Viks end home sked with big game under the lights
Portland State football hosts No. 2 Sacramento State in Friday night matchup
Portland State has won two games in a row and it has looked good doing it.
Against Northern Colorado last week, the Viks scored 35 unanswered points to blow away the Bears. They scored 28 straight to open the game against Eastern Washington the week before and even had No. 15 Idaho on the ropes with a 21-14 lead before the wheels fell off at halftime.
It’s the culmination of a young quarterback meshing with the playbook, defensive talent settling in after a slew of key injuries early in the season, and now that everything is finally firmed up, playmakers making plays that win games.
“It’s good to see that,” Viks coach Bruce Barnum said. “It’s fun to watch when they’re clicking like that. To see guys come together and see guys healthy and on the field playing.”
All that will be tested at Hillsboro Stadium on Friday when the Viks host the Big Sky’s hottest team.
When asked what makes No. 2 Sacramento State so lethal — winners of 17 straight regular season games and arguably the best team in the nation — Barnum had a quick answer.
“Tempo,” Barnum said during his weekly radio spot.
“They are (Chip Kelly’s Oregon) that times 1,000. They run two quarterbacks. They have a tailback, who for our FCS football, is lights out. They’re playing well and their defense plays with energy.
“They’re playing with confidence and any time you’re doing anything in life with confidence you’re a step ahead.”
The Hornets went more than half the season without trailing in a game, including an FBS victory over Colorado State, and have only really struggled in games against the Big Sky’s heavy hitters: A 31-24 overtime win against No. 16 Montana, a 31-28 win against No. 15 Idaho, and a 33-30 victory over No. 7 Weber State, each in the last three weeks.
They’re led by the leading candidate for Big Sky player of the year, running back Cameron Skattebo, a lighting spark with shoes that has amassed a Big Sky-best 1,050 yards rushing, the seventh-best mark in the nation. He’s averaging a league-best 153.2 all-purpose yards per game and has yet to be slowed down, even against some of the nation’s best defenses.
Subsequently, the Sac State offense is averaging 42.8 points per game, the third-best in all of FCS.
Has the Hornets’ grueling schedule the last three weeks — three games against top 15 opponents — caused any fatigue? Will they be looking ahead to next week’s Causeway Classic against a resurgent UC Davis?
Portland State will need to play at its best to have a chance of springing an upset against the Hornets, and may have an advantage of playing on a short week at Hillsboro Stadium this Friday.
Barnum said the team is prepared to take its swing.
“When we are on and playing hard, I have a good football team,” Barnum said.
“We have a plan for everything. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully we can put one together. It’d be cool. They’re really good.”
The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at Hillsboro Stadium and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
While we’re on the topic of tough games on the schedule, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit thought Oregon should add one more when discussing the Ducks’ nonconference slate during the FBS College Football Playoff show on Tuesday:
“The message to (Oregon AD) Rob Mullens is schedule Portland State,” Herbstreit said of the Ducks as they try to edge into the limited playoff format. “Why do you want to schedule Georgia and lose a game like that? If you schedule Portland State, they’re undefeated and everyone is talking about how great Oregon is.”
Oregon has only played Portland State five times and only twice since Mullens took over in 2010, last hosting the Viks in 2018.
For his part, Barnum said he would welcome a game against the Ducks — for a price: $1.8 million.
“I’ll play that,” Barnum said during his radio show. “It gets rid of one of my money games. That gets me another win. The problems with scheduling is you do it seven years ahead of time. Those games are made the day Dan Lanning got the job.”
The number was thrown out as a response to host John Canzano suggesting a fee of $800,000, and thus said only half-jokingly. But any game against the Ducks would likely provide a giant payday and minimal travel costs, something that the Viks would certainly welcome if Oregon was willing to extend the offer.
“That’ll clean some things up here.”
ACROSS THE BIG SKY
With only two weeks left in the regular season, the implications are heating up for every contest left on the schedule.
This week’s biggest clash is Eastern Washington visiting Montana for the Governor’s Cup. Usually a battle between two of the best teams in the FCS, this year’s game features a different type of desperation.
Eastern Washington, experiencing its worst season in nearly 15 years, has a chance to avenge its playoff loss from a season ago and end any playoff hopes for this season’s Griz squad, itself experiencing a tough year with three losses in the Big Sky.
Facing another big rivalry game against No. 3 Montana State next week, the Griz can’t let this one slip by or could risk its first five-loss Big Sky season since 2016 and the first ever in either Bobby Hauck tenure.
The Bobcats have an easier lead in, at winless Cal Poly, who fell 57-0 to the Griz last weekend.
No. 7 Weber State will host Idaho State and No. 15 Idaho can all but lock up a playoff spot with a win over a hot UC Davis team at the Kibbie Dome.
