They have had an absolutely brutal schedule to open their year including games at Wazzu, at Boise, at Ogden and at Chatty...oh, and they couldn't have their one home game so far this season against South Dakota because they had a medical outbreak of whooping cough. One thing PSU has done so far this year is take home a couple of nice paychecks.
UC Davis will be Portland State's home opener, in week 6.
8/31: PSU 30 - Washington State 70
9/7: PSU 16 - Weber State 43
9/14: PSU vs. South Dakota (Postponed due to medical outbreak)
9/21: PSU 14 - Boise State 56
9/28: PSU 30 - Chattanooga 45
Found the Vikings @ Wildcats highlights this morning:
We can't look past Portland State because they will have some tricks up their sleeves... They might be bringing bubonic plague or polio to the table this week.
Against Idaho, Davis played only ten reserves, not counting long snappers and kickers. Some of those reserves may have played only on special teams.
No backup offensive linemen and only one reserve defensive linemen played.
The reserves who played quite a bit were Tompkins, Perez, Gale, Dobbins and Amone.
Alright I just got through looking at Portland State's stats for the year and boy howdy are they ugly. Through 4 games Portland State is giving up an average 263.3 rushing yards and 323.75 passing yards per game... yep... that's right... giving up on average almost 600 yards of offense PER GAME. That has been reflected in the final scores as the Vikings have been outscored 90-214 so far this season.
Now, the Vikings offense runs through Senior QB Dante Chachere. He's the definition of a dual threat QB as he's completed 55/95 passing attempts (57.89%) for 668 yards with 3 TDs and 3 INTs. He's added 50 rushing attempts for 262 yards and 5 TDs. If the Aggie defense contains Chacere, then this game is over. Point blank.
The Vikings are also getting offensive contributions from RB Quncy Craig who has 41 rushing attempts for 254 yards and 1 TD as well as 17 receptions for 90 yards and 2 TDs, WR Eric Denham who has 10 receptions for 176 yards and 1 TD, and WR Branden Alvarez with 10 receptions for 137 yards and 2 TDs.
I usually try to highlight guys on defense too, but there's not too much to highlight when you're giving up 500+ yards and 50+ points per game while only forcing 2 turnovers on the year. I mean, heck, they've only gotten 2 sacks on the year. It's been pretty dang bleak for the Viking defense. Now I will say that they've played both Washington State and Boise State who are having excellent seasons so far, but they've also been throttled by a 2-3 Weber State and 1-3 Chattanooga. I want to see the Aggie offense really get rolling and drop 40+ on them.
Massey giving the Aggies a 72% chance of winning for what it's worth.
Purely from the point of view of point differential, Sagarin has Davis as the fifth best Big Sky team, and will play three higher rated teams, Montana State, Montana, and Sac. Davis doesn’t have to play two Big Sky teams that are in their top 20, Weber and Northern Arizona. There is no thought behind these ratings, they just reflect comparative scores. Davis’ low ranking stems from their failure to blow out some winless teams and the narrow margin of their win over Idaho,
Portland often hit big plays and a running QB is always a threat (see the 4th quarter vs Idaho). I think our defense last week was very focused on #6 and we’re in man quite a bit - made us susceptible to the QB running for big gains after the coverage forced a scramble. I think Coombs will have something ready for that from the get go.
If the Aggie defense contains Chacere, then this game is over. Point blank. — CA Forever
Agree. Spy the QB, dominate on D. Looking for some nice offensive numbers- Lan needs to (and deserves to) start racking it up.
I also agree with DrMike that Coombs is going to have this one dialed in.
Additionally, margin of victory absolutely matters to the playoff committee. The next 4 games need to be CONVINCING (vs. PSU, CP, EWU & UNC). I'm talking 21+ point wins against the weakest conference teams.
UCD 41 - PSU 17
Viks score 2 rushing TDs and kick a late FG.
Anything less than 40 points dropped on the Vikings will be a disappointment and frankly I would like to see 50. PSU quite literally has the worst ranked defense in all of FCS as of right now... team defense ranked 123/123
Portland State's offense is not too bad. They have a very large offensive line, everyone at the top of their depth chart over 320lbs. They have a running back who gained 100 yards against Chattanooga. Against Chattanooga they were able to score 30 points despite their opponent having the ball for 35 minutes.
And Davis hasn't shown an interest in winning big.
I think Davis wins handily but by a score that looks closer than the game, as they did in their last five wins, going back to the Causeway.
They were a 1st year football program, playing an FCS-heavy schedule while transitioning to FBS (someone correct me if I'm wrong)
By 2013 they were FBS Conference USA. They miracle of $ (and football in Texas)...Having the Alamodome just sitting there helped a little too.
remember when Sourh Alabama came here in 2010 (I think)? They were playing JC’s, military schools and a handful of FCS like us. They had an equipment Semi that was bigger than Montana’s and brought a bunch of fans!
I was at that game as a student and it really hit me how crazy football fans in the south are. I knew about the SEC but I assumed it was basically that conference or Texas. Seeing so many trailers and tailgaters on an overcast day was shocking. Then of course we lost. It was even mentioned in church the next day and I remember loudly saying "Oh no!" when the pastor mentioned it on the pulpit.