Liquids were flowing at Hillsboro Stadium on Saturday afternoon – both from the sky and the taps – as Portland State Football picked up a 21-7 home-opening win over Western Oregon.
The Viking defense held the Wolves scoreless for 56 minutes before allowing a late touchdown. The win sets up PSU (1-2) for a matchup against nationally-ranked Montana State (2-1) next Saturday at Hillsboro in the Big Sky Conference opener for both programs. That game kicks off at 2:05 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+. Tickets are available at
www.GoViks.com, ranging in price from $10-$25.
But first, a review of the Vikings first win as they dodged heavy showers while fans enjoyed free beer, courtesy of Head Coach
Bruce Barnum.
Early in the week, Barnum offered free beer to fans during an interview on the John Canzano Bald-Faced Truth Radio Show. Not surprisingly, that turned into a local and national story. The offer proved to be a success as fans of both PSU and Western Oregon enjoyed in excess of 2,000 free beers from Barny's Beer Garden adjacent to the stadium.
Meanwhile, on the field, the Vikings defense allowed only 106 yards in the first half, 278 yards for the game, and made nine tackles for loss, four sacks and six pass breakups. Linebacker
Broderick Harrell made 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a pass breakup.
On offense, quarterback
Davis Alexander threw for 295 yards and two scores.
Darien Chase (8-73-0),
Nate Bennett (6-106-0) and
Beau Kelly (4-60-2) all had big receiving days. Running back
Malik Walker rushed for a career-high 89 yards and a TD.
A few highlights from Portland State Football as the Vikings enter Big Sky Conference play:
- JR WR Beau Kelly leads the Vikings and the Big Sky Conference in receiving with 20 receptions for 344 yards and four touchdowns. He ranks sixth in the nation with 114.7 receiving yards per game.
- JR DE VJ Malo has become a destructive force to offenses early in the season. Malo has 13 tackles this season, seven of which are tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks. He ranks fifth in the nation in sacks and six in tackles for loss.
- JR CB Anthony Adams (Newberg) has his season off to a familiar start. Through three games, Adams has three takeaways - two interceptions and a fumble recovery. In 2019, Adams led the nation in passes defensed at the FCS level in 2019 (5 INT, 19 PBU) earning consensus first team All-American honors.
- In addition to Kelly, the Vikings have had great production from FR WRs Darien Chase (Vancouver-Union) and Nate Bennett. Chase has matched Kelly with 20 receptions. He has 237 receiving yards to rank eighth in the Big Sky. Chase had a 100-yard game at Hawai'i. Bennett has 17 receptions for 266 yards and two TDs and has started all three games. He picked up his first 100-yard game with six receptions for 106 yards against Western Oregon.
- SR QB Davis Alexander is climbing the charts among Portland State's all-time passing leaders. He has a chance to finish his career in second in virtually every passing category behind Viking legend Neil Lomax. Alexander is 73-133 passing for 988 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions this season. Alexander ranks second in the Big Sky in passing yards per game (329.3) and total offense (356.3). He ranks seventh and sixth in the nation, respectively, in both categories.
- On defense, a pair of FR LBs from local schools have been big contributors: Parker McKenna (Beaverton) leads the Vikings with 20 total tackles and a tackle for loss. Justice Pagan (Clackamas) has 16 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack.
