Al Afalava is getting some serious love from Beaver Nation

Al Afalava is the new hero for the Beaver fans and the local media after that huge performance against Washington State in the second half. Two big plays really defined his afternoon. The first seemed inconsequential at the time. Al ran down the WSU tight end and pushed him out of bounds at the 1 yard line when he looked like he was going in for a TD for sure. Well, the Beavers held and Wazzu only got a FG out of that drive. Of course the second play was punching the ball out of Bumpus' hand when he was breaking away for a touchdown. Sabby recovered the ball and we scored on that drive to win the game. Al was a playmaker in a game where we seriously needed one.

Mike Parker has been singing Al's praises almost every day on the Joe Beaver Show here in the Corvallis area. And now he's had articles in the Gazzette-Times (Someone to talk about
) as well as the Oregonian (Chasing a dream).

One of the more interesting quotes considering the recent stories about OSU is this:

Defensive coordinator Mark Banker discovered Afalava and lured him to Corvallis thanks to his connections in that area. It also helped that Afalava’s former Kahuku teammate Jeremy Perry spent last year with the Beavers, and could give him the inside scoop on the program.

Perry sold him on the small-town atmosphere, a caring coaching staff and the lack of distractions such as nightclubs. Perry also liked the academic support.

Hmm, some players think the Acedemic support is pretty good? Interesting, eh?

Anyways, hopefully all of this press will push Lamar Herron to get better and elevate the level of the secondary to be great again. Great job Al!

Go Beavs!