Vikings fall in Texas heat

After starting the season 2-0, the Portland State football team was finally grounded. This past Saturday, the 20th-ranked Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, the defending Rose Bowl champions, beat the Vikings (2-1 overall, 1-0 Big-Sky) in Fort Worth, Texas. The 55-13 loss was the Viks’ second non-conference match-up of the season, serving as a strong test for the Vikings before resuming Big Sky Conference play this weekend at Idaho State. The result was tough for the team to take, but progress was still made despite the score.

“I think in the end we had a lot of self-inflicted wounds,” Vikings head coach Nigel Burton said. “In the end though, it showed our team that we had the ability to not only play anybody, but beat anybody.”

The Vikings started the game without fear, marching the ball 71 yards down the field on their opening drive and capping it off with a 22-yard field goal to give Portland State an early 3-0 advantage. The momentum would not stay in the Viks’ favor for long, though, as TCU scored the next 41 points, including a 21-point scoring frenzy in the final two minutes of the first half. With 1:55 left before the break, the Vikings’ defense had held TCU to only a field goal. The 3-3 tie quickly turned into to a 24-3 TCU advantage by halftime, giving the Horned Frogs all the momentum they needed to close out the game.

Still, facing a David and Goliath-type match up, the Vikings managed to move the ball down the field, gaining 295 yards of total offense, although they failed to get the ball in the red zone until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Vikings’ pistol offense has helped the team’s run-heavy strategy find success, but after averaging 348 yards on the ground after the first two games of the season, they were held to only 119 yards against the Frogs. A big part of the Viks’ success on offense has come from All-Big Sky running back Cory McCaffrey, who ran for 222 yards in the victory over Northern Arizona, but McCaffrey sat out against TCU nursing a sore knee. Freshman running back Shaquille Richard ran for 90 yards to lead the team in rushing.

The passing game looked much improved for Portland State after last week’s win against NAU, where only 68 yards were added through the air. The time behind center against TCU was split between senior quarterbacks Connor Kavanaugh and Drew Hubel, who threw for a combined 176 yards and one interception. The Horned Frogs found more success through the air behind first year starting quarterback Casey Pachall, who completed 14 of 20 passes for 214 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

TCU has drawn major criticism so far this season, as the defending Rose Bowl champs started their season with a 50-48 loss at Baylor and a less than convincing 38-17 victory over the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Yet the Horned Frogs played with urgency and came out strong against the Vikings, taking advantage of crucial mistakes and turning the only Viking interception into a touchdown.

“It didn’t take much [for TCU to regain momentum],” Burton said. “This is what happens when you play a great team; they capitalize on opportunities whereas an average or a poor team wouldn’t be able to turn those mistakes into touchdowns.”

The Horned Frogs move to 3-1 overall and continue their home winning streak, now extended to 22 straight games. The Frogs outmatched the Vikings in the second half, piling up 462 yards of total offense, including 248 yards on the ground behind running back Waymon James’ 136 yards rushing.

Despite the loss, Portland State moves into next week’s matchup against Idaho State with a 1-0 record in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings snapped their seven game conference-losing streak after defeating Northern Arizona 31–29 on Sept. 17, but still feel there is reason to keep making improvements every week.

“We need more focus; focus on details and focus on assignments,” Kavanaugh said. “We have some of the best athletes in the conference and if we each do our job and focus on us it will make our team better.”

The Vikings started the season with back-to-back wins at home, but will take to the road once again to face an Idaho State squad that is reeling after last week’s 20-3 loss at Northern Arizona. Portland State should have starting running back McCaffrey back on the field and suited up for action. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. this Saturday in Pocatello, Idaho.