Honolulu, HI – For Portland State there was the first quarter, and then there was the rest of the game. Unfortunately, the first quarter was too much to overcome as Hawai'i beat the Vikings 49-35 at Clarence T.C. Ching Stadium.
 
PSU spotted the Rainbow Warriors 28 points in the first 15 minutes before finally turning things around. The Vikings won the final three quarters 35-21, which was nice, but not good enough.
 
Hawai'i's fast start and overall speed set the Vikings on their heels initially and that was the difference in the game.
 
"It was a slow start," said Head Coach Bruce Barnum. "We talked about their speed and addressed it in practice but we didn't seem ready for it."
 
That was the case initially as the Mountain West Conference team took the opening kickoff, marched down the field and scored, and never looked back. By the end of the first quarter it was 28-0.
 
"Then we settled in," Barnum said. "We talked about it on the sideline, the speed of the game. Hawai'i is a fast football team. Maybe the fastest we will play all year.
 
"I'm proud of the team though, because they did finally stick their feet in the ground and did what needed to be done. We just needed to do that from the first snap."
 
Hawaii ripped off an 11-play, 75-yard drive to open the game. A 23-yard pass from Chevan Cordeiro to Nick Mardner gave the Rainbow Warriors a 7-0 lead.
 
Hawaii pushed the lead to 14-0 a few minutes later after a broken play went their way. Calvin Turner took a lateral pass to the right side of the field and appeared to be caught well behind the line. He reversed field and took advantage of the Vikings' over-pursuit. Turner went around the left side and 34 yards in all for the score.
 
Two plays later Viking quarterback Davis Alexander was intercepted, setting up the Rainbow Warriors at the PSU 20-yard line. Cordeiro hit Jared Smart on a 20-yard score and it was 21-0 Hawai'i.
 
Dedrick Parson tacked on a fourth touchdown in the first quarter on a 17-yard run. Hawai'i totaled 246 yards in the first quarter on 27 plays. The Vikings ran only 10 plays for 80 yards.
 
Portland State turned it around on the first play of the second quarter though. Alexander hit Mataio Talalemotu on a 38-yard scoring strike. It was set up by an earlier 37-yard completion to Beau Kelly.
 
A score just before halftime gave Hawai'i a 35-7 lead at the break.
 
Cornerback Anthony Adams, who recovered a fumble to stop a Hawai'i drive in the first half,  made another big play in the third quarter with an interception and return of 11 yards. That set up a seven-play, 40-yard touchdown drive. Malik Walker scored on a one-yard plunge to pull the Vikings within 35-14.
 
Later in the quarter, the Vikings missed a golden opportunity to score. After driving over 70 yards to the Hawai'i one, Alexander was stripped of the ball on a draw play. The Rainbow Warriors recovered and the threat was snuffed out.
 
But there were some fireworks for the Vikings late in the third quarter. First, Alexander engineered an 82-yard scoring drive on eight plays. Alexander completed three passes for 55 yards, scrambled for 12 yards, and hit Kelly on a 23-yard score. On the ensuing kickoff, Hawai'i muffed the ball, it bounded around and was eventually recovered by PSU freshman Tyreese Shakir in the end zone. Suddenly, the deficit was trimmed to 42-28.
 
On the next series, the Vikings then got a fourth-down stop on Hawai'i at midfield. They couldn't turn it into points though.
 
Dae Dae Hunter then came back to score on a 59-yard run for the Rainbow Warriors with 9:58 to play. Now with the three-score lead at 49-28, Hawai'i would not be caught.
 
Still, the Vikings didn't quit. Alexander put together another drive late, hitting Nate Bennett for an 11-yard touchdown. That made it 49-35 with 1:13 to play. Then, Shakir stepped up with another big play, recovering the ensuing onside kick.
 
The Vikings would not score again though and had to settle for a season-opening loss that was a much better performance than the first 15 minutes might have indicated.
 
"This team has grit. The leadership on this football team won't allow them to quit. They could have folded after that start, but they didn't. I'm not concerned about the future of this group," said Barnum.
 

Game Notes

• FR WR Darien Chase made his presence felt with a pair of nifty sideline grabs and a total of six catches for 105 yards.
• JR WR Beau Kelly had a career-high 132 yards and a touchdown on six catches.
• FR WR Nate Bennett added five receptions for 95 yards and a score.
• JR DE VJ Malo had five tackles, three for losses and two sacks.
• FR LB Justice Pagan had 10 tackles and two half-sacks to lead the Vikings. SR S Ryan Lesch added nine tackles.
• PSU was out-gained 573 yards to 477 yards in the game.
• Each team had four turnovers. PSU scored 14 points off turnovers and Hawai'i scored seven.
• Cody Williams made five extra points, extending his school-record streak to 88 in a row.
• This was the sixth game all-time between PSU and Hawai'i. The Rainbow Warriors lead the series, 5-1… Portland State returns to play next Saturday at Washington State. The game is at 3 p.m. and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

It Takes A Thief

All-American DB Anthony Adams had a fumble recovery in the second quarter and an interception in the third quarter. His interception led to an eventual Malik Walker touchdown. That gives Adams nine career takeaways (2 FR, 7 INT). Adams led the nation in passes defensed in 2019 (5 INT, 19 PBU). 

Alexander The Great

• Davis Alexander passed Chris Crawford (1985-87, 7,258) for third place all-time in total offense behind only Neil Lomax (1977-2000, 13,345) and Jimmy Blanchard (1997-2000, 8,509) in Portland State history. Alexander now has 7,635 yards.
• Davis Alexander threw for 400 yards, passing Terry Summerfield (1981-85, 6,501) to move into fifth all-time in Portland State history behind Neil Lomax (1977-1980, 13,220), Jimmy Blanchard (1997-2000, 8,455), Chris Crawford (1985-87, 7,543) and Drew Hubel (2007-11, 6,678). Alexander has 6,540 passing yards.
• With three passing touchdowns, Alexander is now sixth all-time with 45 in his career at PSU. He passed Drew Hubel (2007-11, 44).
• Alexander passed Kieran McDonough (2012-15, 446-837) for seventh in completions in Portland State history. Hee is now 465-837 in his career.
• Alexander had the seventh 300-yard game of his career. That total is tied for sixth all-time at PSU with June Jones (1975-76) and Jimmy Blanchard (1997-2000). He had his second career 400-yard game.

Mataio With 1,000

JR WR Mataio Talalemotu passed 1,000 career receiving yards in the game. He now has 60 receptions for 1,012 yards and eight TDs.

More Barnum

"I was proud of the wide receiver group and the offensive line. We lost one starter before the game with back spasms, and Brady Brick stepped up and did a hell of job. There is more talent on the offensive line than we have had in a long time. And there is more talent at wide receiver than we've had since I've been here. You saw a spark here tonight of how easily we can score on offense."