Portland, OR – As opening acts go, the Portland State Vikings knew their lines, hit their marks, and brought the curtain down with a dominant 59-21 victory over the Cal Poly Mustangs in the Big Sky Conference opener.
 
Sept. 23 was circled on the Viking Football calendar as the day Portland State would show its true colors after playing a pair of strong FBS programs and a lower-division opponent over the first three weeks of the season. As it turns out, the Vikings were quite colorful once it came to conference play.
 
Portland State had 52 points and 340 rushing yards on offense by halftime. They had six tackles for loss and two forced turnovers. Oh, and then there was the opening kickoff return for a touchdown... For the game, PSU out-gained Cal Poly, 496-263, and won with ease.
 
"I was wondering who we were after playing up (against the FBS) and playing down (against NAIA)," said Vikings Coach Bruce Barnum. "I wasn't sure what we had. I thought we were fast, and today we were against another Big Sky opponent. We had some sloppy stuff we could clean up but this was a good start to conference play."
 
The Vikings go to 2-2 on the season, 1-0 in Big Sky play along with five other league teams on the conference's opening day. Cal Poly dropped to 2-2, 0-1 in the Big Sky along with five other teams.
 
Kick returner Christian Grubb opened the game with a 99-yard sprint for a touchdown and an early Viking lead, beginning a crazy first quarter of action. Cal Poly came back to score quickly on a four-play drive, then PSU quarterback Dante Chachere sprinted in on a 51-yard run. It was 14-7 Vikings after just two minutes, six seconds of action. The teams then traded turnovers on the next two possessions. With 6:17 to go in the first quarter, PSU back Jobi Malary went up the middle, broke three tackles and went 56 yards for another touchdown.
 
The second quarter started like the first – a touchdown for the Vikings. On third-down-and-eight from midfield, Chachere scampered up the middle, then beat the Mustang defense to the corner for another score. It was PSU's third 50+yard rushing touchdown of the game. The Vikings led 28-7 with 14:51 still to play in the first half.
 
Portland State tacked on three more touchdowns before halftime. Andrew Van Buren broke away on a 70-yard run up the middle. He was finally brought down at the Cal Poly 5. Two plays later, the senior running back went in from one yard out.
 
On Cal Poly's next series, Viking defensive end Kennedy Freeman made a strip sack of the Mustang quarterback. Elijah Eason, the other end, recovered the ball for the Vikings at the Cal Poly 8. Malary then carried for his second TD of the day on the next play.
 
PSU's defense forced a three-and-out and the offense got going again. Quincy Craig broke free on a 53-yard run. Two plays later Craig scored from three yards out. By halftime it was 52-14 Vikings. PSU out-gained the Mustangs 372-171 in the first half with 340 yards coming on the ground. Four different backs combined for six rushing touchdowns and Grubb had the seventh on a kick return. On defense, the Vikings had six tackles for loss and forced two turnovers.
 
With the game all but decided, the second half played out in a 7-7 tie. Barnum used his running game to burn as much clock as possible. That included a 15-play, 85-yard third quarter drive that lasted nine minutes and 13 seconds. Craig scored his second touchdown on an 18-yard reception from Chachere.
 
The Mustangs scored in the fourth quarter for the 59-21 final.
 
All three elements of the game were good for the Vikings. Offense, defense, and a revived special teams game that features dynamic kick returners in Grubb and Craig. Said Barnum of Grubb's opening kickoff for touchdown – his second return TD in two weeks, "You just can't find that kind of speed very often."
 
Defensively, the Vikings totaled five three-and-outs, forced two turnovers and made 10 tackles for loss while allowing only 97 yards on 34 rushing plays. Most of all though, it was PSU's running game with its 404 total yards - which ranks as 10^th-most in school history - that was the key feature of the win.
 
"I like our tailbacks – we have two bigs and two smalls. They all ran well today. Then you add Chachere, and we really have five guys back there. We run to win," said Barnum.
 
Chachere was 8-10 passing for 71 yards and a touchdown and rushed four times for 87 yards and two scores. Malary was the leading rushing with 11 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Craig rushed 11 times for 82 yards and a score. Van Buren had six carries for 79 yards and one trip to the endzone.
 
"The first game of conference we had to establish what we could do as an offense, and running the ball was definitely priority one," said Chachere. "This is a small piece of what's to come."
 
Linebacker Jaymason Willingham had 10 tackles, including one for loss, and intercepted a pass to lead the defense. Freeman had three tackles, including his strip sack which led to a Viking touchdown.
 

GAME NOTES

• The Vikings had five runs of more than 50 yards in the game. JR QB Dante Chachere had a 51-yard touchdown and a 50-yard touchdown. JR RB Jobi Malary rushed for a 56-yard touchdown. SR RB Andrew Van Buren carried the ball a season-long 70 yards and FR RB Quincy Craig added a 53-yard run… Malary's 56-yard run was the longest of his career.
• JR RB Christian Grubb opened the game with a 99-yard kickoff return for touchdown. It was the Vikings' first KOR for a score in six seasons… Grubb returned a punt for 60 yards and a touchdown last week in a win over North American.
• JR K Gianni Smith made a 45-yard field and is 2-2 on the season - both from 45. He is 12-16 on field goals in his career.
• Portland State University's new President, Ann Cudd, attended her first Vikings Football game.
• PSU is now 15-12 in Big Sky Conference openers.
• Portland State goes on the road to face third-ranked Montana State next week in Bozeman. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and KRCW in Portland.