Enter Mascarenas-Arnold, who was named the Pac 12’s best defensive player of Week Five for yet another sensational outing. He’s led the Beavs in tackles in each of the last four games and likely would have in all five had the starters not been pulled in Week One at San Jose State. In the last three games he’s put up total tackles of 9, 13, and 10. All totals that would have marked a single-game high coming into the season.
His two interceptions and 42 total tackles on the year both marked season-highs and we haven’t seen a single game in October yet. It’s been a strong year, but he looked especially lethal against Utah and played like a player with no weaknesses. Whether he was asked to stop the run, rush the passer, or drop back into coverage, Mascarenas-Arnold made plays at every single level of the defense.
The interception in particular showed the kind of game-breaking talent and athleticism he has. Not only did the turnover halt one of Utah’s best drives of the evening, but he looked like a freakish tight end while doing it, contorting his body to pluck the ball right out of thin air on what wasn’t a terrible throw by Utah’s backup quarterback Bryson Barnes.
Through five, Mascarenas-Arnold has been exceptional. They’ll need his ascent to continue in order for this season to be as special as Beaver Nation hopes it can be. Stanford is the only remaining team on the schedule who averages fewer points per game than the Utes, so more challenges are coming for Easton and this defense.
No matter who the opposing offense is, though, as long as No. 5 is on the field, Oregon State’s defense has a chance.