EL PASO, Texas - It had been an inconsistent year for Johnny Hekker, but the true freshman punter saved his best game for the end.

Hekker was a quarterback first in high school and only punted when he had to. The Oregon State football team took a shot on him as a walk-on, expecting him to turn into a standout.

He started poorly and it didn't look good. At one point he was almost benched. Then he had some good games, and he stabilized down the stretch.

Going into the Sun Bowl the big concern for the Beavers was handling Pittsburgh's ability to rush punters and kickers.

If Hekker had struggled or been rattled, the Beavers wouldn't have won the game 3-0 on Wednesday.

"We had great play from our punter Johnny Hekker, and that won the game," defensive end Victor Butler said.

Hekker finished off his season as the Sun Bowl special teams MVP. He punted 10 times and averaged 45 yards. His long was 57 yards and he had a Sun Bowl-record five downed inside the 5-yard line.

"I just felt good," Hekker said. "Today was a good day. No one was really rushing me that hard. I was able to stay back there and swing through the ball. It was a fun day."

Pittsburgh blocked 10 kicks this season. All through bowl practice the Beavers focused on their blocking schemes.

None of the kicks were blocked in the game, and none of the Panthers even got close.

"They blocked a lot of kicks, but our protection team is one of the best in the nation," Hekker said. "(Special teams) coach (Dave) Ungerer gets them well prepared. They all go hard. Some schools don't take special teams seriously but here it's something special to be a part of."

Strong winds were a factor in the passing game. Quarterbacks for both teams struggled throwing.

None of the punters had an issue. Pittsburgh's two punters averaged 42.9 yards.

"The wind wasn't that big of a deal," Hekker said. "We thought about it before the game, but then some of my best punts went into the wind. So go figure. And the elevation helped the ball hang up a lot. That helped our team a lot."

Coach Mike Riley challenged Hekker before the game. Riley told Hekker that the game would come down to his punting vs. Pittsburgh's punting.

"I told him it's going to be a big deal how he competes against their punter," Riley said.

Hekker won.