complete notes and stats in pdf

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Game 2
^#16 PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (1-0) vs. SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (0-1)

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Saturday, September 10, 2016, 1:30 p.m • Spartan Stadium (30,456), San Jose, CA
TV: None
RADIO: Rip City Radio 620 AM, ripcityradio.com/listen • Pregame Show: 12:30 p.m. • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Analyst: Mike Lund
INTERNET: Live video stream: None • Live stats: www.sjsuspartans.com
 
THE SERIES RECORD: VIKINGS VS. SPARTANS
1st meeting between the schools
 
GAME WITH SAN JOSE STATE OPENS RUGGED THREE WEEKS FOR VIKINGS
Last season, Portland State faced its most challenging stretch of football opponents in the month of October. The Vikings came away 4-1 in those games and grabbed the attention of the Big Sky Conference and the college football audience. This season, that challenge comes early as the Vikings go on the road for the next three weeks, playing at two FBS opponents, San Jose State and Washington, and the defending Big Sky champion Southern Utah. Will the Vikings be able to approach 2015's success?
     
The first part of that answer comes this Saturday as 16th-ranked Portland State has a first-ever meeting with San Jose State at Spartan Stadium. Game time is 1:30 p.m. against the Mountain West Conference opponent.
     
PSU is 1-0 after an opening 43-26 win over Central Washington. San Jose State comes into the game at 0-1, after losing at Tulsa 45-10.
     
There is little measure for this matchup as the teams have no history and opened the season against different level opponents in different home and away scenarios.
     
San Jose State will be playing the first of six home games. They were 6-7 overall last season, 3-3 at home. The Spartans faced one FCS opponent, winning 43-13 over New Hampshire.
     
Portland State, playing its first road game, was 5-1 on the road in last year - including big wins at Washington State and North Texas.
     
This week's game is not televised. It will air on Rip City Radio 620 AM and www.ripcityradio.com. Live stats can be found at www.sjsuspartans.com.
     
After the next three road games, PSU returns home on Oct. 1 to host Idaho State. That begins a stretch of three out of four games at Providence Park .
 
STORYLINES AND SERIES HISTORY
• Portland State will meet San Jose State for the first time in program history.
• Portland State is 2-16 all-time against Mountain West teams at the FBS level (PSU also played Boise State and Nevada when they competed at the NCAA 1-AA (i.e. FCS) level and was 3-9 in those games).
• San Jose State is the first of two FBS level opponents for the Vikings in 2016 (Washington). PSU has played two or more FBS teams in six previous seasons, including five of the last 10. This will be the third straight year PSU has played two FBS opponents.
• PSU won both of its games against FBS opponents last year (24-17 over Washington State, 66-7 over North Texas). The Viking program is 4-32 against FBS teams all-time.
• Al Borges is a former Portland State offensive coordinator, and Barry Sacks is a former Portland State defensive line coach. They worked under Pokey Allen in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
 
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
San Jose State opened the season with a 45-10 loss at Tulsa on Saturday. The Spartans were out-gained 512 yards to 287 by the Hurricane. The San Jose State defense gave up 305 rushing yards. Turnovers were a big factor as SJSU committed three, two of which were returned for touchdowns.
     
Quarterback Kenny Potter completed 16 of 28 passes for 234 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Deontae Cooper rushed 19 times for 43 yards to lead the ground game. Rahshead Johnson had 195 all-purpose yards, including a 64-yard touchdown reception.
     
Linebacker Frank Ginda made 13 tackles and two sacks to lead the defense. Defensive tackle Owen Roberts also had two sacks to go with eight tackles.
     
Head Coach Ron Caragher is 15-23 in his fourth season at San Jose State. He has 17 returning starters and 39 returning letterwinners from last year's 6-7 team.
 
CAN THEY DO IT AGAIN?
Portland State is 4-32 all-time against programs at the FBS level dating back to 1968. However, in the last 12 months, the Vikings are 2-0 against FBS teams, picking up wins over Washington State (24-17) and North Texas (66-7) last fall. Now, PSU is faced with FBS opponents over the next two weeks. The Vikings have never faced San Jose State of the Mountain West Conference (45-10 losers at Tulsa on Saturday) and will meet 14th-ranked Washington of the Pac-12 Conference (48-13 winners over Rutgers on Saturday) for only the second time in history. PSU's previous meeting with Huskies came in 2012, a 52-13 loss at CenturyLink Field.
 
QUICK SNAPS: SUSTAINABLE AND RECYCLABLE
 
WINS, LOSSES, AND THE BIG SKY
• Portland State 1-0 on the season, 1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road.
• PSU is going after back-to-back winning seasons in 2016 for the first time since 2005 and 2006 (6-5, 7-4).
• Portland State was 9-3 in 2015, 4-2 at home, 5-1 on the road. It was PSU's best record ever at the FCS level (1978-80, 1996-2016). Portland State's three losses came by a total of 17 points.
• Portland State is playing its 24th season at the NCAA I FCS level (1978-80 (1-AA), 1996-2016). PSU is 124-134 in all games at the FCS level.
• In 21 seasons since moving back to FCS and the Big Sky Conference (1996-2015), PSU is 105-120, 68-41 in home games, 37-79 on the road.
• As a member of the Big Sky Conference (1996-2016) PSU is 68-87 all-time in league games, 41-37 at home, 27-50 on the road.
• The Vikings have nine winning records in its previous 20 years as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
• Bruce Barnum (2015-16, 6-2 Big Sky, 10-3 overall) is the Vikings fourth Head Coach in the Big Sky Conference era. Previous coaches were: Tim Walsh (1993-2006, 42-41, 90-68 all-time); Jerry Glanville (2007-09, 7-17, 9-24); and Nigel Burton (2010-15, 13-27, 21-36).
• It's early in his head coaching career, but Bruce Barnum has the best winning percentage of any coach in Portland State history (.769). Pokey Allen is second at .708.
• The Vikings have never won a Big Sky title, but have tied for second five times (four under Walsh and in 2015 under Barnum). PSU made its second NCAA FCS playoff appearance (also 2000).
 
