BROOKINGS — Dalys Beanum has been a fixture on the defensive side of the ball for the past three seasons for South Dakota State. Now, in his fifth season in the yellow and blue, he’s making an impact in more ways than just shutting down wide receivers.

Beanum has appeared in the last 49 games at cornerback for the Jackrabbits and as of right now he is fifth all time in SDSU history with 11 interceptions. Beanum has yet to intercept a pass this year, but in SDSU’s last game against Southeastern Louisiana he did something that he hadn’t done in his college career: Return a punt for a touchdown.

With junior safety Tucker Large out with an injury, Beanum has been the Jackrabbits’ punt returner for the past two games. After SELA’s first offensive drive stalled Beanum took a punt 88 yards to the house and scored his third touchdown of his career.

Beanum said he wanted to make the most of his opportunity on special teams.

“I’ve been practicing punt returns in practice throughout my years here and I did it in high school. When we found out [Large] wasn’t playing, they told me to be ready for that opportunity and I was. The coaches helped me get ready for that and I was ready for the moment,” Beanum said.

Beanum is from Omaha, Neb., and played high school football at Millard West High School. He was first-team All-Metro and All-Nebraska as a wide receiver after averaging 62 receiving yards per game and scoring eight touchdowns in his senior season.

It was right before his senior season when he was noticed by South Dakota State though. Beanum went to a camp and that was when now head coach Jimmy Rogers offered him a scholarship.

“I didn’t get my first offer until the summer going into my senior year,” Beanum said. “South Dakota State was looking at me before that, but they didn’t really see me in person until I went to a mega camp at Lindenwood and saw coach Rogers and some other coaches there.

"I did decent enough to get a scholarship offer and coach Rogers told me they were giving me a scholarship offer to play here. It wasn’t really a hard decision to make. It took me like a month [to decide] and it’s been the best decision of my life.”

As Beanum said, the decision has turned out to be great for him. He said he wasn’t sure about moving to a smaller town but has had the best time in Brookings.

“I’ve made some of my best friends that I’ll remember forever here and have made some great memories as well,” Beanum said.

Beanum has been a ball hawk his whole career, hence the 11 interceptions, but Rogers and the coaching staff wanted him to expand his game this offseason and be more physical. Rogers said Beanum didn’t bat an eye and has made an impact in tackling this season as he has 19 total tackles so far.

“Dalys is a playmaker,” Rogers said. “… He’s done a great job as far as leading the team and being consistent day in and day out and controlling his emotions and executing the things that we had him try to improve on. I think that’s shown up multiple times. It showed up in the Augustana game with what he’s capable of with his physicality.

“That’s one area that we challenged Dalys and he immediately responded. … For him to get challenged and have that result and not say boo, I think it shows the type of person that he is and his willingness to put the team in front of his ego and feelings.”

Beanum acknowledged that in his early years at SDSU he was more focused on making sure his man didn’t get the ball but becoming a more well rounded cornerback has been a big benefit for him in his fifth season.

“My first couple years I was kind of just focused on playing man-to-man and guarding wide receivers. Now, the coaches have helped me evolve my game to where I can be more involved in the run game and make plays. That just adds another part to my game and it’s been beneficial and has helped me out a lot,” Beanum said.

Beanum learned the cornerback position from the likes of Don Gardner, Malik Lofton and DyShawn Gales in his first four seasons. Now that he’s the elder statesman in the cornerback room, he’s the one that has to be the leader and that’s something he wanted to make sure he did in his final season at SDSU.

“Everyone in the program follows the great culture that we have here,” he said. “I just try to lead by example and show the way for some of the new guys that are in the program and how we do things around here. We work hard, keep our head down and lead by example with grit. Whether that’s in the weight room, in the classroom or on the field.

"You have to give it your all and play every play like it’s your last play. I feel like I’ve taken on a vocal role this year with having some of the past seniors and leadership gone, especially in my position group and on defense. I think I’ve taken on that vocal leadership role very well.”

Beanum needs four interceptions to become the all time leader at SDSU but right now he just wants to make the most of his final year in Brookings.

“This is my last year and my last ride, so obviously I want it to go the right way at the end. … Being a senior, I just want to have fun every day and just enjoy it when I’m out here because I’m blessed to be here,” Beanum said.