Oregon State Beavers Fire Defensive Coordinator Tim Tibesar

PORTLAND, OR — The Oregon State Beavers fired Defensive Coordinator Tim Tibesar. Head coach Jonathan Smith made the announcement Sunday evening at a team meeting.

Tibesar, who has been with the Beavers since Smith took over four years ago, became the first coach that he's fired.

"I felt it was the right time to make a change in our football program and have relieved Coach Tim Tibesar of his duties at Oregon State," Smith said in a statement. "All of us thank Coach Tibesar for his hard work and professionalism the past four years and wish him nothing but the best moving forward."

The move comes one day after the Beavers suffered their second straight loss. In the past two weeks, they gave up 76 points and more than 900 yards, losing to California and Colorado.

The Beavers are ranked 86th out of 13o schools in total defense and 10th in pass defense.

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Smith announced that inside linebackers coach Trent Bray will take over as interim defensive coordinator while Kendrick Van Ackeren, who has been serving as defensive analyst, will take over Bray's work with the linebackers.

The Beavs have three games left in the season, including the annual game against Oregon. They are on the cusp of possibly qualifying for their first bowl game in almost a decade, though the past two games has made that more unlikely.