You'll forgive Portland State Football Coach Bruce Barnum if he got a little dyspeptic with 1:36 remaining to be played yesterday at ICCU Dome in Pocatello, ID. His Vikings were ahead 42-38, but had just punted the ball away to Idaho State.
 
Let's see, Vikings with less than a touchdown lead, opponent with the football in the final two minutes… where have we seen this before?????
 
In fact, Barnum felt relatively good about the situation. His offense had been rolling, and his defense played a brilliant second half to get to that point in a road game. They also had the experience of the previous week's controversial loss – in the exact same situation – to draw from. And so, the Viking defense performed once again. Idaho State drove to PSU territory, but with 29 seconds remaining, the Vikings got a fourth-down stop on the PSU 36-yard line. Game over. Vikings win.
 
"There is a lot to winning, but the defense made some great adjustments at halftime. That was critical," said Vikings Coach Bruce Barnum. "On a philosophical side, after that snake bite last week, I have a team that believes they can win that kind of game. The culture in the locker room changed last week."
 
Portland State's reward for a gutsy win at Idaho State? A date with the Big Sky Conference's best team – third-ranked Montana State – next Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium.
 
There were plenty of heroes as the Vikings picked up their first Big Sky Conference win, and on the road no less.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Quarterback Dante Chachere had a tour de force performance with 216 passing yards and 202 rushing yards. It marked the first time in PSU history that a player has had a 200-200 game… The senior signal caller threw for three touchdowns and ran for three more, making him responsible for all of the Vikings' scores… Chachere had runs of 62, 48 and 53 yards, and a pass completion of 50 yards in the game… Said Barnum of his QB: "He was fantastic from that very first third down we had. They send six players at him and he runs for a (62-yard) touchdown. That stuff doesn't happen on EA Sports. To see him do that and bring his game. He got us out of a lot of trouble."
• Despite the brilliant effort by Chachere, the defense probably deserves the game ball for one of the most remarkable half-to-half turn-arounds you will ever see. Idaho State scored on all five possessions in the first half, taking a 31-21 lead. But after halftime the defense adjusted and shut down the Bengals. The Vikings got six stops in seven offensive series by the Bengals, including three three-and-outs. And PSU twice stopped Idaho State drives on fourth-down plays.
• Redshirt freshman wide receiver Eric Denham had his best game as a Viking with career-bests of five receptions, 127 yards and two touchdowns.
• Sophomore defensive back Michael Hurst made a career-high 13 tackles, one for loss, with two pass breakups, and defended ISU's final fourth-down pass attempt… cornerback Jamal McMurrin made nine tackles with a pass breakup, and sophomore linebacker Michael Montgomery had eight tackles and three pass breakups.
• Chachere's three rushing TDs give him 27 in his career, moving him into sixth in PSU history… his three touchdown passes give Chachere 44 in his career, tying him for seventh all-time at PSU… with 71 total TDs, he passed Jimmy Blanchard for third all-time behind Neil Lomax and Davis Alexander… the only other time a Viking QB ran for 200 yards in a game was Connor Kavanaugh with a 211-yard rushing game in a 42-35 win at Idaho State in 2011.