Portland State certainly got up to speed last week.
After a tough opening three games to the season, Dante Chachere accounted for five touchdowns and more than 400 yards of offense on the way to a Big Sky player of the week performance in the home opener against NAU, picking up a 35-27 victory. The Viks QB ran for a 72-yard score and found Mataio Talalemotu for three touchdowns, including a 66-yarder, sparking an offensive renaissance that the team and coaching staff hopes carries over to the rest of the season.
“It was a fun day,” Viks coach Bruce Barnum said.
The Viks finally unleashed Chachere, utilizing his speed in space to wreak havoc on the NAU defense. That extra weapon opened up the air attack and allowed speed guys like Talalemotu to take advantage.
PSU will get another chance to build on the new freedom against an unknown opponent this week.
Lincoln, a Division II program from the Bay Area in its second season of existence, filled a late hole in the schedule and comes to Hillsboro with very little experience and a ton of air miles.
The Oaklanders are 0-5 this season, having played every game on the road, including stops in Florida, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota and an earlier trip to the Beaver State at Western Oregon. They’ve been outscored 238-40 against Division II competition and will be facing their second-ever Division I squad, falling 61-13 at Stephen F. Austin last fall.
This should be a game to work out some kinks and prepare both sides of the ball for a much stiffer test against Weber State next week, but Barnum refused to overlook the challenge.
“You don’t get that many games in this sport,” Barnum said.
“We can’t let one slip. Our guys are focused. We’re working on all the mistakes we saw. We’re trying to get perfection on offense and defense.”
The game will air locally on KRCW as well as ESPN+, with kickoff set for 2 p.m. at Hillsboro Stadium.
In other news, Barnum hinted in his weekly radio spot that the Viks could host a game at Providence Park next season.
ACROSS THE BIG SKY
No. 7 Weber State will have another test for its defense this week, hosting No. 24 Eastern Washington in the Big Sky game of the week.
The top scoring defense in the league, allowing just 9.5 points and 281.5 yards per game, the Wildcats will face the least potent EWU offense in nearly a decade, the Eagles currently seventh in the Big Sky in scoring offense and ninth in total yards.
Weber held UC Davis to its lowest scoring output of the season last week and has done the same to every opponent on its schedule.
The Viks should get a good look at how WSU defends a spread offense this week, which should benefit in the week leading up to a pivotal game against the Wildcats next week.
Elsewhere, No. 4 Montana State looks to avoid the same trap its Treasure State counterparts fell into last week as it hosts Idaho State in Bozeman. The Bengals gave No. 3 Montana a scare in Pocatello, narrowly falling to the Griz 28-20.
No. 5 Sacramento State gets another Big Sky bottom dweller, hosting Northern Colorado in the late game. NAU hosts Cal Poly to start the day while Montana, Idaho and UC Davis take the week off.
Saturday, Oct. 8
Cal Poly at Northern Arizona, 1 p.m. PT, ESPN+
Idaho State at No. 4 Montana State, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Lincoln (Calif.) at Portland State, 2 p.m., ESPN+, KRCW
No. 24 Eastern Washington at No. 7 Weber State, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Northern Colorado at No. 5 Sacramento State, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Last week’s results
No. 3 Montana 28, Idaho State 20 (Missoulian recap) (Idaho State Journal)
No. 4 Montana State 41, UC Davis 24 (Bozeman Daily Chronicle) (Davis Enterprise)
No. 5 Sacramento State 49, Cal Poly 21 (Sacramento Bee) (SLO Tribune)
Portland State 35, Northern Arizona 27 (Arizona Daily Sun)
Idaho 55, Northern Colorado 35 (Moscow-Pullman Daily News) (Greeley Tribune)
Florida 52, No. 20 Eastern Washington 17 (The Spokesman-Review)
AROUND THE BLOCKS
Portland State volleyball moved to the top of the Big Sky standings with a 3-1 win over Montana State on Thursday night.
The Viks, who have won six of their last seven matches, will host Montana on Saturday in hopes to extend the stay at No. 1. The Griz dropped a 3-1 match at Sac State earlier in the night.
Also at the top of the conference standings, Viks soccer, one of two unbeaten programs in the Big Sky, has yet to allow a goal in conference play this season, shutting out Sac State on Sunday to improve to 2-0-1 in the league.
The Viks will host their final home matches of the season this week, hosting winless Idaho State on Friday and Weber State on Sunday.
Golf finished 18th at the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational this week.
They’ll be off until the end of the month, when they close fall play in Hawaii at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Honolulu.
Viks cross country senior transfer Bára Stýblová won the women’s event at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, becoming the first Viking to pull off the feat since 2015 and only the fourth in the school’s DI history.
The cross country teams are off until next weekend’s final tune up for the Big Sky championships.
Softball will host a fall-ball doubleheader against Mount Hood Community College on Sunday in Hillsboro.
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