Portland State football is already preparing for the 2013 schedule as spring practices have begun for next season. The Vikings have announced that they will hold their annual spring game at Evergreen High School in Vancouver on May 18. The season will start up again in September with a matchup against the University of California, Berkeley, on the road. PSU’s first Big Sky meeting comes against the University of California, Davis, two games later, followed by a nationally televised game at home against California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, on Sept. 26. The Mustangs are coming off a year in which they went 9-3 in the regular season, earned a playoff berth and beat the Vikings 37-25 in their matchup last season.
Football on the horizon for PSU
Portland State football is already preparing for the 2013 schedule as spring practices have begun for next season.
The Vikings have announced that they will hold their annual spring game at Evergreen High School in Vancouver on May 18. The season will start up again in September with a matchup against the University of California, Berkeley, on the road. PSU’s first Big Sky meeting comes against the University of California, Davis, two games later, followed by a nationally televised game at home against California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, on Sept. 26. The Mustangs are coming off a year in which they went 9-3 in the regular season, earned a playoff berth and beat the Vikings 37-25 in their matchup last season.
In addition to the Cal Poly game, PSU is scheduled to make two more appearances on national television this season, with matchups against the University of Montana on Oct. 5 and Eastern Washington University in the Dam Cup season finale on Nov. 23. Eastern Washington had a strong campaign last season, finishing 11-3 and claiming a share of the conference title along with Cal Poly and Montana State University.
PSU is hoping to recover from last year’s disappointing season, in which the Vikings went 3-8 overall and 2-6 in Big Sky play. The season before that the Vikings had looked to be on the rise after winning seven of their 11 games, but they couldn’t carry that success into 2012. Defense was an issue for most of last year, and the team has brought in new Defensive Coordinator Jaime Hill to help remedy the situation.
The lineup has remained largely intact, though, as the Vikings return 12 starters from 2012, including quarterback Kieran McDonagh. McDonagh is coming off one of the most productive seasons by a freshman in school history and will try to improve upon that success in his sophomore year as he leads the Viking against a full slate of tough Big Sky competition.
