The long-awaited return of Portland State Football finally arrives this Friday, March 19, as the Viking program will begin spring practice.
 
The last time PSU Football set foot on a field was on Mar. 12, 2020. It was the last practice before a Mar. 14 spring game which never took place due to the COVID-19 shutdown the previous day. It will be just over a year since the full team has congregated, and some 16 months since the Vikings last played a football game.
 
Spring practice will consist of 20 dates prior to game week when the Vikings will play Montana in Missoula. It will be a non-conference game on Apr. 17. The Vikings and the Grizzlies are two of a handful of teams in the Big Sky Conference that opted out of an alternative spring conference schedule but maintained the possibility of competing in games.
 
"We will have a challenge to prepare after so much time off," said Viking Coach Bruce Barnum. "But this should be a perfect spring for us. We were able to increase our number of practices by having competition. And we look forward to that at the end - playing a program like Montana in a real game. All of this should get us back into the swing of things for when we come back in the fall."
 
The Big Sky created a conference schedule that began in late February but PSU, as well as Montana, Montana State, Sacramento State and Northern Colorado knew they couldn't safely be ready to compete at that time. 
 
The Viking football team finally returned to campus in January after being gone for nine months due to the pandemic. Conditioning and weight lifting – the first since March 2020 – began in late January. 
 
Portland State returns 43 letterwinners from 2019, 13 of whom are starters. Ten others gained game experience in 2019, but were able to maintain their redshirt status. The Vikings have six starters back on offense, five on defense, as well as their kicker and punter. In addition, two starters on defense and one on offense who missed most of 2019 due to injury also return. So, the Vikings may have its most experienced roster in the past four seasons taking the field. 
           
The Vikings also bring back 20 redshirts, and a total of 25 National Letter of Intent signees from the 2020 class (PSU signed an additional six players on the 2021 signing day), including a handful of key transfers on defense that should increase depth and experience.
 
Per NCAA waiver, all members of the team will maintain their 2020 eligibility for the 2021 season.
 
PSU will practice daily with the exception of Sundays from Mar. 19 to Apr. 15 at Stott Community Field. Practices on Mar. 19 and 20 run from 8:30-9:45 a.m. All other practices will be 7:30-9:30 a.m. 
 
A spring preview will be released this Friday.