Winning season ends with loss

Portland State’s football season came to an end this weekend after a 48-33 loss to the Weber State Wildcats on Saturday afternoon at Jeld-Wen Field. A win against the Wildcats would have kept the Vikings in the discussion for an at-large berth for the FCS Division I postseason tournament. An appearance in the playoffs would have been the program’s first in 10 years.

Portland State had a breakout season in 2011, finishing third in the Big Sky standings with a record of 7-4 overall and 5-3 in conference. The Vikings saw one of the biggest turnarounds in the nation after a 2-9 overall record in 2010—securing the program’s first winning season since 2006, ranking in the Top 25 for the first time since 2007 and winning four-straight games for the first time since 2004.

“They not only put Portland State back on the map, they started talking about all the things we always talked about here, playoffs, national championships,” Vikings head coach Nigel Burton said.“They got people excited; the city was proud of them.”

It was an emotional day, as seniors from both sides took the field for possibly the last time in their collegiate careers, including 27 Viking seniors. Both teams came out swinging, as Weber State (5-6 overall, 5-3 conference) put up 374 yards of total offense with 268 yards coming from the rushing attack, while the Vikings accumulated 496 yards of total offense behind a career-passing day by senior quarterback Connor Kavanaugh.

Despite the advantage in total yards, Portland State suffered at the hands of the Weber State defense. The Vikings had two turnovers, a punt attempt was blocked inside their own red zone and a fake-field goal play in Wildcat territory was snuffed short of the first down line. Senior defensive lineman Myles Wade played a large role in the defensive success for Portland State this season, but was lost for answers after the game.

“It was just blown assignments, thinking too much and really I don’t know what was going on out there,” Wade said. “It is all about momentum and they stole all of the momentum.”

The shift in control occurred after the Vikings fought back from a 27-20 halftime deficit, culminating in a 30-27 lead over Weber State with 8:51 left in the fourth quarter. However, the Wildcats struck back quickly with back-to-back rushing touchdown on their ensuing drives from running back CJ Tuckett to take a 41-30 lead.

Fueled by a massive effort from Tuckett, the Wildcats outscored the Vikings 21-6 in the fourth to capture the momentum and close out the game. Tucket finished the day with 211 yards rushing and five touchdowns, including three touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone. Weber State came into the match-up averaging 206 yards rushing as a team.

Portland State entered the weekend leading the conference in rushing at over 260 yards per game, but only managed 120 yards total against Weber State. The Vikings’ run attack was depleted further after Shaquille Richard went down with an injury in last week’s win against Northern Colorado. Cornerback Denzel Davis, who has not played on offense since high school, took half of the Viking handoffs on the day, running for 76 yards on 20 carries. Kavanaugh, who came into the game averaging over 100 yards on the ground, ran for 32 yards on 11 carries.

Portland State relied heavily on their passing game on Saturday afternoon. Kavanaugh completed 22 of 37 passes for a career-high 364 yards, including two touchdowns and an interception. With the Vikings’ ground-game running stagnant, the offense opted to move the ball through the air and Kavanaugh responded.

“We came in wanting to throw the ball a little more,” Kavanaugh said. “We knew it was going to come down to the wire, we knew it was going to come down to the last snap.”

The Vikings turned to three different receivers to make big plays, as they fought to stay in the game. Junior Nevin Lewis led all receivers in the game, finishing with six catches for 143 yards, including a spectacular 80-yard touchdown catch to close out the first half. Junior Justin Monahan had five catches for 80-yards receiving and a touchdown. Junior tight end Kalua Noa put up 94 yards on seven receptions.

The Wildcats passing game was a non-factor, as quarterback Mike Hoke completed nine of 14 passes for 106 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The lone touchdown was caught early in the game by Shaydon Kehano, who led the Wildcats with 68 yards on five catches.

Portland State came into the game with one of the top rushing defenses in the Big Sky, only giving up 136.7 yards per game on the ground. Against Weber State, however, the Vikings gave up six rushing touchdowns and allowed the Wildcats to run for a 6.7 average per carry.

Vikings senior linebacker Ryan Rau concluded his college football campaign with 11 tackles to lead the Vikings. Senior free safety Manoa Latu finished with 10 tackles, a pass breakup and an interception. Senior Deshawn Shead had four tackles and a forced fumble.

The season-ending result was heartbreaking for the Vikings and their fans, but overall the team’s 2011 season will be remembered as a winning campaign. Burton and his players feel that this year’s success was only the beginning of greater things for the program down the road.

“I’m proud to be the head football coach here, and I’m proud of these guys,” Burton said. “We talked a lot about where we go from here, and the fact that once you show how great you can be, anything other than that will be unacceptable and they all know that.”