If Portland State’s impressive 47-36 victory over Eastern Washington last week was the breakthrough game that helped the Vikings find direction, then Saturday was confirmation that the team had once again torn up the map.
For the vast majority of Portland State’s 37-17 defeat to Northern Arizona Saturday, the Vikings looked completely lost.
Starting quarterback Drew Hubel was unable to escape the vicious Lumberjacks pass rush. The Portland State defense played well at times but could never come up with a stop in crucial moments. And the Vikings were unable to convert key third downs.
In many ways, Saturday was a microcosm of all the negatives Portland State has experienced this season, and the end result was a loss to a conference foe, dropping the Vikings to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in Big Sky Conference play.
Portland State began the game poorly-facing a 20-0 deficit by the second quarter-with much of the early woes stemming from the play of Hubel.
Following a five-touchdown, 623-yard masterpiece against Eastern Washington one week ago, the sophomore signal caller succumbed to the pressure of an overbearing Northern Arizona defense that forced him into a pair of interceptions and only 7 of 22 passing.
One of Hubel’s first-quarter interceptions was returned 48 yards for a touchdown by Joel Sienkiewicz, while the other set up a 12-play scoring drive that brought the Lumberjacks’ lead to 17-0 early in the second quarter.
With the Vikings behind 27-3 midway through the second quarter, offensive coordinator Mouse Davis made the switch that is becoming all too common for Portland State fans-he brought in junior quarterback Tygue Howland.
Howland entered the game and immediately made an impact, orchestrating an 80-yard scoring drive that ended with a one-yard fall into the end zone for junior fullback Bobby McClintock, making it 27-10 just before halftime.
Portland State crept within 10 points with a Mario D’Ambrosio third-quarter touchdown catch, however, that would serve as the Vikings’ final score of the day, as they continued to experience trouble moving the ball and converted only 4 of 16 third downs.
Howland finished with 246 yards passing and a touchdown but was sacked seven times in a lengthy relief stint.
Davis decision to bring Howland in for Hubel marked the third time this season that one of the two quarterbacks started a game only to be pulled in favor of the other. The Vikings are 1-2 this season when Davis makes a mid-game switch.
Other offensive leaders include D’Ambrosio, who hauled in 10 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, and junior wide receiver Aaron Woods, who only nabbed four passes but amassed 96 yards.
The Vikings still managed 355 total yards of offense but were rattled by the constant pressure of the Lumberjacks.
Northern Arizona, who leads the nation in sacks, brought down the Portland State quarterbacks 10 times in the backfield for a combined loss of 63 yards. After having problems with pass blocking last season, Portland State had been much improved until Saturday.
While the Lumberjacks forced three turnovers-two interceptions and a fumble-the Vikings only secured one takeaway, which is uncharacteristic considering Portland State had a Big Sky-leading 18 takeaways heading into Saturday.