With the absence of fall sports in 2020, GoViks.com is going to look back at some great moments in the history of Viking fall sports (volleyball, soccer, football, cross country, golf) on specific dates. This is not an exhaustive list, and not every date is covered, however as the fall progresses, the rich history of Viking Athletics will be remembered.

Early in the Mouse Davis, Run-and-Shoot era, his strong-armed quarterback, June Jones, led the Vikings to an instant classic victory over the Montana Grizzlies. Davis was creating and implementing the forerunner to the modern-day spread offenses while Jones was on his way to an NFL career as a player, a coach, and eventually, collegiate coaching. 

Portland, OR (Sept. 25, 1976) - You couldn't have written a more exciting finish. In fact, few in the PSU-record crowd (at the time) of 16,395 had ever witnessed a more exciting athletic contest of any kind, or one with the last play deciding such a high-scoring football game.

Portland State's last-play 50-49 win over the University of Montana had to be the wildest, weirdest football shootout ever seen in ancient Portland Civic Stadium.

Cool quarterback June Jones, who fattened his NCAA passing leadership with 459 yards, tossed a two-yarder in the far right corner of the end zone to Dave Stief on the last play to keep PSU unbeaten at 3-0. Jones had marched the Vikings from the Portland State 24-yard line on a 15-play drive that began with 3:28 remaining.

The sensational ending for the partisan crowd came after Portland State had blown a 31-7 halftime lead. The Grizzlies put five TDs on the board in the third quarter, two on 75- and 88-yard interception returns by Greg Anderson and Tom Clift. Paul Cooley romped home with a 74-yard pass from Mike Magner for another big play. When Magner scored on a two-yard run, the Griz were ahead 42-38 late in the third.

The Vikings popped back on top with 5:56 left in the game on a strange play. Running back Gene Woodard fumbled on a two-yard dive into the end zone, but Jones recovered for PSU to tally the go-ahead score, 44-42. The Vikings failed on a two-point conversion.

Montana drove quickly for its next score, using only two minutes to move 92 yards. Rich Jordan rushed 45 yards for a touchdown and a 49-44 Montana advantage. The quick score was actually to PSU's advantage, giving them nearly three-and-a-half minutes to run 15 plays. Jones went 5-8 passing on the final drive, hitting Stief with the game-winner as the clock struck 00:00.

Remarkably, Jones threw five interceptions in the game. But he also completed 33-58 for 459 yards and four touchdowns. Mel deLaura caught eight passes for 134 yards and Stief had nine catches for 116 yards. Jeff Salta rushed 20 times for 99 yards. 

Arthur Dickson had 15 tackles for the defense and recovered two Montana fumbles.

Montana countered PSU's mistakes with four fumbles lost and 17 penalties, including pass interference in the final 20 seconds.

The win was part of a second straight 8-3 season under Head Coach Mouse Davis, his run-and-shoot offense, and Jones' big arm.