Vikings Face UC Davis in Non-Conference Road Test


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The true litmus test for the Portland State football team comes this week when the Vikings face UC Davis in a non-conference game at Aggie Stadium.

The Vikings are 2-1 after wins over lower division schools and a close battle with Pac-12 California. UC Davis (0-3) presents the first Football Championship Subdivision competition of the season. And, although the Aggies are members of the Big Sky Conference, the game will be played as a non-conference contest.

Saturday’s game will be a 6 p.m. kickoff in Davis, CA. The game is not televised, but is available via live video stream at www.WatchBigSky.com. It airs on the radio at Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com, with a pre-game show at 5 p.m.

The Vikings bring one of the top offenses in the nation into this week’s play. PSU averages 615.7 yards and 43.3 points per game. Meanwhile, the Aggies have struggled offensively, scoring only 24 points in three losses this season. UCD’s competition has been though, with road losses at South Dakota (10-7) and Nevada (36-7), and a home loss to nationally-ranked Northern Arizona (21-10).

The Vikings are 0-1 on the road, while the Aggies are 0-1 at home. PSU has won the last two meetings between the schools, 49-21 last year in a conference contest, and 41-33 in 2010 in a non-conference game.

PSU Head Coach Nigel Burton is 2-0 against the Aggies. The 2010 win was his first career victory as a head coach.

Saturday’s game is the fourth and final non-conference contest this year for Portland State which is playing its’ first-ever 12-game regular-season. The Vikings have an all-California September, playing Cal, Humboldt State, UC Davis and Cal Poly (Sept. 26).

SCOUTING THE AGGIES

UC Davis, under first-year Head Coach Ron Gould, is 0-3 on the season. The Aggies have played low-scoring, low-offense games. While UCD’s offense has been able to produce only 24 points in three games, its’ defense has played well, allowing just 337.3 yards and 22.3 points against solid competition.

The Aggies had a 10-7 lead on 25th-ranked Northern Arizona last Saturday before giving up a pair of long interception returns for touchdowns in the fourth quarter. UCD held NAU to just a 191 yards of total offense and only 66 on the ground. The 21-10 Lumberjacks’ win featured a total of 20 punts.

UC Davis averages 269.3 yards and 8.0 points per game on offense. The Aggies have given away five turnovers this season. Gabe Manzares and Tavior Mowry (250 combined yards) have led the running game. Tom Hemmingsen has 13 receptions for 153 yards and a score this year. Quarterback Jimmy Laughrea has completed 35-70 passes for 382 yards, four interceptions and a touchdown.

Nick King had three quarterback sacks against Northern Arizona and leads the team with four this season. Aaryn Jones has a team-high 24 tackles and a two pass breakups.

GOULD WAS A VIKING

UC Davis Head Coach Ron Gould is one of three Big Sky Conference Head Coaches that formerly coached at Portland State. Gould was an assistant under Pokey Allen at Portland State in 1992. Northern Arizona Head Coach Jerome Souers – who has the longest tenure of any head coach in the league – was a one-time assistant under Don Read at Portland State in the early 1980s. Cal Poly Head Coach Tim Walsh was the Vikings’ Head Coach from 1993-2006… and of course, Nigel Burton was an assistant under Tim Walsh at PSU in 2001-02. He took over as Vikings’ Head Coach in 2010.

VIKING QUICK NOTES

WINS AND LOSSES: Portland State is 2-1 on the season, 2-0 at home and 0-1 on the road… the Vikings are 8-5 at home since the start of 2011, 4-8 on the road… Head Coach Nigel Burton now has a 9-8 home record, 5-14 road record… the Vikings have eight winning records in 17 years as a member of the Big Sky Conference… PSU is 59-34 in home games since moving to the NCAA I level, 29-69 on the road… PSU is 57-74 all-time in Big Sky Conference games in its’ 17 seasons as a member. The Vikings are 35-31 at home, 22-43 on the road in BSC games.

THE OFFENSE ROLLS ON: Portland State’s offense continues to impress through three games this season.

  • The Vikings are averaging 615.7 yards of total offense to rank second in the nation.
  • PSU’s 20.0 yards per catch leads the nation.
  • The Vikings are fourth in rushing offense (295.0) and eighth in passing offense (320.7).
  • The Vikings are averaging 43.3 points per game to rank seventh in the nation.
  • PSU leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring, total offense, rushing offense and first downs (81).
  • SR RB DJ Adams ranks 29th in the nation in rushing (94.3) and 10th in scoring (10.0)
  • SO QB Kieran McDonagh leads the nation in yards per completion (20.9), ranks fifth in total offense (328.7) and pass efficiency (181.9). He is 12th in passing yards (285.0).
  • JR WR Kasey Closs is fifth in the nation in receiving yards (127.3).

