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Portland State @ Washington State Thread

forestgreen said:
PSU FOOTBALL: Slotback Woods hopes to 'YAC' it up at Wazzou
Former Sunset High star ready to bounce back after kickoff-return fumble

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122177423205897200
Click to expand...

I sure like what I see from Woods so far, and I'm not just saying that since I too went to Sunset High School. ;-) The guy seems to ooze energy, and that can be just what a team needs. Giving credit to his blockers, saying he let the team down with that fumble. You can bet that if he ever finds himself in that position again, he'll have that ball tucked away.
 
martymoose said:
I sure like what I see from Woods so far, and I'm not just saying that since I too went to Sunset High School. ;-) The guy seems to ooze energy, and that can be just what a team needs. Giving credit to his blockers, saying he let the team down with that fumble. You can bet that if he ever finds himself in that position again, he'll have that ball tucked away.
Click to expand...

What was so sad about the fumble was that he had really fought his way downfield...showed fantastic drive to "will" his way down to the endzone. Hurdling, breaking tackles, juking, really fighting to get the yardage. Great, great run...and I'm sure nobody's more upset about it than Aaron.
Now, off to Pullman. There were a lot of lessons learned the past two games. Plenty of mistakes, but no absence of ability. We have to play tight and knock off those heavy penalties; exploit opportunities when they happen, and hang on to the ball.
Would like to see Howland get some field time...we missed about 5 good passing gains @ Davis due to overthrows. Not bashing Drew, but from what I've seen, Ty's a little more accurate. We also need to press the corners better on D. We had more than a few broken coverages that could have caused a lot of damage, but for Davis's own mistakes.
The slip ups that allowed Trombetta to make the big runs to the outside, aren't necessarily indicative of a serious problem, though. Trombetta is uncommon in his ability to get to the outside and make the big gains. Wazzou's Tardy isn't as serious a threat...plus, they're weak on the line, so I doubt they'll represent the same challenge. We've got more than enough talent to knock out the Cougs, if we show up, play hard and smart, and correct our mistakes from the past two weeks, Wazzou will be 0-4 at the end of the day.

PSU 38
WSU 28
 
Vikings: Game 3 vs. Washington State

http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2008/09/vikings_game_3_vs_washington_s.html
 
STEVE SAYS: Cougars will claw out a win (maybe their only one)

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122177529999145300

By Steve Brandon

Washington State isn’t the Big Sky Conference, but you can see it from there.

If the Vikings are ever going to beat a Pac-10 team (they’re 0-6), this would be the year.

The Cougars have been crushed in all three of their 2008 outings and are under a new coach, Paul Wulff, from Eastern Washington.

The Vikings, with their run-and-shoot offense, have a chance to outscore teams that, on paper, are bigger and theoretically stronger than them.

If it’s a shootout on Saturday, PSU might prevail.

But are the Vikings ready to win in two or three of the three areas (offense, defense, special teams) against a Pac-10 team, albeit a bad one?

The Vikings were a few fairly strange plays away from winning at UC Davis last week: a punt-block try that backfired, a fumble one yard from the end zone, some missed tackles and dropped interceptions included.

But the bottom line is, most non-blowout games hinge on two, three or four such plays, and you either make them or you don’t.

The Vikings are so young, they might need a bit more time before they start making those plays.

If Portland State comes up with the near-flawless kind of performance it did at Montana last year, the Cougs are in trouble.

But if the Cougars can get off to a good start, they’ll be in control, and with the home crowd to help them finish.

This might be the Cougars’ only win of the season, and they probably won’t blow it.

THE PICK: Washington State 40, Portland State 34
 
Countdown to Vikings kickoff: Can PSU beat a Pac-10 team?
by Jim Beseda, The Oregonian
Friday September 19, 2008, 2:13 PM

Portland State quarterback Drew Hubel argues that the Vikings' offense can move the ball against anybody.

Including against teams from the Pacific-10 Conference.

Hubel gets to test that theory today when the Vikings take on the Washington State Cougars at Martin Stadium in PSU's final tune-up before next week's Big Sky Conference opener at Sacramento State.

http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2008/09/countdown_to_vikings_kickoff_c.html
 
Every time I get ahead of myself for an upset we end up getting blown out. I will let this one play itself out. We do have a legit shot at doing something no Big Sky team has....but we have to play a complete game.
 
The Vanguard Blogzone
September 19th, 2008
Insider’s perspective

http://blogs.dailyvanguard.com/2008/09/19/insider%E2%80%99s-perspective/

This story is part of an exchange conducted with the Washington State Daily Evergreen, the student newspaper at WSU. Nathan Hellman previewed the game in an article for their paper, and their insider, Mike Baldwin, did the same for us. Nate’s article can be viewed in PDF form here: Daily Evergreen Page 1 Daily Evergreen Page 2

Also check out our podcast preview of the game here http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=16-pnztjyuc. You can also subscribe via Itunes. Lucky for you, we fixed the volume this week. Thanks for your patience.

Insider’s perspective
A Washington State insider gives the Vanguard insight on the Vikings- Cougars matchup
Mike Baldwin of the Washington State Daily Evergreen staff

There might not be a better time for the WSU football team to pick up its first victory of the season than Saturday against Portland State University at Martin Stadium.

The Cougars (0-3, 0-1 Pac-10) host the PSU Vikings in the first ever meeting between the two schools, but it’s not WSU Head Coach Paul Wulff’s first encounter with the Big Sky Conference school.

The Vikings (1-1) upset Wulff’s Eastern Washington squad 28-21 last season and the WSU coach could avenge the loss Saturday and earn his first victory with the Cougars to avoid an 0-4 start. Wulff is 4-4 all-time against Portland State.

“It’s no foregone conclusion that we are going to win,” Wulff said. “We’ve got to play a lot better football.”

