If Montana head coach Bobby Hauck needs any reminder just how hard it’s been to sustain success in the Big Sky Conference since his first seven-year stint in the league, he need look no further than his opponent last week and this week.
Cal Poly shared the league title in 2012, its first year in the league. The Mustangs pushed for playoff spots in 2014 and 2015 before qualifying for the FCS playoffs in 2016. But since a 35-14 home loss to San Diego in the first round of the postseason two years ago, the Mustangs have not been able to find any sort of competitive consistency. Last season, Cal Poly won one game, beating a Portland State team that went winless. The Mustangs were on the wrong end of a 48-28 drubbing from Hauck’s Griz last week.
Meanwhile, Portland State had a major breakthrough in Bruce Barnum’s first season at the helm in 2015. The Vikings won nine games that season, beating five ranked FCS opponents and two FBS squads on the way to earning the No. 5 seed in the FCS playoffs. A 3-8 season, a 2-9 campaign and last season’s 0-11 nightmare followed.
Hauck dominated the Big Sky Conference, winning seven straight league titles and posting a 47-6 record against the rest of the league. Since he left following the 2009 season, Eastern Washington has won or shared five league titles. But a good portion of the rest of the league has also has risen to success, only to fall back to the pack. Montana State won or shared three straight league titles between 2010 and 2012. Since the league absorbed the Great West in 2012, Southern Utah has shared a league title, as has North Dakota. Weber State got in the mix last season. And Montana shared the 2011 title with the Bobcats only to have the banner negated because of NCAA violations.
The point is that no one has dominated the league like the Grizzlies did in Hauck’s first tenure since Hauck left for UNLV. Montana hosts Portland State on Saturday in UM’s homecoming game and the fourth of six home games on the schedule for the Griz. UM is looking for its fifth win in six outings including its third straight to begin Hauck’s second tenure in the league. Portland State is looking for its first conference victory since a 51-29 win over UC Davis on November 5 of 2016. That win also marks PSU’s last against a Division I opponent. The Vikings’ only win this season is a 63-14 win over the College of Idaho, an NAIA school from the Frontier Conference.
Vikings hope to positively define fourth season under Barnum
QUICK HITS
Nickname: Vikings
Location: Portland, Oregon
Founded: 1946. Originally opened as the Vanport Extension Center, Portland State’s first purpose was educating returning World War II veterans. It was renamed Portland State College in 1955, and dropped the “College” and became Portland State University in 1969.
Enrollment: 28,241. Portland State is unranked nationally by U.S. News and World Report. It has an endowment of $58.4 million. It is the largest school in the state of Oregon.
Stadium(s): Hillsboro Stadium and Providence Park. Portland State has a unique situation, in that the Vikings will play home games at two stadiums this season. Their primary home, with of five home games there this year, is Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Oregon, which holds up to 10,000. Previously, the Vikings would play a game or two a year there when their schedule clashed with the Portland Timbers games at Providence Park, which is the home of the Timbers. This year, only the Homecoming game against Northern Colorado on October 13 will be played at Providence, which has a capacity of up to 22,000.
Alumni: Courtney Love, musician (didn’t graduate); Julius Thomas, tight end; Casten Nemra, former President of the U.S. Marshall Islands (for only 17 days!)
Coach – Bruce Barnum, fourth season at Portland State
Barnum has one of the most fascinating stories of any coach in the conference. He was a linebacker at Eastern Washington, graduating in 1987. After that, he was an assistant at two high schools, Western Washington, Cornell, and American International, never staying in one place for more than two years.
He finally found some stability as the offensive line coach at the Coast Guard Academy from 1994 to 1997, before returning to the Big Sky Conference as an assistant coach with a variety of roles at Idaho State from 1998 to 2006. After three more years at Cornell as the offensive coordinator, he came to Portland State in the same job in 2010.
The Vikings have a long legacy of legendary head coaches that includes Griz icon Don Read, run-and-shoot originator Mouse Davis, and Missoula native Pokey Allen. Barnum joined that list five days after the Vikings completed a 3-9 season in 2014, taking over from the fired Nigel Burton on an interim basis. He took the opportunity and ran with it, conjuring one of the great out-of-nowhere seasons in Big Sky history in 2015 by leading the Vikings to a 9-3 record and a playoff appearance. That got him a five-year extension. The problem is that Portland State has won just four games in the years since, including an 0-11 record in 2017 and just one win so far in 2018, a blowout over NAIA College of Idaho. Barnum is known for his pass-heavy offensive style, dubbed “Barnyball.”
Players to Watch – Offense
Davis Alexander, QB – Alexander is the rare player who leads his team in both passing and rushing. Five games in, he has 39 carries for 179 net yards and has completed exactly half of his 92 pass attempts for 742 yards and six touchdowns. The sophomore won the starting job late last year with a strong finish to the season. From Gig Harbor, Washington, Alexander has avoided interceptions this year, with just two, but his problems are equally apparent. With only a 50 percent completion percentage, he’s struggled to keep the Portland State offense on schedule through the air, leading to 30 punts for the Vikings already, six per game and almost twice the number of their opponents. Still, the youngster is a dual threat, and he’ll have to have a big game to keep it close against the Griz.
Charlie Taumoepeau, TE – Taumoepeau has carried the Vikings’ offense so far this year, and that’s not hyperbole. With 15 catches for 420 yards, he’s responsible for nearly half of Portland State’s total passing yardage. He also has five touchdowns, more than all the other receivers on the team combined and fully one-third of the team’s 15 total offensive scores. He started off the season on fire, with touchdown receptions of over 70 yards in each of the Vikings’ first three games. Just a junior, he’s played in all 27 games since he got to Portland State’s campus in 2016. Taumoepeau was a teammate of Griz receiver Keenan Curran at Federal way High School in Federal Way, Washington.
Players to Watch – Defense
Kasun Jackett, LB – Jackett has 36 tackles so far for Portland State, leading the team. He’s 16th in the Big Sky in tackles per game at 7.2. The senior from Eastvale, California, transferred in to Portland State in 2017 after two years at Chaffey College and led the team in tackles last year as well, with 91. So far this year, he’s added three tackles for loss, a sack and a pass breakup. He’ll be severely tested by a suddenly resurgent Montana run game Saturday.
Romeo Gunt, S – Gunt, like Jackett, transferred in to Portland State, the only difference being that this is his first year. The junior played high school football at national power Imhotep Charter in Philadelphia before going to Los Angeles Valley Junior College. So far this year, he’s third on the Vikings with 26 tackles. He’s shown the ability to make splash plays, with four tackles for loss, tied for first on the team, a forced fumble, and an interception that he returned 31 yards against College of Idaho.
Photos by Portland State Athletics or noted. All Rights Reserved.
