CORVALLIS -- For Oregon State's defense, there was nowhere to go but up.

The Beavers surrendered 721 yards of total offense and barely touched Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins during a 77-31 loss to open the 2018 football season. The Buckeyes punted just once and averaged 8.3 yards per play.

One week later, Oregon State fared much better in the trenches and eliminated several mental mistakes en route to a 48-25 home victory over Southern Utah. The level of competition wasn't as stiff, but the Beavers exhibited authentic growth on defense.

"I thought it was an improvement from Week 1 to Week 2," defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar said Wednesday. "We still have to improve our tackling and that's going to be something that's constant all year long, continuing to work on it every single week. But we did see some improvement."

The Beavers forced consecutive three-and-outs to start the game and led Southern Utah 38-0 midway through the second quarter. The Thunderbirds punted on their first five possessions and had just 150 yards of offense at halftime.

"There were minimal mental errors and everyone was on the same page, communicating," inside linebacker Jonathan Willis said. "We were able to shut them down for most of the first two quarters."

Absent from Oregon State's strong opening half was a consistent pass rush.

Willis, a senior, ran Southern Utah quarterback Chris Helbig out of bounds early in the third quarter for the Beavers' first sack of the season. Matthew Tago picked up another sack later on, but Helbig successfully used his legs to avoid the rush for most of the game.

"Obviously we've got to get to the quarterback better, and when we did get to him we didn't get him down," Tibesar said. "We had some pressure on him, but we weren't able to corral him in the pocket and get him down."

Sacking the quarterback has been an issue for Oregon State in recent seasons.

The Beavers' pass rush ranked last among Pac-12 teams in 2015 (17 sacks) and 2017 (14) and finished the 2016 campaign tied with California for 11th at 18. Through two games this year, only sackless Arizona ranks behind Oregon State among conference foes.

"We're getting pressure on the quarterback, we're flushing the quarterback out of the pocket, we just have to continue to focus on finishing through the rep," outside linebacker Kee Whetzel said. "We've been doing that in practice with more tackling drills and stuff, and I think that's very important because going into Pac-12 play we're going to need to sack the quarterback."

OSU beats Southern Utah in home opener 131 Gallery: OSU beats Southern Utah in home opener

The defensive line has developed a steady six-man rotation with tackles Kalani Vakameilalo and Elu Aydon, and ends Isaac Hodgins, Miki Fifita, Lamone Williams and Isaac Garcia.

The unit controlled the line of scrimmage against Southern Utah following a tough opening assignment at Ohio State.

"We've got some depth there, they just haven't played a lot of football before this," defensive line coach Legi Suianunoa said. "So they are learning it, and obviously through camp and the first couple weeks of game week prep they are getting the experience they need to play."

The secondary is also juggling some pieces as senior Dwayne Williams and junior Shawn Wilson are tasked with understanding the ins and outs of three positions: corner, nickel back and safety. Injuries to David Morris and Jay Irvine have forced secondary coach Greg Burns to mix and match.

"It seems like it would've been (tough), but the two guys that have been doing the most of it are the vets, Shawn and Dwayne," Burns said. "They are seasoned, they understand what a corner is supposed to do and they listen and talk to the safeties. So now that they're having this opportunity, they remember what was being said."

Nevada quarterback Ty Gangi passes against Vanderbilt last Saturday.

DEFENDING THE WOLF PACK

Under second-year head coach Jay Norvell, Nevada opened the season with a 72-19 rout of Portland State before suffering a 41-10 loss at Vanderbilt last week.

Quarterback Ty Gangi has completed 38 of 65 passes for 558 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions this season. The Beavers expect Gangi to take plenty of shots Saturday.

"Their quarterback is solid, a senior who truly understands the system," Burns said. "He trusts his receivers, so they're going to put the ball in the air and it's a good opportunity for us to try and make plays on the ball."

PRACTICING IN THE RAIN

Prothro Field was struck by a heavy downpour during the final 30 minutes of Wednesday's practice.

Instead of heading indoors, head coach Jonathan Smith opted to have the team stay outside and battle through the elements.

"Coach Smith has the mindset that we're going to own the weather," Tibesar said. "It doesn't matter whether it's blazing hot or freezing cold or pouring rain, we're just going to go out there ... and make sure the weather isn't going to be a factor, never going to be an excuse."

-- Bob Lundeberg for The Oregonian/OregonLive