BroadwayVik said:
Would you be willing to cut-and-paste the content of the Tribune article as we don't have access to it in this part of the world?
No problem, enjoy!
If all goes well in 2017, Portland State will the best football team nobody's ever heard of.
Meet the no-name Vikings.
Coach Bruce Barnum is rightly playing up the unknown-and-unsung angle as the Viks open spring practice this week. PSU is coming off a 3-8 season with no big names on the back of its jerseys.
The Vikings do have lots of players who will be vying for starting jobs and playing time — it's just that the coaches aren't sure yet who will wind up throwing the ball, carrying the ball, catching the ball and, in some cases, defending when the other team has the ball.
"There's going to be more evaluation this spring than in probably any year I can remember," says Barnum, who is entering his third season as head coach and eighth year with the program.
After dropping five close games in the fourth quarter or overtime in 2016, "I need to know who we can rely on," Barnum says.
One thing he knows: He won't be able to rely on some returning superstars.
"We don't have any," Barnum says. "But at our team meeting Sunday night I told everyone, 'The magic about our team is we're not a bunch of five-star recruits.'"
How's that again?
"Take our wide receiver position," Barnum says. "I have some guys who can jump, some guys who can go across the middle, some guys who are good route runners — they all are good at something. If I put them all together, I can give you a five-star position with a bunch of mullets."
That's basically what Portland State did two years ago, when the Vikings shocked the college football ranks by going 9-3, making the top 10 in the national rankings and reaching the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
That season, some players emerged as individual standouts. One was safety Patrick "Peanut" Onwuasor, who became an All-American and a finalist for FCS Defensive Player of the Year.
"I remember a day when people told me Peanut wouldn't be able to find a spot on our team," Barnum says.
Going into the 2017 season, Barnum is looking for one or more fresh "Peanuts" — players who will take their game to another level and lead the way.
The Vikings have several players who could do that, although what the team probably won't have is several players on the preseason all-Big Sky list.
The most solid area in terms of returnees is the offensive line, where senior left tackle Randin Crecelius is a likely preseason all-conference pick, senior left guard Tyshon Mosley isn't far behind, and other spots are manned by seasoned players such as senior guard/center Chad Bach.
On defense, lineman Anthony Del Toro turned some heads last year as a freshman from Grants Pass; Davond Dade returns as an experienced senior up front; linebacker Beau Duronslet is a versatile senior out of Central Catholic High; ex-Oregon Duck Chris Seisay, a senior, is back at cornerback; and senior Tyler Foreman looks to be the leader of the safety corps.
"Guys like Foreman, Duronslet, Dade — all our seniors — I need them to step up and lead, to play football as hard as they can and win games," Barnum says.
That goes for younger players, as well, and for those at the skill positions.
Starting at quarterback, the big question on the Park Blocks this year is, who starts? The Vikings need to replace Alex Kuresa, a good running QB who led them the past two seasons but has graduated.
The leading candidate probably is Josh Kraght — but the product of Lnyden (Washington) High also is arguably the team's best receiver and punt returner.
Going into spring ball, Barnum says the QB position is battle between the 6-0 Kraght and 5-11 Davis Alexander, who redshirted in 2016 as a freshman from Gig Harbor, Washington.
Kraght came to PSU as a quarterback, but in three seasons he's caught about as many balls (52) as he's completed (53 of 104 pass attempts). Still … "In Josh, you have a guy who knows the position," Barnum says. "He's a competitor. He's a winner. I know we can win with Josh Kraght."
Meanwhile, "I need to see where Davis Alexander is at," Barnum quickly adds, "because he's a guy who can take it over, it's just a question of when. He's like the Madison River in Montana, a beautiful river you just haven't fished yet."
Athletically, Kraght and Alexander are similar, and similar to Kuresa, says the coach.
"Josh has experience, attitude, leadership, football savvy and just finds a way to get it done. Davis has the biggest arm of those three. Both of them can run," Barnum says.
At running back, the Vikings have no one with more than the 29 career carries of Za'Quan Summers, who is 5-9 and has a dangerous burst.
The Vikings have always gone with a running back-by-committee approach, though, and that probably will be the case again this season.
In Mitchell Thompson from Oregon City, the Viks have a former walk-on who still plays, at 5-7, like he has something to prove, and performs at a high level on special teams, as well.
Other running backs may offer PSU other strengths. And new to the mix is the biggest of the backs, 6-2, 235-pound Jason Talley, a former workhorse for Jesuit High who has transferred from PSU rival Eastern Washington.
"He's one of the guys I'm very excited to watch this spring," Barnum says.
The state of the receiving corps is similar, with multiple options but a couple of leading candidates.
"I need Darnell Adams and Trent Riley to be able to take over games," Barnum says.
A transfer from TCU could make things even more interesting among the pass catchers — and a flock of tight ends should be part of the game plan, as well, especially in the red zone.
Joining the other tight end group this spring is PSU basketball standout De'Sean Parsons, 6-7 and 195 pounds, who just completed his hoops eligibility. He led Portland State in rebounding and was second in scoring.
Lightning struck once at PSU, when Julius Thomas went from basketball to tight end in 2010 and wound up in the NFL, where he still plays for the Miami Dolphins.
The 2017 Vikings will have a half-dozen tight end prospects who average about 6-5 and 240 pounds. The list includes a transfer from New Mexico State, Cameron Loos, who played for Hockinson High in Brush Prairie, Washington.
When those guys aren't going up against smaller defensive backs, they could make for a nice group of bodyguards.
"We could stick them into a four-wide (formation) on the 20-yard line and see how teams try to defend them," Barnum says.
The coach also says he could have some surprise -- at least to people outside the team -- contributors at other positions.
One is Steffen Jacobsen from Wilson High, who looks ready to play at linebacker or safety after redshirting his first year at PSU.
"I watched him destroy our offense on the scout team last year," Barnum says. "I'm anxious to see him now that he's competing for game time."
The Vikings will need help from their younger players, both right off the bat in 2017 and in what could be called Part II of a two-act season.
PSU will open against two formidable FBS teams. They will travel to BYU for a game on Aug. 25 and then visit Corvallis to face Oregon State on Sept. 2.
A Sept. 16 home game against UC Davis (which doesn't count in the Big Sky standings) is sandwiched around two bye weeks.
Then come eight straight weeks of conference play.
"We go money game, money game, bye, noncounter, bye, and then two months nonstop in the Big Sky," Barnum says.
The Vikings' conference action begins with Montana on Sept. 30 at Providence Park, followed by Montana State on Oct. 7 at Bozeman.
PSU didn't play either team in 2016, but the schedule merely reflects the state of the depth chart and lineup -- a lot figures to be different for Portland State this season.
