Oregon State Football Preview: The Specialists
Over the past 2 months, we've highlighted various position groups on the Oregon State 2025 football roster. This week, we’re looking at the specialists: kickers, punters, long snappers, and returners.
Kickers - Tetsuta Tsuyumine, Caleb Ojeda, and Logan McReery
Tetsuta Tsuyumine has one of the best stories in college football.
Hailing from The Land of the Rising Sun, the Oregon State senior transfer hopes to kick field goals in The Beaver State this season. Before enrolling at Oregon State, Tsuyumine grew up in a Tokyo suburb and attended nearby Hosei University, where he played on the school’s Hosei Orange college football team. Surprisingly, America’s gridiron game has been played in Japan since the early 1930s, and the Orange are one of its most prestigious programs.
To fulfill his goal of kicking stateside, Tsuyumine took private lessons with renowned kicking coach Chris Sailer. If Sailer’s words are any indication, Tsuyumine has what it takes to be the Beavers’ next starting kicker: “He hits a pure, accurate ball off the ground and has 55+ yard range. His kickoffs are strong, college ready. [He is] an experienced, mature kicker who is ready to compete at the 4-year level”.
After arriving on campus, Tsuyumine played in the Oregon State spring game, successfully converting a 35 yard kick. On the eve of fall camp next month, he faces competition from a pair of returning Oregon State kickers: Caleb Ojeda and Logan McReery.
Ojeda went 1-2 in the last spring game, missing a 49 yarder but nailing a kick from 53 yards. He played two seasons of juco ball at the College of San Mateo before transferring to Oregon State ahead of the 2024 season. At San Mateo, he hit 10/14 field goals his sophomore season, with a long of 47 yards. McReery, like Ojeda, played juco ball before transferring in 2024. He converted 8/9 field goals for American River College in the 2023 season, with a long of 37 yards.
Punters - AJ Winsor, and Max Walker
Redshirt sophomore AJ Winsor punted 4 times in the 2023 Sun Bowl against Notre Dame, with a 46 yard average, but hasn’t seen game action since. This summer, he will continue a fierce competition with redshirt junior Max Walker, who has played in 4 games across the past 2 seasons, mainly as an onside kick specialist. Given the lack of NCAA D1 playing experience from Oregon State’s traditional kickers, Walker could reprise his onside-kicking role this season.
Long Snappers - Dylan Black, and Jackson Robertson
Football is just a game, and no current Oregon State player exemplifies that lesson more than long snapper Dylan Black. Across 4 consecutive seasons from 2020-2023, Black played in every game for the Beavers. In what would have been his Covid Year free redshirt in 2024, Black was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Suddenly, football took a back seat to a battle for survival.
Before going in for surgery in May 2024, Black was on the Patrick Mannelly Award preseason watch list for the nation’s top long snapper. After surgery, he missed the entire 2024 season. On October 17th 2024, test results declared him cancer free.
Jackson Robertson, a redshirt sophomore from South Medford HS, stepped up admirably in Black’s absence. Robertson played 9 games last season as Oregon State’s long snapper. If necessary, he can relieve Oregon State’s elder statesman at the position.
Returners - Trent Walker, Zachary Card, and Salahadin Allah
Trent Walker was Oregon State’s sole punt returner in 2024. The reliably-handed pass catcher from Beaverton HS is entering his redshirt senior season, and will likely reprise punt return duties in 2025.
Last season’s kick return duties were shared between sophomore running back Salahadin Allah and redshirt sophomore wideout Zachary Card. Both Beavers’ flashed playmaking ability with their ball in their hands - Allah found form late in the season spelling starting tailback Anthony Hankerson, and Card exceled on the occasional wing sweep run - they each scored rushing touchdowns in 2024. However, kickoffs were a different story: neither returner eclipsed a 20 yard kick return average.
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Matt fell in love with radio during his college days at Oregon Tech, and pursued a nine year career in sports broadcasting with Klamath Falls' and Medford's highest-rated sports radio stations. He currently lives in McMinnville wine country and is excited to talk about the Beavers again.