In his first year as a Viking, defensive tackle Anthony Del Toro started all 11 games, unusual for a true freshman.    

He had a solid year with 33 tackles, ranking eighth on the team, including a very big game against Idaho State where he recorded six tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.    

But that's not what stands out about that year for him. Highlight of that year for the 2017 co-recipient of the Norm Daniels Endowed Scholarship happened in his first game at the university level.     

"It was against Central Washington. Before the game everyone was talking about who would get the first sack. I remember the play just happened. I made the sack and I was yelling before the play was even over. That's how excited I was," recalled the 6-2, 295-pound Grants Pass High School product.     

The transition to college football wasn't that much of a surprise overall. He expected college ball to be faster, more physical and more of a mental game." And, it was. Still, in that first game, "it took me a half to get comfortable. After that, I just played my game…physical, focused and fast."      

His goal coming into his first year was to be in good shape and get into the rotation or start as a freshman…do what he could to help the team.      

And, Defensive Coordinator Malik Roberson thought he made a good start.     

"He's explosive and can be a physical player at times. He just needs to be more consistent with that," Roberson said.     

Del Toro lists his strengths as being "laterally quick, pretty strong and I remember plays easily."   

His biggest need is to work on his pass rush, he said. "The pass rush is more about finesse. You can do it with power and with finesse. It's about power, but there is more hands, it's more technical to get to the quarterback."      

To get ready for a game, he said watches a lot of film, studying the strengths and weaknesses of the primary player he'll be battling the following Saturday. That and practice make for a good week's work preparing.     

Still, he found enough study time to be carrying around a 3.0 after his first year. He wasn't satisfied with that, pointing to a mistake his first quarter. "I took too many classes that first term. I knew that wasn't me and I did much better the next two terms," Del Toro said. He'd graduated from high school with a 3.3 cumulative GPA.    

Del Toro chose Portland State over Eastern Washington because he wanted to stay in Oregon so his mother (Terri Del Toro) could attend his home games.     

Between last season and this, his goals were to get faster, stronger and to continue working on his pass rush. That meant a lot of drills and continually practicing with his hands…even when walking down the street which, he admitted, "could look a little weird".        

He went home briefly last summer, but mainly stayed on campus to work on football.  He wanted to come back in good shape and that meant lots of summer drills and time in the weight room.    

All that happened in the morning, though, which provided the chance to nap in the afternoons "because we were really tired. But, some of us were lucky enough to have jobs."     

Del Toro worked for a firm providing security for concerts, Timbers matches and other events. That provided the second highlight for his year.     

One of the events he worked was the Faith Hall and Tim McGraw country music concert. "I'm a big fan. I love country music, but then I suppose that's to be expected when you come from Grants Pass," he said.   

Coming into this season, Del Toro said his goal was to become one of the Big Sky Conference's better defensive tackles. And that meant he had to get better all-around because he has a lot of respect for Big Sky Conference offensive lines.       

"After playing against BYU and Oregon State, I felt as if I held my own against both teams, especially Oregon State. I think the Big Sky stacks up pretty well with other conferences," said Del Toro.      

He'd like to continue playing football after college, but is thinking about police work if that doesn't work out.     

Roberson thinks Del Toro is in charge of his own destiny.     

"He's going to get better as he gets stronger and spends more time in the weight room. He has a bright football future here," Roberson said.