Portland State football returns to the metro area this weekend as the Vikings host the Eastern Washington Eagles at Hillsboro Stadium on Saturday in the second-to-last home games of the season.
Records entering the game
Portland State enters this week’s contest with a 2-5 record on the season and 1-3 in Big Sky Conference play. The Vikings are coming off back-to-back final-second losses to Montana and Weber State.
Eastern Washington is having a strong season, going 6-2 overall with an equally impressive 5-1 record in conference. The Eagles are currently ranked eighth in the nation in FCS football, and are sharing the conference lead with Montana. After facing the Vikings, the Eagles will only have one more conference game remaining on their schedule. Portland State, however, will still face three more conference opponents.
Last year’s matchup
On a nasty day in Seattle, things got even nastier for the Vikings. Though it was technically considered a home game for the Eagles, the game was played in the big-time venue of Qwest Field, home to the Seattle Seahawks. Unfortunately, the Viks forgot to bring their big-time game.
When Eagles quarterback Matt Nichols was done throwing for his 413 yards and four touchdowns, the score stood at 47-10, Eastern Washington. The 10 points scored by Portland State might seem to indicate there was some offensive production by the Viks, but that was not the case. In fact, PSU caught the Eagles with not one, but two safeties and kicked two field goals to register those points.
Not only could the Viking offense not produce, but they also couldn’t hold on to the ball. Eastern’s defense came up with five interceptions, four of which came from the hands of safety Matt Johnson.
The Dam Cup
Portland State and Eastern Washington have engaged in some additional rivalry this year. The two schools have begun a new competition that they are calling The Dam Cup. The yearlong, multi-sport contest is named for the series of dams between the two schools.
Each sporting event that takes place between the Vikings and Eagles this year has been assigned a point value. There are 17 points possible, and the football game—worth four points—has the largest value for a single game.
The Viks are currently leading with a score of 3-0, but if the Eagles come up with a win on Saturday, Portland State will find itself behind, 4-3.
Scouting the Eagles
Just like last year, the Eagles are an offensive powerhouse. And, just like last year, their secondary is full of ball hawkers.
Johnson returns as safety, and his Eagles defense is the top group of interceptors in the conference, with 15 so far this season. Johnson alone is responsible for four of those, giving him the highest individual total in the Big Sky. However, their pass defense is ranked next-to-last in the league.
The run defense is slightly better, allowing only 142.6 rushing yards per game. Linebacker JC Sherritt, also a returning starter from last year, has the second-highest tackles total, with 91 so far this season. One player the Eagles will not have on Saturday’s depth chart is sophomore defensive back Artise Gauldin, according to league reports. The Big Sky Conference issued Gauldin a one-game suspension for an illegal hit that “targeted an opponent above the shoulders” in last week’s win over Sacramento State.
Eastern Washington’s offense is slightly underwhelming this year, though they do have Taiwan Jones, the conference’s leading rusher. His average carry goes for 7.3 yards, and he has proven to be a challenge to contain for every team.
The passing game is managing the games well and they’re getting the wins they need. Quarterback Bo Mitchell has thrown for just shy of 2,000 yards—the second highest total in the conference—and he has a touchdown-interception differential of +7, but he does make mistakes.
Scouting the Vikings
The Viks will need to have short-term memory before they begin this game. They are coming off of three straight losses, two of which slipped through their fingers in the final moments.
The defense is going to have to recover from their poor showing last week against Weber State. Last week, the run defense allowed Weber State to rack up 337 rushing yards and fell to being the worst run defense in the conference. If there is to be any chance of walking away with a win this week, the Viks can’t allow Jones to have that kind of day.
The strong point of the Viking offense has been the running game. Between junior running back Cory McCaffrey and junior quarterback Connor Kavanaugh, the Viks have totaled 1,540 rushing yards.
Like he was last week, Kavanaugh should be allowed to try to stretch the field at least a few times in this game, despite the threatening Eagles secondary. He’s been remarkably accurate, and thrown only three interceptions all season—the lowest total among conference quarterbacks who have thrown for at least 600 yards.
Kickoff at Hillsboro Stadium is set for 5:05 p.m. Saturday. The game can also be viewed online at b2tv.com or heard on the radio on KXFD, Freedom 970 AM or at www.970.am on the Web. The pregame show begins at 4 p.m. ?