Portland State University Athletics

HILLSBORO, Ore. — Do it once and people will dismiss it as a fluke. Do it twice and it's a proof of concept. The Portland State football team proved itself with a second straight win Saturday, leading wire-to-wire for a 30-14 victory over Utah Tech at Hillsboro Stadium.
 
Saturday's victory follows a breakthrough, 44-41 win over Weber State on Sept. 26. The Vikings (2-4, 2-1) have now won back-to-back conference games for the first time since 2022 when they beat Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado in back-to-back weeks.
 
"Winning is special. It's really hard to do in college football, so no matter how you get a win, you're going to enjoy it," Portland State head coach Chris Fisk said. "Once you get a taste of it, you're more willing to come back throughout the week and work harder and with more intention. The kids did a great job of that after the Weber game to give us two solid weeks of effort in preparation for this game."
 
The Vikings scored the first 23 points Saturday and led 30-7 at halftime. It was the third time out of six games this season that the Vikings have built as much as a three-touchdown lead in the first half. The Vikings also led 6-0 out of the gates against San Diego State on Sept. 5.  
 
The Vikings executed at crucial moments in building their first-half lead. Their first three touchdowns all came on third-down plays, including a conversion on third-and-15 for their first score of the game. That came as Tyrese Smith found freshman Zui Shelton behind the defense for a 39-yard touchdown pass, capping a 14-play, 92-yard drive with 1:20 remaining in the first quarter.
 
The Vikings gave themselves much shorter fields for their next three scores thanks to two fumble recoveries and a blocked punt. The blocked punt – the first of the season for the Vikings – came first as it gave the Vikings the ball back at the Utah Tech 37-yard-line. Niall Raby responded with a 33-yard touchdown run on third-and-6, bouncing off a defender before scampering in along the right sideline.
 
Jaxton Helmstetler, after he had two fumble recoveries against Weber State, found himself on top of another fumble on Utah Tech's next drive. Helmstetler forced it and recovered the fumble this time, giving the ball back to the offense on the Utah Tech 20-yard line.  The Trailblazers (0-7, 0-4) kept the Vikings to a field goal, but the Vikings got the ball back right away by forcing a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Bo Gionet forced it this time while Andre Miller scooped it up at the Utah Tech 21-yard line.
 
The two fumble recoveries give the Vikings 13 takeaways through six games this season. That already matches their total turnovers forced over all of last season.
 
"Coach talks about creating your own luck. Run to the ball and if the ball's there, we'll get it. And if the ball gets tipped, then you're going to have a lot of people around it to get it," Helmstetler said of the takeaways. "It's always fun. With the crowd out here [today], it was pumping [when we get a turnover]."
 
The Vikings punched it in this time when Smith found Beaman at the back of the end zone on a third-and-goal from the three-yard line.
 
Utah Tech got on the board with 1:48 remaining in the second quarter with a modified Philly special. Isaac McMullin found quarterback Bronson Barben for a four-yard touchdown pass after a double reverse.
 
The Vikings answered immediately, however. Shelton set the Vikings up in good field position with a 41-yard kickoff return. Two plays later, the Vikings were at the one-yard line after a 12-yard pass to Terence Loville and a 45-yard screen pass to Delon Thompson. Smith ran the ball in from there, completing a three-play, 58-yard drive that took only 45 seconds.
 
"It felt great to get that first win at home. Coming back after a couple of weeks off, I'm just blessed with the opportunity to play with these guys every day. So just feeling grateful right now," Smith said.
 
Fisk would have liked the Vikings to keep the foot on the gas a bit more in the second half. They had a first-and-goal late in the third quarter but the Trailblazers forced a fumble that they recovered in the end zone for a touchback. The Trailblazers added a second touchdown of their own with 3:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. The score came on a drive in which they converted three fourth downs, including one on a PSU pass interference penalty.
 
It'll give Fisk something to harp on the Vikings in practice next week.
 
"If you're not preparing to go play the top-five percent in FCS football, then what are you preparing for? We'll go back in and look at [the film]. We understand that today was not good enough to play with the top-five percent, so we've got work to do. But it's always satisfying to win a game like this and go back into practice the next week and understand you have the ability to improve," Fisk said.
 
Smith finished 13-for-20 for 192 yards and two touchdowns in his first-career win as the Vikings' starting quarterback. Thompson led the Vikings with 78 yards rushing on 20 carries. Raby finished with a season-high 55 yards on five carries, while Smith rushed for 41 yards on 12 carries. Loville led the Vikings with five catches for 54 yards.
 
Defensively, Isaac Redford paced the Viking defense with 11 total tackles. Redford has now led the Vikings in tackles in back-to-back games after he had 13 against Weber State on Sept. 26.
 
Helmstetler finished with nine tackles, including a sack and another for a loss. Lono Solomon followed with seven tackles.
 
The Vikings hit the road for back-to-back games against ranked teams in Northern Arizona (Oct. 17) and Idaho State (Oct. 24).
 
Fisk said he'd start worrying about that Sunday morning. For the rest of Saturday, he was going to relish the proof of concept that the Vikings are turning a corner as a program.
 
GAME NOTES:

• Saturday was the first-ever meeting between the Vikings and Trailblazers.
• Loville has now led the Vikings in receiving yards in five of the team's six games.
• After their last three opponents had all finished with 600+ yards of total offense, the Viking defense held Utah Tech to 330 yards. That was a season low for a Viking opponent.

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