GET ON THE BUS: This season PSU anticipates bus trips to San Jose, CA, Seattle, Davis, CA and Sacramento. There will also be a bus ride home from Ogden, UT. This week's round trip to San Jose will total 1,340 miles... Coach Barnum led his program on what he called the "Americana Tour" in 2015, which included bus rides to Pullman, WA, Pocatello, ID, San Luis Obispo, CA, and Cheney, WA. In all, the Vikings logged 4,394 bus miles and approximately 80 hours round trip to those four destinations (PSU also flew on two road trips). The Americana Tour included such things as dozens of on-bus movies, a stop to buy a lottery ticket on the way home from beating Washington State, a practice on Boise State's blue turf, a sight-seeing trip to Alcatraz (in which equipment manager Mike Haluska was left on the island… but soon retrieved), and a midnight McDonald's run at a lonely truck stop in eastern Oregon. In addition to the economy of the bus trips, Barnum contends the time together draws the Viking team closer.
 
RUNNING GAME TAKES CONTROL IN OPENING WIN: A slow start required a fast finish, but the Portland State Vikings got the job done last Saturday, beating Central Washington, 43-26, in the season opener at Providence Park. The Viking defense buckled down in the second half, allowing only 141 yards and seven points to the Wildcats after intermission. But it was the Viking offense that finally made the difference. SR QB Alex Kuresa and SR RB Nate Tago each posted career-high rushing numbers and were involved in all six Viking touchdowns. Kuresa rushed 18 times for 123 yards and a 21-yard touchdown tote. The senior from Millville, UT also posted career-high total offense numbers with 345 yards overall. Kuresa completed 16 of 26 passes for 222 yards and two scores. Meanwhile, Tago, a senior from Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, ran for a career-high 136 yards on 24 carries. Tago (pronounced TONG-go) scored touchdowns on runs of four, 43 and eight yards. It was the first three-touchdown game of Tago's career, and he passed 1,000 career rushing yards as a Viking (1,127)... Portland State's play was uneven throughout the day, but in the end the Vikings picked up their 10th win in 13 games under Head Coach Bruce Barnum. PSU out-gained Central Washington 508-445 with a balanced attack that included 286 yards on the ground and 222 through the air.
 
NEW STARTERS HAVE BIG IMPACT: Portland State had the most turnover on the defensive side of the football in 2016. The result was five new starters in the lineup against Central Washington. They included FR DT Anthony Del Toro, SR OLB Austin Wolff, SR MLB Anthony McNichols, SO CB Artuz Manning and JR FS Tyler Foreman. (Manning and McNichols have previous career starts, but were not regular starters). McNichols led the defense with a career-high 10 tackles, a sack and a pass breakup. Wolff made eight tackles, including a sack, Foreman had six stops and three pass breakups (the most by any player in the Big Sky this weekend), Del Toro made five tackles with a sack, and Manning had four tackles… on offense, the Vikings had four new starters, JR LG Tyshon Mosley, JR RT Justin Outslay, SR TE Maximo Espitia and SR RB Nate Tago (Tago had four starts last season, but David Jones was the regular starter with eight). Tago rushed 24 times for a career-high 136 yards and three touchdowns. Espitia (pronounced uh-SPEETH-ee-uh) led the receiving corps with five catches for 88 yards and a four-yard touchdown reception.
 
MILESTONES
• SR RB Nate Tago passed 1,000 career rushing yards in the game with Central Washington. He now has 1,127 career yards and 15 career touchdowns on 237 carries. Tago has played in 33 games with five starts.
• SR QB Alex Kuresa passed 2,000 career passing yards in the game with Central Washington. He has 2,197 passing yards in 13 games as a Viking. Kuresa has completed 139-252 passes with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
 
OFFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS
• SR RB Nate Tago rushed for 136 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries against Central Washington. All were career highs.
• SR QB Alex Kuresa rushed for 123 yards and had 345 yards of total offense. Both of those were career highs.
• In his first game as a Viking, SR TE Maximo Espitia led the receiving group with five catches for 88 yards and one touchdown.
 
DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS
• SR LB Anthony McNichols had a career-high 10 tackles and a sack against Central Washington.
• SR LB Austin Wolff had a career-high eight tackles and a sack in his first career start.
• JR S Tyler Foreman had three pass breakups - the most of any player in the Big Sky Conference on opening weekend - to go with six tackles.
• Central Washington was only 3-12 on third down against the Vikings (25%). PSU led the Big Sky Conference in third-down defense in 2015 (30%).
 
SPECIAL TEAMS HIGHLIGHTS
• JR DE Davond Dade blocked a first-quarter field goal attempt by Central Washington.
 
AREAS TO IMPROVE
• Portland State did not force a turnover against Central Washington. Last season the Vikings were one of the best teams in the nation in forcing mistakes (28) and had a +13 turnover margin.
• PSU had 96 penalty yards, more than in any game last season.
• The 321 passing yards allowed are the second most in Bruce Barnum's 13-game head coaching tenure.