There were plenty of plays for Oregon State defensive coordinator Mark Banker to pick from when he was discussing Hawaii running back Joey Iosefa’s performance against Washington last Saturday.

Hawaii handed the ball to Iosefa 30 times and he rumbled through the Huskies for 143 yards and a touchdown.

The play Banker chose was one on which Iosefa was tackled by John Timu.

“Their linebacker, No. 10, came up and he was unblocked,” Banker said. “He put a lick on the guy, and tackled him, but it was another 5 yards he gained after contact.”

Moving forward is what Iosefa does on the football field.

At 6 feet tall and 245 pounds, he is compact, powerful, and tough to tackle.

“He’s the type of guy who will go with a head-up hit, not the type of guy that likes the spin moves or jukes,” Beaver defensive tackle Siale Hautau said. “He’s the type of guy … he’s a big boy and can take the hits and he loves to hit. He’s got the speed and the strength.”

Iosefa was particularly effective late in the game against the Huskies.

His hard running nearly enabled the Rainbow Warriors to pull off an upset. They fell short, 17-16.

“Towards the end of the game, especially in the fourth quarter, they must have just said, ‘Hey, we got these guys on the run a little bit, we’ve softened them up,’ ” Banker said. “And they just started pounding it on them.

“Just downhill runs with Iosefa, and he was brutalizing some of those guys.”

Iosefa missed seven games with a foot injury last season but still pounded his way to 590 yards and five touchdowns in five starts.

He led the Rainbow Warriors with 548 yards and seven touchdowns as a freshman and had 463 yards in eight games as a sophomore.

As natives of Pago Pago, American Samoa, Iosefa and Oregon State defensive tackle Noke Tago crossed paths in high school.

There was no indication that Iosefa was going to turn into a top running back.

“He was a pretty good high school (player), but he played quarterback back home. Quarterback and safety,” Tago said.

“I’m surprised that he plays running back right now. He’s a huge running back. He’s good, though.”

The Beavers have to play fundamental football to stop Iosefa.

That means wrapping up and driving through to bring him down.

They cannot afford to allow Iosefa to plow through tackles.

“You’ve just got to know what you’re going to do when you’re making a tackle versus a bigger guy,” Banker said.

“As long as you bring it, you’re always going to be fine.”

Hawaii will most likely try to get Iosefa going with some option or draw plays.

It is no secret that he will get the ball.

“They gave him the ball 30 times against Washington, so we know that they’re going to give him the rock,” Oregon State safety Ryan Murphy said.

“They thrive off him and he’s the centerpiece to their offense and he kind of gets them going. He’s a great player, too.

“If we can contain the run game and force them to go to their playbook and pull out other plays, we’ll give ourselves a shot.”