Final Boxscore

Hillsboro, OR - The Portland State football program came agonizingly close to registering its first signature victory in years, but lost to the University of Montana, 23-21, on a final-play field goal by Brody McKnight.

The Vikings took a 21-20 lead on an 11-play, 97-yard drive with 2:34 left in the game. Quarterback Connor Kavanaugh and running back Cory McCaffrey led a rushing barrage as PSU never threw a pass on the series. Key plays were a Nick Hutter sweep for 18 yards, then McCaffrey's 20-yard burst down to the Montana 1-yard line.

McCaffrey dove over for the score on the next play, giving the Vikings their first lead since 14-7 in the third period.

But, Montana came back in the final drive, moving the ball 54 yards on 11 plays while managing the clock with all three timeouts. Chase Reynolds had 24 total yards on the series as Montana finally positioned the ball in the center of the field at the 8-yard line. McKnight calmly knocked through the winning 25-yarder - his field goal in the final period.

The loss for PSU nullified a brilliant defensive performance. The Vikings allowed the 11th-ranked Grizzlies 295 yards of offense and the longest drive they could muster came on the final series. The Vikings forced 11 Montana punts and managed only 4-17 conversions on third down.

PSU's downfall was four fumbles in the second half that Montana converted into 13 points.

In fact, after taking the 14-7 lead early in the third quarter, PSU's next seven offensive series were a shambles, losing four fumbles, failing on a fourth-down attempt and punting twice.

Manoa Latu made a big interception at the PSU 3 to give the Vikings life after the final fumble. And with 7:55 to play, Kavanaugh rallied the Vikings on their final drive giving them a chance to win.

Montana scored first in the game on a Justin Roper to Antwon Moutra 33-yard strike at the 6:14 mark of the second period.

Viking Sophomore Nevin Lewis had the answer for the Vikings. Moved into the kick return role just a week ago, Lewis took the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a tying touchdown. With both defenses playing well, the game went to the half tied 7-7.

Lewis set up the Vikings on the opening kickoff of the second half. He returned the ball to the Viking 45 and Kavanaugh needed just three plays to get a touchdown. He ran for 19 yards on the first play, hit McCaffrey on a 12-yard pass the next play, then scrambled 29 yards for a touchdown on the third play.

The Vikings held on defense on three straight possessions in the third period. However, PSU went on to turn the ball over four times over the next 10-and-a-half minutes.

Despite the turnovers, Portland State's running game was brilliant again with 277 yards rushing on 51 carries. Kavanaugh (131 yards) and McCaffrey (109 yards) combined for their second 100/100 game in two outings at Hillsboro Stadium.

Linebacker DJ Macarthy had nine tackles and two sacks to lead the Viking defense. Ryan Rau added a game-high 12 tackles. Jaycob Shoemaker had nine tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass but left the game with a serious left leg injury after being hit by a cut block.

Portland State drops to 2-4 on the season, 1-2 in Big Sky Conference play. Montana improves to 5-2, winning its fourth in a row, and is now 4-1 in the conference. UM and Eastern Washington share the league lead in the Big Sky

GAME NOTES: The Vikings totaled 342 yards of offense… PSU's final-play loss marked the first time the Vikings have lost on the final play since a 30-29 defeat to Grambling onSeptember 22, 2001… Montana has won six straight games in the series… it marked the second straight game that PSU has faced a nationally-ranked program (Montana State)… Portland State travels to Weber State next week for a 2 p.m. PT game. The pregame show begins at 1 p.m. on Freedom 970 AM and www.970.am.