“He is really, really, really, really good”: That is what Head Coach Nigel Burton said about his quarterback Kieran McDonagh after the 43-6 win over Humboldt State. McDonagh posted career-high for passing yards (377) and total offense (441) in the game. That came after setting a personal record for passing yards (308) and totaling 368 yards at Cal the week before. McDonagh is among the nation’s top quarterbacks early in the season, averaging 328.7 yards of total offense. He has passed for five touchdowns and run for a sixth.

SACK MASTERS: Portland State made eight sacks against Humboldt State, easily the most in recent memory (the school record is 11 vs. Idaho, 1987). SR DE Bryant Long was credited with 2.5 sacks to lead the team. .. in all the Vikings had 18 tackles for loss in the game, with SR LB Jaycob Shoemaker garnering three tackles for loss, one of which was a safety on HSU quarterback Kyle Morris… Portland State leads the Big Sky Conference with 14 sacks this season.

HANG ON: One bad mark on the Viking offense this season has been the number of fumbles lost. PSU lost four more fumbles against Humboldt State and now has nine on the season. The Vikings lost only eight fumbles in all of 2012.

KASEY’S CONTRIBUTION: JR WR Kasey Closs had 10 receptions for 205 yards and a touchdown against Humboldt State. It was the first time a Viking has had a 200-yard receiving since Tremayne Kirkland had 225 yards against Northern Arizona on Oct. 6, 2008… Closs leads the team in receiving with 16 catches for 382 yards and three scores in 2013. He averages 23.9 yards per catch. Closs is fifth in the nation in receiving (127.3 per game).

THE TOUCHDOWN MAKER: SR RB DJ Adams only had 10 carries for 37 yards in the big win over Humboldt State. He did not hit paydirt for the first time this season. However, he still has five touchdowns on the season and 17 in his PSU career on 213 carries. Counting his two seasons at Maryland, Adams has 32 career rushing touchdowns on 320 carries. That is one end zone trip for every 10 totes.

YOU’RE NOT GETTING OLDER, YOU’RE GETTING BETTER: JR P Kyle Loomis has an interesting story (see below) as a veteran of one season of football at Oregon State (2006) and nearly four years in the US Army. With a 26th birthday looming for Loomis on Sept. 30, he is the oldest Viking, but also one of the most effective so far this season. After seven years away from football, Loomis is averaging 48.9 yards per punt (at sea level) to rank third in the nation. Of his 11 punts, six have gone 50+ yards and five have been downed inside the 20… Loomis boomed a season-best 67-yarder against Humboldt State.

1000-YARDERS: Both SR RB DJ Adams and JR RB Shaquille Richard passed 1,000 career rushing yards against Eastern Oregon (8/29). Adams totaled 967 yards last season for the Vikings. He now has 1,250 career yards on 213 carries, and 17 touchdowns. Richard had 908 career rushing yards prior to the season, and now has 1,075 yards on 235 carries with six touchdowns.

A GAME OF INCHES: Having 6-foot-6-inch JR WR Victor Dean on the team makes him a valuable target for SO QB Kieran McDonagh. But Dean has proven to be valuable in another way. Dean blocked two Humboldt State field goals while leaping from the second row.

GETTING DEFENSIVE:

  • The six points allowed by the Viking defense to Humboldt State were the fewest given up since a 52-0 win over Southern Oregon in the 2011 opener (a span of 24 games).
  • Portland State has forced eight turnovers in three games.
  • The Vikings lead the Big Sky Conference with 14 quarterback sacks.
  • PSU has 35 tackles for loss in three games.
  • SR S Dean Faddis leads the Vikings with 24 tackles this season.

GETTING OUT THE VOTE: Portland State has received eight voting point in the FCS Coaches poll. They are the equivalent of 34th in the nation in the voting.

CLEAN IT UP: The downside of PSU’s first two games was 25 penalties. The good news is PSU has dropped its’ penalty total each game, from 16 to 9 to 5 against Humboldt State. Still, the Vikings rank 12th among 13 teams in the Big Sky Conference in penalties with 10.0 per game… PSU was heavily penalized last year as well, averaging 8.6 penalties for 75.3 yards per game.

TASTY, YET INSIGNIFICANT, TIDBITS:

  • SR RB DJ Adams and JR RB Shaq Richard have each passed 1,000 career rushing yards this season, while SO QB Kieran McDonagh has now passed 3,000 career passing yards.
  • The 57 points scored by the Vikings against Eastern Oregon is the most ever in a season-opening game in the 67-year history of the PSU program.
  • The Vikings are 13-0 against lower division teams since moving to the Big Sky Conference in 1996.
  • Portland State is now 4-0 all-time in Thursday games.
  • Portland State has now appeared on television locally in Portland 51 times since joining the Big Sky Conference. PSU is 19-32 in those games, 12-10 at home, 7-22 on the road… PSU is 0-1 in televised games this year.

Written by Mike Lund | Courtesy of GoViks.com

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