2015 Record: 9-3 (6-2)
Key Returners: Davond Dade, Xavier Coleman, Jonathan Gonzales, Alex Kuresa
Key Losses: David Jones, Thomas Carter III, Patrick Onwuasor
Portland State found themselves at the top of the food chain very temporarily last season. They shocked the college football world when they opened the season in a very soggy Pullman, Washington and knocked off Mike Leach’s Washington State Cougars 24-17. Barneyball was officially trending right off the bat last season and didn’t show many signs of letting up. Barneyball referring to Vikings head coach Bruce Barnum, the now second year head coach in Portland. The Vikings finished the season at 9-3 and earned themselves a playoff berth for the first time since 2000. The Vikings playoff run was short lived as they were bounced at home by MVFC foe Northern Iowa. Portland State, now that they’ve had a taste of the playoffs, will be a little better prepared this time for the big time atmosphere of playoff football.
The Vikings finished the season at 31st in total offense, coming in with 419 yards per game. Their offense allowed them to take advantage of bad fields and control the football in tough situations. They made their living by winning a lot of close games last season. The Viking defense wasn’t too shabby either, finishing 62nd and giving up 384 yards per game. They were +20 in touchdowns. Portland State feasted on opposing teams by finishing fifth in the country in turnover margin, finishing +13. Good football teams are able to get takeaways and keep from handing the ball to the opposing team. The only real lopsided game they had last season was their final game vs UNI. The Vikings showed that playing good offense and playing pretty good defense can really help your team out in the win column.
The Vikings will return their starting quarterback, senior Alex Kuresa who was a threat in the passing and rushing game. Kuresa threw for 1975 yards and 17 touchdowns, while also rushing for 755 yards and seven scores. Pretty impressive for a guy in his first year as a starter. They’ll also return one of their leading rushers from last season, Nate Tago, who piled on another 421 yards and six scores for the Vikings. Their leading receiver, Darnell Jones, will also be back. He caught 478 yards and six scores last season. There is plenty of talent on this team to keep winning. Part of the reason Portland State was able to finish so well in the turnover margin was Vikings safety Patrick Onwuasor who picked off nine footballs last season. That’s just as good as an old fashioned highway robbery.
Portland State has a good chance to pile up some wins this season as they avoid most of the top teams in the Big Sky. Their only drawback is they will play two FBS games, at San Jose State and at Washington. You have to think that they have a chance to beat San Jose State. In the conference they will face Southern Utah on the road and Eastern Washington in Portland. Mixed in with them are teams picked to finish at the bottom of the rankings. Portland State will probably need to beat San Jose State to be taken seriously as a playoff team, but as we saw last year, beating an FBS team and having a good regular season record doesn’t guarantee playoff success. If there was a year that Portland State was going to outright win the Big Sky this is the year for them to do so. Whether they take a step back or not is left to be seen but there’s no reason this team can’t have success.
9/3 vs. Central Washington
9/10 at San Jose State
9/17 at Washington
9/24 at Southern Utah
10/1 vs. Idaho State
10/8 at Weber State
10/15 vs. Cal Poly
10/29 vs. Northern Colorado
11/5 at UC Davis
11/12 at Sacramento State
11/18 vs. Eastern Washington
