Vikings undefeated no longer

In what was hyped by many as one of the biggest games in years for the Portland State football program, the Vikings came up short against the third-ranked Montana State Bobcats in the battle between the last two undefeated teams in the Big Sky conference. In front of an enthusiastic crowd of supporters at Jeld-Wen Field, the reigning Big Sky champion Bobcats showed their defensive prowess by containing the Vikings’ run attack and holding off a late-game comeback by the home team. With the loss, Portland State (3-2 overall, 2-1 conference) drops into a tie for third place with Weber State in the Big Sky standings, while Montana State (5-1 overall, 3-0) takes over sole possession of first.

Despite jumping out to an early 10-point lead in the opening quarter, the Vikings spent much of the second half fighting to get back into the game, trailing 38-22 with 6:47 left in the fourth quarter. A fake
onside kickoff by Portland State turned into a long pooch kick, and without a Montana State player lined up in the backfield the Vikings recovered the ball and scored a touchdown to bring them within two points. However, the Bobcats defense stuffed the Vikings’ ensuing two-point conversion attempt and then managed to run the
clock out.

“In the end it just came down to a lack of discipline,” Vikings head coach Nigel Burton said. “It’s defensive football—it takes one guy to not stay in his gap, one guy to turn his shoulders, a guy not running his feet on a tackle—and that’s what happened. It’s unfortunate because our guys played hard and deserved to win, but we just couldn’t get it done.”

The Vikings offense played productively, but didn’t put up the staggering numbers they’d become accustomed to prior to Saturday’s match. The Vikings averaged 464.3 yards of total offense coming into the game against Montana State, but were held well below that average with 340 total yards on the afternoon.

After losing their early lead, Portland State got back within striking distance by falling back on their running game, which has been the bread and butter of the Vikings offense this season. However, Montana State came into the game leading the Big Sky in multiple defensive categories, including rushing yards allowed, as the Bobcats have held opponents to only 131 yards on the ground in 2011. On Saturday, Portland State only managed 213 yards rushing, 100 yards under their average. All-conference running back Cory McCaffrey came into the game as the nation’s leading rusher, and led the team with 119 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns. Portland State quarterback Connor Kavanaugh finished with 212 yards rushing against Idaho State and was held to 75 yards on 15 carries against the Bobcats.

Portland State ran 41 rushing plays to get 213 yards compared to 27 pass attempts for 127 yards. Still, Kavanaugh made solid decisions running the Pistol, completing 15 of 26 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown. The Vikings only touchdown pass on Saturday was a crucial catch in the closing minutes by tight end Kalua Noa to bring the game to 36–38. Noa’s touchdown catch was the first of his career and was one of his two catches on the day for a total of 29 yards. McCaffrey led the receiving group with 41 yards on seven receptions to bring his all-purpose yards to 160 in the game.

Self-inflicted wounds plagued Portland State and were a major factor leading to the loss, as the Vikings had 15 penalties for a total of 151 yards. When playing the third ranked team in the nation there’s little room for error and Burton felt that the penalties could have been the difference maker.

“There were opportunities that were out there and because of a penalty at a critical time it took us out of an opportunity to do the things we wanted to do,” Burton said.

Portland State currently leads the conference in penalties, averaging nearly 120 yards per game. Similar mistakes nearly cost the Vikings against Idaho State as they racked up over 200 yards in penalties two weeks ago.

Montana State came to Portland with only one loss in their season opening non-conference match with Utah, but have absolutely been on a roll since. Bobcats quarterback DeNarius McGhee led the offense to 428 yards of total offense against the Viks with 255 of those yards coming through the air. McGhee completed 15 of 22 passes and had four touchdowns, connecting on a 69-yard touchdown pass to John Ellis to highlight the day. Portland native and star Montana State receiver Elvis Akpla caught four passes for 78 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bobcats receiving crew.

The Portland State defense and special teams made a number of big plays at crucial times, including two blocked punts and a blocked field goal. The defense stepped up in the fourth quarter on the fake onside punt which helped Portland State set up on the Montana State 20 yard line, however they were unable to stop the Bobcats from running out the clock in the final minutes. The porous Viking secondary was burned for 255 yards through the air and gave up a number of big yard plays. Linebacker Ryan Rau led the day with 11 tackles, including two for losses, in what was still a promising performance overall from the defense.

Despite the end of the Vikings short-lived undefeated record in the Big Sky, the pace will not slow down as the team hits the road to face the University of Montana in Missoula this upcoming Saturday. Fixing Portland State’s penalty problems seemed to be Burton’s main concern after the loss, and with a Montana team that averages only 44.7 yards in penalties per game, whether or not the Vikings continue to shoot themselves in the foot could be the deciding factor for this weekend and the rest of the season.