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Oregon State Beavers Lose Top Tackler To The Transfer Portal

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By Matthew Brown | Last updated 12/7/23

The Oregon State Beavers football program is going through some massive changes. It wasn’t enough that their conference is dissolving but their head coach, Jonathan Smith , left to coach the Michigan State Spartans. Many players are leaving and you can add their top tackler from 2023 to the list. Linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold announced he is entering the transfer portal.

NEWS: Oregon State LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3 has learned.

He recorded 106 tackles and 2 INTs during the 2023 seasonhttps://t.co/qnrgGMQoSS pic.twitter.com/KQHaqlOVxv

— On3 (@On3sports) December 7, 2023

Oregon State Beavers LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold

Mascarenas-Arnold was a tackling machine. He racked up 107 tackles on the season which was second in all of the Pac-12. He also had 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and two interceptions. Akili Arnold was another top defensive player that entered the portal so the Beavers are left without their top two defensive players from 2023. It isn’t necessarily a surprise considering the state of the program but disappointing to see.

A Lot Of Unknowns In 2024

For every other program in the nation, the 2024 schedule is set. Oregon State has only three games on the schedule currently. While an agreement was reached with the Moutain West Conference, nothing has been worked out as of yet. Games against Idaho State, Boise State, and Purdue are all that exist on the 2024 schedule. It is no wonder players are leaving. While the conference realignment is exciting, it is also disappointing to see the fallout of teams that got left behind.

Can the Oregon State Beavers recover from all this chaos? Maybe, but it will likely take many years.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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