The Vikings aren’t exactly a school to overlook or take for granted. The team, from the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as the Div. I-AA, is the Cougars’ final nonconference game.

PSU Head Coach Jerry Glanville, in his second season with the Vikings, has molded a top-ranked offense which averages nearly 400 yards per game.

“They’re a good team and anybody can win on any given day,” WSU starting quarterback Kevin Lopina said. “We’ve just got to prepare, they’re (Div. I-AA), but that means nothing.”

“They’re all college athletes and they all have scholarships and so do we, so we’ve just got to go out there and play hard and win,” Lopina said.

Lopina will make his second straight start Saturday after throwing 17-of-26 for 174 yards and two interceptions against Baylor University this past Friday. Reserve quarterback Gary Rogers tallied reps in practice this week, but will back up Lopina against the Vikings.

Lopina knows that a misstep along the way could lead to Rogers earning his starting role back. This week’s practice has been a little easier for Lopina to handle as the starting job had been named prior to the first whistle on Saturday.

“It’s good to know that I’m the starter, but at the same time, maybe last week was better in pushing me to do better,” Lopina said. “I just can’t get complacent; I’ve just got to keep working hard every day.”

This season has brought a string of defensive struggles for the Cougars, who have been outscored 150-33 and averaged 50 points allowed per game. The Cougars have never lost to a FCS school in 13 games, but the team will have its hands full Saturday against Glanville’s offense.

“They can definitely throw the ball,” WSU safety Alfonso Jackson said. “They do a good job of spreading the ball out and getting to the receivers, but if we play like we’re coached to do, it should be a pretty easy game for us.”

Safety Xavier Hicks returns to the Cougars this week following a 3-game suspension. Jackson will also join him at safety to help combat PSU’s passing arsenal. Hicks’ return is crucial for a WSU defense that has yet to complete a solid performance this season.

“Xavier does a good job of making sure everyone has their plays, and it’s another helping hand back there,” Jackson said. “It’s a big plus for this defense.”
 
Cougars chew up Portland State 48-9
WSU loses two quarterbacks but still rolls at home
The Portland Tribune, Sep 20, 2008

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122196546053939300
 
Win over Vikings costly for Cougars
by Jim Beseda, The Oregonian Saturday September 20, 2008, 10:31 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2008/09/vikings_fall_flat_on_pac10_sta.html
 
Games like this make any discussion about ascending to the WAC sound ludicrous.I stopped watching the game after 1 1/2 periods not because the Vikings were chanceless, but because I don't see why I should waste my time watching painful attempts to play football when I could be doing the dishes, working on a paper, or watching LSU and Auburn.

What hurts most is that there is no lack of talent. But for every good play there are half a dozen horrible ones.
 
I don't necessarily think that makes ascension questions ludicrous. I think we can all agree that there is a long way to go, and it must be a 5-10 year process given the talent pool. However, I think we had to expect a big loss, even if you didn't see them losing by 39. I'll wait until the end of next season to make judgments on Glanville, and the program's future.
 
Well, I should have said "discussions as they have been had in the recent past on this board." Many contributions sounded as though everything was just a matter of money and marketing and success on the field was just a side effect. Of course, it's a good thing to have long-term goals.
 
That game certainly shows we have a long way to go. Glanville will have his hands full figuring out what mistakes to focus on. Passes weren't caught, passes were badly thrown. Run and Shoot looked sick. I've never been so aware of the discrepancies between Pac10 recruiting and I-AA recruiting. Our guys were just too small. And we may have to go down to our freshmen to find a dependable quarterback. That, or beef up our running game. Sac State will tell us a lot.
 
I think this game showed we still have a lot of holes that need to be filled and there is still quite a bit of a learning curve for both the offense and defense. I look to the fact we are only the second year in a rebuilding process that will take time to fill those holes and establish a team that will sustain itself.

By the way....our favorite Viking Grizz fan OBSF has reared his ugly face back on the Opegonian spouting his I hate Jerry talk again. I was tempted to tell him to shut the F up, but instead to ignore him hoping that if nobody chooses to respond he might get tired of it and go back to his precious Grizz.
 
I ended up having to go down to San Diego this weekend, and missed the entire game. I DVR'd it, but after reading the write ups and the box score, I may just delete it.

I feel bad for WSU. Losing their top two QBs in one game? We sure know what that is like. Ugh, and the bad injury came on a late hit? That's terrible.

At least we punted well and we're continuing to force turnovers.

Too bad our 3rd down conversions suck and we come out just plain flat it seems. Slow starts and things like 10 guys on the field to start the 2nd half point to coaching....
 
Who expected 48-9? That was a whoopin!

Way to early to make a judgement on coaching.... We need to get a few more on Galnvilles kids into the program and tenure the ones we have. I just hope he does not get to frustrated and leaves....

As for the jump.... We should not even talk about it until we see at least 2 Big Sky Champ Trophies!

The Griz looked tough this weekend when they came back and held Davis.... If we can sort our QB game out maybe the game will be close:)

Sac State should be interesting this weekend!
 
rogersjd said:
Way to early to make a judgement on coaching....
Click to expand...

An early judgment on coaching? I judge them every week, as should all supporters of the PSU football program. Lack of execution and focus at the onset of a game should be pointed at coaching for all levels of football. We've had 15 yard penalties on us in the first minute of the last two games, and have dug huge holes that make us a one dimensional team. Tough to win when we're fighting an uphill battle right from the get go.

The entire team should just go ahead and forget about the last three games (the good, the bad, and the ugly), because conference play is a clean slate.

This is a huge road game this week. I'd love to see us come out of the gate solid. Good blocking, good passing, no penalties. Execute. If we can get a solid start, maybe we can get Bobby going on the ground.
 
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