This will be the third year of Head Coach Jerry Glanville’s regime at PSU, and he will be looking to improve on last year’s 4-7 mark. There will be some tough games this year as the Vikings look to move up the ranks of the Big Sky Conference. Two preseason conference polls had the Vikings coming in sixth. This game-by-game preview should give an idea of what the season has in store.
Against Southern Oregon University, Sept. 12
The two teams have not met since 1975 when PSU blew SOU out of the water with 58-7 victory. SOU competes in a lower division and has only twelve returning starters on their roster. This game should serve as a nice opening home game.
At University of Montana, Sept. 19
This is the first inter-conference game of the season for both teams. The Grizzlies will be a formidable foe, as they have won or shared the conference title the past 11 years and the Viks have lost the last four games against them.
In last year’s matchup, the formidable Montana defense allowed just 15 yards rushing and kept yards through the air to 195 when the Vikings came into the game with a 415.4 passing yards-per-game average.
Glanville’s defense allowed Chase Reynolds, the Grizzlies’ running back and returning starter for this season, to run for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Stopping him may be the key to the Viks’ long-awaited success.
Against Weber State, Sept. 26
Glanville will be looking for his first win against a Wildcats team that shared the conference title last year.
Last year’s game was an overwhelming affirmation of the Wildcats’ power on the field. They scored the first 31 points of the game and withstood a late 21-point rally by the Viks. In that game, four different PSU quarterbacks got their cleats dirty.
Continuity and a strong defense are keys to this game, as last year’s fourth quarter shutout of the Wildcats shows.
Against Sacramento State, Oct. 3
This game marks the halfway point of the Vikings’ five consecutive inter-conference games. In the last match up, the Vikings’ run defense was incredibly stiff and allowed the Hornets a lowly 2.85 rushing average. Still, the Hornets pulled off a surprise victory and beat the Viks 41-31 despite playing from behind for half of the game.
This victory marked the first time in 10 years that the Hornets have won a game against PSU.
Linebacker Erik Pedersen had a strong game and garnered 11 tackles and Tygue Howland passed for 394 yards, so it’s difficult to point to just what went wrong. Sac State is an opponent that Glanville will have to take more seriously this time around.
At University of Northern Colorado, Oct. 10
In last year’s season-ending game against the Bears, Drew Hubel completed 78 percent of his passes for a total of 343 yards, and the running game had one of its more productive days with Bobby McClintock tallying 70 yards on 13 carries.
Colorado has lost five of its last six matchups against the Viks, and Glanville has a perfect record against them. If the defense can start out strong and remain strong, this one should be in the bag.
Against Northern Arizona University, Oct. 17
This game will be the last in the Viks’ first inter-conference run. Last year, the Lumberjacks dismantled the Viks. The Arizona defense was hot and heavy and racked up 10 sacks by the end of the game.
The Viks did themselves few favors by committing three turnovers in the first half, which the Lumberjacks happily turned into touchdowns.
The two teams netted the same number of first downs in the game, but Arizona controlled the clock for 34 minutes. Run defense will be the name of the game if Glanville wants to keep Arizona from stomping them for 185 yards. Every component of the Viks team will have to make beautiful music together for them to pull off a win.
Against University of California, Davis, Oct. 24
They may not be an inter-conference team, but this game will offer no respite for the Viks—the Aggies have come up winners over the Viks in the past two meetings.
In their meeting last year, the Viks called the lowest number of running plays, eight, that they would in any game last season.
It’s difficult to imagine that this year’s secondary will allow Aggie quarterback Greg Denham to pass for 361 yards again and if the offense gets into a rhythm and keeps scoring in the second half, unlike last year, a win is more than attainable.
At Eastern Washington University, Oct. 31
This game promises to be a special one as it is going to be played in Seattle at Qwest Field. The secondary won’t have a moment to rest with three of the top 10 receivers from the conference last year being on the field with them.
The Eagles will have to contain quarterback Drew Hubel who, against them last year, had a perfect day. He threw 73 passes without an interception for 623 passing yards, now a school record and just one yard shy of the national record. He also had five touchdowns and four receivers with over 100 yards receiving apiece. If Hubel has another day like that one, the Viks will leave the Eagles squawking.
Against Montana State University, Nov. 7
The Bobcats stomped the Viks in last year’s game with 396 rushing yards. Anybody who has even the smallest inkling about football is reading this with his or her jaw on the ground.
Though there were valiant efforts from more than a few players, like Aaron Woods’s kickoff return for a touchdown and receiver Daniel Wolverton’s strip of an interception in the end zone to reclaim a potentially lost touchdown, the Montana team proved too much and outscored the Viks by a factor of about two in the last three quarters.
Though it needs no saying, stopping the run gives Glanville a chance to get his first win over the Bobcats.
At Idaho State University, Nov. 14
Glanville’s defense was unmovable in the last meeting. This game, as the last one of the season, should prove to be a good note to end on. Idaho State has not had a serious threat in the running game and their defense seems happy to give up ground through the air.
Last season, quarterback Hubel struck for 474 yards and he didn’t even play the entire game. This game will be interesting for a couple of reasons, however. One, it is the last game of the season. Two, Bengals head coach John Zamberlin is entering his third year, just like Glanville, and it will be fun to compare the progress that the two have made with their respective teams.