Adams rushed 30 times for 201 yards and two touchdowns, while Ramirez pitched in 117 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. Ramirez also completed 8-20 passes for 144 yards.

It was Portland State's third straight win and improved the Viking record to 6-4 on the season, 3-3 in the Big Sky Conference. Idaho State lost its fourth in a row and is now 3-7 on the year, 1-6 in the Big Sky.

The game was a match-up of a superior running offense against a superior passing offense, and it played out just that way. The Viking running game, particularly, in the first half was dominant. PSU ended up with 395 rushing yards and 539 yards overall. It marked the fifth-best rushing performance in Portland State history.

"It was a great rushing effort all day, a great effort by the offensive line," said Ramirez. "We hit them early with a lot of motions, loops and slips and the zone read game was really clicking in the first half, so we took advantage of that."

Idaho State, behind quarterback Justin Arias, totaled 315 passing yards and four touchdowns through the air.

The first quarter opened with big plays. The Vikings took the lead on their third play from scrimmage when Ramirez ran 77 yards on an option for a touchdown. The Bengals tied the score on an 80-yard touchdown pass from Arias to Chad Hansen. Later, Ramirez hit Kasey Closs on a 50-yard flea flicker pass setting up the Vikings second score.

PSU continued to move the ball through the period. Ramirez and Hayden Plinke added rushing touchdowns. By the end of the of the first quarter, the Vikings had 257 yards on 25 plays and led 21-7.

Adams got into the act early in the second quarter, scoring an 11-yard touchdown. PSU's three score lead was short-lived though. Arias hit Luke Austin on a 43-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-14 at the 12:16 mark of the second quarter.

After forcing Portland State into its first punt of the game, the Bengals sustained a lengthy drive. Arias engineered a 14-play, 80-yard series. He hit Austin in the endzone for a second time from the 5-yard line. That closed PSU's lead to 28-21.

Idaho State slowed the Vikings a bit in the second quarter, allowing only 106 yards and no points over the last 13 minutes. Still, PSU had 363 yards of offense, including 255 on the ground. 

Arias kept the Bengals in it, completing 11-24 passes for 201 yards and three scores in the half.

Portland State got back on the board on their opening drive of the second half. The Vikings drove 56 yards on 14 plays and settled for a 37-yard field goal by Marcus Kinsella.

Arias answered for the Bengals, leading a nine-play, 75-yard drive. The ISU quarterback threw his fourth touchdown pass, hitting Luke Austin in the corner of the endzone from 12 yards out.

Adams scored his second touchdown of the game less than two minutes later and it proved to be the difference in the game. On a third-down-and-nine play, Adams went off left tackle for a 43-yard touchdown run. At that point, late in the third quarter, it was 38-28 Vikings.

Brandon Brody-Heim made perhaps the biggest defensive play of the game for the Vikings when he intercepted Arias in the endzone on the Bengals ensuing drive.

A drive in which Portland State didn't score may have been the most important of the game. PSU ran more than eight minutes off the clock during an early fourth-quarter drive. Although the Vikings were stopped on fourth down in Idaho State territory, the Bengals had little more than five minutes left to get two scores in a comeback.

"It was definitely the most important, and a lot people wouldn't understand why that is. I told the team, 'ball security, lets hold onto it and get out of here (with a win).'" said Ramirez.

"That comes down to what you practice," said Viking Coach Nigel Burton. "We practice four-minute offense all the time and being able to grind things out."

ISU tacked on a 41-yard field goal by Brendon Garcia with 3:40 left in the game. The PSU defense stopped a final possession by the Bengals on four plays in the closing moments.

PSU's running game was bolstered by Plinke, who had 10 carries in the wildcat formation for 48 yards and a touchdown. Closs led the team with four receptions for 79 yards.

David Edgerson made 10 tackles to lead the Viking defense. Jaycob Shoemaker added seven stops. PSU broke up eight passes by Arias in the game.

GAME NOTES: Portland State, plagued by turnovers this season, did not commit one against Idaho State… PSU has now won four straight games in the series with Idaho State… it was Adams' second 200-yard game of the season. He now has 1,207 yards in 10 games... Portland State returns to JELD-WEN Field for its final home game next Saturday. The Vikings host Sacramento State in a 1:05 p.m. game.