Speaking of Idaho, Vandals coach Jason Eck had a complement to pay Bruce Barnum:
Friday, Nov. 11
No. 2 Sacramento State at Portland State, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Saturday, Nov. 12
Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado, 11 a.m. PT, ESPN+
Eastern Washington at No. 16 Montana, Noon, ESPN+
Idaho State at No. 7 Weber State, Noon, ESPN+
UC Davis at No. 15 Idaho, 4 p.m., ESPN+
No. 3 Montana State at Cal Poly, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Last week’s results
No. 2 Sacramento State 33, No. 5 Weber State 30
No. 3 Montana State 41, Northern Arizona 38
No. 15 Idaho 48, Eastern Washington 16
No. 16 Montana 57, Cal Poly 0
Portland State 35, Northern Colorado 21
UC Davis 43, Idaho State 3
AROUND THE BLOCKS
Wednesday was fall signing day, the first day that prospects can sign scholarships for non-football sports. Nearly every Viking team signed at least one player, with the many sticking to the recruiting philosophies that have played out over the last few cycles.
Men’s basketball, fresh off signing 10 new players this offseason, booked one incoming freshman to a deal: 6-foot-2 guard Kelcy Phipps out of Southern California.
Phipps is, like nearly every other new Vikings addition, a dogged defender whose defining attribute is his perimeter defense and willingness to disrupt play.
Coburn had this reaction when he announced his commitment earlier this week:
The women’s team added two players to its incoming class, inking Ella Kaleta, a 5-10 guard from the Seattle suburbs, and Laynee Torres-Kahapea, a 5-6 guard from Hawaii. As with the current group of Viks, both are quick defenders with strong leadership qualities, adding to a heady bunch currently on the roster.
Volleyball added three players and softball two to bolster depth and fill some departing positions on their championship-level squads.
Twenty-two steals.
Women’s basketball looks to have its zone locked in early this season, turning Warner Pacific over 24 times in its season opening 67-40 victory over its crosstown opponents, including 22 steals split between seven players.
Esme Morales picked up where she left off last season, playing nearly every minute of the game and posting 19 points, seven assists, six steals and four rebounds in an all-around performance at the point.
Jada Lewis and Mia ‘Uhila were also in double digits scoring as Lewis and Morales combined to shoot nearly 50 percent from 3.
The Viks will have a stiffer test against their first Division I opponent on Saturday, hosting San Diego at 1 p.m. at the Pavilion.
Men’s hoops will be the last Big Sky team to tip off the season, playing Portland at 7 p.m. on Friday at Chiles Center.
The game will be an early test against an ascendant side in the tough WCC, setting up a challenging stretch in the lead up to the game against No. 2 Gonzaga at the Phil Knight Legacy tournament on Thanksgiving.
The Viks stay on the West Coast for a short road trip to Seattle U on Sunday. The Redhawks roster features former Vikings guard Paris Dawson, who scored eight points in their 106-55 victory over Puget Sound on Wednesday.
Volleyball ended a three-game slide with an emphatic sweep of Idaho on Thursday.
The Viks had lost their lead in the Big Sky standings after getting swept for a second time by Northern Colorado, then losing back-to-back games in Montana: a 3-1 loss to the Griz and a collapsing 3-2 loss to MSU in Bozeman that saw the Cats defend two match points and take the final two sets.
The Viks sit a half-game back of first place in the Big Sky standings with two games to play, needing some help to grab the top seed in the conference tournament over Thanksgiving weekend in Ogden.
PSU hosts Eastern Washington on Saturday in its final home match of the season.
Also competing in its final meet of the season, cross country will run at the NCAA West Regional at Chambers Bay Golf Course outside of Tacoma, a short trip up I-5.
The men finished third at the Big Sky meet last week and the women fourth, numbers that bode well in the expanded field.
The men finished eighth as a team at this meet a year ago.
The Viks are looking to send just their second runner to the NCAA national meet, with Katie Camarena marking the first entry last fall.
In other seconds, former Portland State star Ime Udoka’s second chance at a head coaching job in the NBA may have to wait a few more months, as the Brooklyn Nets passed on an earlier bid to hire the Boston Celtics head coach this week.
Udoka, who is serving a one-year suspension from the Celtics for involving himself in an inappropriate workplace relationship, was the favorite to land the Brooklyn job and had already reportedly been offered the job but the Nets balked this week at the deal amid their drama-filled last month.
Men’s tennis claimed 10 wins at the Gonzaga meet this week and will head to the Oregon Duck Invitational this weekend to round out the fall season. The women will head to the CSUN Invitaitonal in Northridge, California, for their final fall meet.
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
There have been a number of notable Veterans Day football games for the Vikings, but none more impactful than the last time they faced Sacramento State.
The Viks topped Sac State 13-7 on Nov. 11, 2006, finishing the year 7-4 overall and 6-2 in the Big Sky with a No. 19 national ranking.
It was the last game on the Park Blocks for legendary Vikings coach Tim Walsh, who would go on to take a job as an offensive coordinator at Army.
Walsh is still the winningest coach in program history, going 90-68 in 14 seasons with the Viks, guiding Portland State into Division I and keeping the team competitive in a tough Big Sky conference.
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