Box Score
Boxscore
Audio - McCaffrey Touchdown Run
Audio - Almond Interception
Audio - Kavanaugh post-game interview
Portland, OR -
Cory McCaffrey led a brilliant Portland State rushing attack, and the Vikings dodged a bullet in the form of a missed field goal in the closing seconds to defeat Northern Arizona, 31-29, in the Big Sky Conference opener at JELD-WEN Field.
McCaffrey rushed for 222 yards and four touchdowns to lead a Viking ground game that totaled 361 yards in all. Quarterback
Connor Kavanaugh added 134 rushing yards as PSU led the entire game but had to hold on late for the win.
NAU had a chance with possession and 54 seconds on the clock. Quarterback Cary Grossart completed three passes to get the Lumberjacks into field goal position. But, a 41-yard attempt by Matt Myers - who had already made three field goals - hooked left with seven seconds to play. With that, the Vikings avenged a 62-14 loss last year at NAU, and got to 2-0 on the young season.
McCaffrey and Kavanaugh highlighted the Viking first half with dazzling running to the tune of more than 200 yards combined. McCaffrey had 125 yards and three touchdowns by intermission. Kavanaugh had seven carries for 80 yards, and passed for another 66.
PSU jumped to a 14-0 lead by late in the first period as NAU struggled to get going offensively. The 'Jacks quarterback Cory Grossart threw for 176 yards and led a couple of scoring drives in the second period to keep NAU in touch.
A 40-yard field goal by
Zach Brown with 2:58 to play sent the Vikings into the lockerroom with a 24-14 advantage.
McCaffrey fumbled the ball away on the opening drive of the second half. Myers answered with a 42-yard field goal to close the score to 24-17.
McCaffrey came back to score on an eight-yard touchdown run with 6:18 left in the third and PSU was ahead 31-17.
Late in the third period, Myers kicked a 48-yard field goal that hit the crossbar and bounced through. He added a 24-yarder three minutes into the final period, pulling the 'Jacks within 31-23.
Later, NAU was driving when
Donte Almond picked off a Grossart pass at the PSU 11. With just under five minutes to play, the Vikings had the ball and appeared to have the game in hand. But, Kavanaugh threw an interception on a third-and-two play that was returned by Taylor Patton to the PSU three.
Three plays later, Zach Bauman punched it in to make it 31-29. A two-point conversion pass attempt by Grossart was broken up by
DeShawn Shead in the end zone.
PSU took the ensuing kickoff and ran more than two minutes off the clock, but eventually had to punt. That set up NAU's final drive and the missed field goal.
Acknowledging the final field goal attempt scare, Viking Coach
Nigel Burton was happy with the way his team hung on. "Our guys deserved to win that game, and it just wouldn't have been right if they didn't."
Portland State totaled 427 yards of offense in the game. NAU had 402 yards, with 323 coming in the passing game. PSU shut down a Lumberjacks' running game that totaled nearly 400 yards in last year's contest.
"We did a great job stuffing the run and forcing them to get one dimensional," said Burton.
Linebacker
Ryan Rau led the defense and tied his career-high with 12 tackles. He also had a sack and forced a fumble in the game. Shead made seven stops and broke up a pass.
GAME NOTES: McCaffrey and Kavanaugh each had simultaneous 100-yard rushing games for the fourth time. Kavanaugh's 134 yards was a career-high, while McCaffrey was just four yards short of his career best… PSU ended a four-game losing streak to Northern Arizona and a seven-game Big Sky Conference losing streak… K
Zach Brown has now hit eight straight field goals dating to last season... PSU is now 10-6 in Big Sky Conference home openers… Portland State goes on the road next week for a non-conference game against Rose Bowl Champion TCU. Game time is 11 a.m. PT in Fort Worth. There is no television, but it can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.970.am.
Oregonian story
