HILLSBORO, Ore. — The Portland State football team's first Halloween game since 2015 turned into more trick than treat Saturday, as Idaho beat the Vikings 38-14 at Hillsboro Stadium.
The Vandals (4-5, 4-2) controlled the ball throughout the game, scoring on six of their 10 drives before kneeling to finish the game. The Vandals out-gained the Vikings 469-to-294, including a 166-to-13 advantage on the ground.
The lack of a run game was a particular sore spot for Portland State head coach
Chris Fisk. The Vandals came into the game giving up 233 rushing yards per game, and yet the Vikings (2-7, 2-4) averaged just 0.6 yards per rush. That was in part due to four sacks for the Vandals that subtracted 31 yards from the Vikings' rushing total.
"Everyone in [the offensive line] room has worked really, really hard to perform better than we did today. But really in a football program, nobody can really do what they need to do if the o-line can't do what they need to do," Fisk said after the game.
"I've made my living and my career coaching that group. We're in it right now. It's really difficult, but I know these guys will come back tomorrow ready to get back to work and get after it against Montana [next Saturday]."
Despite the offensive struggles, the Vikings kept pace with the Vandals initially. Idaho went 75 yards over just two minutes, 52 seconds to score a touchdown on their opening drive. But the Vandals gave the Vikings a gift with a turnover on downs in their own territory on their second drive.
Jaxton Helmstetler stuffed them on two straight plays, tackling Idaho running back Kenny Golston (with
Gio Kafentzis) for no gain on third-and-two, then stopping quarterback Joshua Wood for a one-yard loss on fourth down.
The stop gave the Vikings the ball back at the Idaho 35-yard line. Quarterback
Gabe Downing connected with wide receiver
Zui Shelton for an eight-yard gain on the first play of the drive. Those two looked for each other again two players later but a defensive pass interference stopped Shelton from breaking free. The penalty moved the ball inside the Idaho 10-yard line, and the Vikings converted on third-and-goal when
Terence Loville caught a deflected pass in the back of the end zone.
The Vandals responded right away, connecting on back-to-back 30-yard passes that moved them quickly into the red zone. Wood found Idaho's Damonte Bias for a six-yard touchdown a few plays later.
The Vikings got stops on the Vandals' next two drives but couldn't do anything with them, converting just two first downs between their next four drives.
Idaho broke the game open with a 77-yard touchdown pass between Wood and Ryan Jezioro just before halftime. Jezioro broke a tackle at the PSU 30-yard line, then shedded another defender at the 12-yard line on his way into the end zone.
The Vandals led 24-7 at that point, and the Vikings wouldn't score again until the final minute of the game.
Loville caught a two-yard pass from
John-Keawe Sagapolutele for his and the Vikings' second score of the game. He earned the touchdown after getting it to the Idaho one-yard line with a 36-yard reception a couple plays earlier.
Loville finished with nine catches for 114 yards and two scores. It was his third 100-yard receiving game of the season, while it was his first two-touchdown game.
"I feel like we had a lot of self-inflicted wounds on first and second down. Those made it second- or third-and-long, which is just unfortunate in football to try to get yourself out of, those situations" Loville said of the offensive struggles.
The Vikings played three different quarterbacks Saturday. They collectively went 29-for-40 for 281 yards.
Gabe Downing started the game and went 14-for-21 for 140 yards and a touchdown.
Tyrese Smith went 9-for-11 for 65 yards while Sagapolutele went 6-for-8 for 76 yards and a touchdown.
But the Vikings couldn't match their production through the air with any sort of ground game.
Delon Thompson was the lone Viking to finish with positive rushing yards, rushing 11 times for a net of 39 yards.
Defensively,
Isaac Redford led the Vikings with nine total tackles while Helmstetler followed with eight.
Marcellous Ryan stopped one Idaho drive in the red zone with his third interception of the season.
The Vikings will now turn down the home stretch of the season with three games remaining over the first three weeks of November. That stretch begins in a tough road environment, as the Vikings travel to Montana for a 12 p.m. PT / 1 p.m. MT kickoff at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.
"I would expect everyone in this program to step up and play for these seniors for the next three weeks and just see what we can do. You know, improvement can be made at any time. Belief can happen at any time. We'll go into this week with the belief that we can get things fixed and with the belief that if we work hard enough, we'll prevail at some point," Fisk said.
GAME NOTES:
- The Vikings have now lost five in a row to the Vandals and are 2-17 all-time against them. The Vandals are the Big Sky team with the best overall (17-2) and Big Sky (6-1) record against the Vikings.
- Shelton finished with career highs for catches (8), receiving yards (83) and all-purpose yards (174). Besides his 83 receiving yards, Shelton had 91 yards in kick return.
- The Vikings are now 5-6 on Halloween over their last 70 seasons. Specific dates of games are missing before 1957.
