After almost a month of being on the road, the Vikings are finally coming back home to face Sacramento State at PGE Park at 6:00pm this Friday, October 18th. With the 3-3 record they are holding, some believe the Vikings chances of winning a Big Sky championship are very slim.
The Vikings have come off of a road trip where they won one game and lost two. The Vikings now have the chance to prove that they are very worthy of a Big Sky championship if they have what it takes to defeat Sacramento State.
Offensive Coordinator Dave Tolbert believes that the Viking offense will be bringing their best game to the Hornets and is looking forward to a great game. Telford says that even though the Viks have an incredible record against the Hornets, he is not going to take them lightly.
“We have to execute, even though we’ve won against them in the last games that I’ve been here, they’ve been tough games,” Telford Said. “Last year we struggled against them early and the played well in the second half and then two years ago we wound up having a high scoring game where we had sixty-some points and the had forty-some points. They haven’t been blowouts by any stretch of the imagination, but if we execute and do the little things right, and play hard we should have some success”
The Hornets are standing in the way of the Vikings road to the championship and The Viks had a good run against Sacramento State in the previous season with the offense making the Hornets’ defense having to take on more than they bargained for. The Viks are looking to do the same to the hornets this year and are going to do their best to win.
Having won eight our of nine games against Sac State and winning the past three games in a row, the Vikings have often made the Hornets look like buffoons on the field with an average of 39.9 points in the nine games that they have played against each other.
However the Hornets are looking to redeem themselves because of their humiliating win/loss record against PSU. The Hornets may come to Portland State with their best game, looking for their first win against Portland State since 1985. If the Hornets do manage to win against the Vikings, the Viks will have a Big Sky record of (0-3) for the first time since 1996. Coach
“They play pretty good on defense,” Telford Said. “They’ve giving up some yards though which is always encouraging, to see a team that statistically allows people to move the football. They’ve also made some changes within the last week and a half or so with what they’ve been doing. They’ve simplified what they’ve done, they play hard, they have good athletes and they held NAU at 24 points, which is pretty good, so we expect them to be a challenge. However, we have to worry a lot more about us than about them.”