Week 11 - #12 Sac State vs Portland State
The 12th ranked Hornets (7-2, 6-0 BSC) stay at home for the 2nd week in a row and host a surging Portland State (5-4, 4-2 BSC) to close the regular season home slate. The Vikings have been in playoff mode for a few weeks now and are coming into this game on a 2 game win streak, and needing to win out to have a shot at grabbing a playoff spot. Their wins have not come against good competition, however they did get an impressive win at Weber State last week, 30-18, and have scored at least 30 points in each of the last 3 wins, including a 42-21 win over Cal Poly 2 weeks ago.
The Viking offense likes to spread the field and operate out of the shotgun and Pistol. They don’t run much RPO but they can. The Vikings are in the middle of the BSC at 6th in scoring offense (28.3 ppg), 6th in total offense (414.2 ypg), 9th in rush offense (128.3 ypg) and an impressive 2nd in pass offense (285.9 ypg). The Viking offense is well balanced and slightly favors the pass 55%-45%. QB Davis Alexander (209/344, 2505 yds, 17 TD, 9 INT, 69 car, 176 yds, 6 TD) has put up impressive numbers this season. He’s a scrambler that can extend plays with his legs and is best throwing the short and intermediate routes. He struggles with accuracy down the field. Alexander does a great job of distributing the ball to his WRs, with his favorite target being Beau Kelly (59 rec, 787 yds, 8 TD). 3 other WRs have at least 28 catches and 400 receiving yards. The Viking running game is led by Malik Walker (145 car, 732 yds, 9 TD) who has big play potential when in the open field.
Portland State runs a 3-3-5 defense and rushes 4 almost every play. They are a solid defense that is 6th in the BSC in scoring defense (26.0 ppg), 5th in total defense (374.2 ypg), 5th in rush defense (145.0 ypg) and 6th in pass defense (229.2 ypg). PSU’s defense can get after the QB quite well and are 2nd in the BSC with 26 sacks. MLB Parker McKenna (73 tkl, 3.5 TFL, 1 INT) leads the defense in tackles but the impact player is DE VJ Malo (39 tkl, 18.5 TFL, 10.5 sack) who is a complete wrecking ball. CB Anthony Adams (42 tkl, 3 TFL, 3 INT) leads the Vikings in INTs.
PSU’s K Gianni Smith (5/7 FG, 23/23 PAT) is solid and has hit from 49 yards out this year. PSU’s kick returning is in the bottom 3rd of the BSC and their coverage is comparable as they are allowing only 20 yards a kick.
This is going to be a close game as both teams are very comparable in a lot of statistical categories. The Vikings are peaking at the right time of the season and are motivated in their pursuit of a playoff berth. Likewise, the Hornets have been cruising and are looking for back to back BSC Titles. Something is going to have to give and I think this game can go either way. I’ll give the slight advantage to the Hornets given that this game is in Hornet Stadium.
Stingers Up!
The 12th ranked Hornets (7-2, 6-0 BSC) stay at home for the 2nd week in a row and host a surging Portland State (5-4, 4-2 BSC) to close the regular season home slate. The Vikings have been in playoff mode for a few weeks now and are coming into this game on a 2 game win streak, and needing to win out to have a shot at grabbing a playoff spot. Their wins have not come against good competition, however they did get an impressive win at Weber State last week, 30-18, and have scored at least 30 points in each of the last 3 wins, including a 42-21 win over Cal Poly 2 weeks ago.
The Viking offense likes to spread the field and operate out of the shotgun and Pistol. They don’t run much RPO but they can. The Vikings are in the middle of the BSC at 6th in scoring offense (28.3 ppg), 6th in total offense (414.2 ypg), 9th in rush offense (128.3 ypg) and an impressive 2nd in pass offense (285.9 ypg). The Viking offense is well balanced and slightly favors the pass 55%-45%. QB Davis Alexander (209/344, 2505 yds, 17 TD, 9 INT, 69 car, 176 yds, 6 TD) has put up impressive numbers this season. He’s a scrambler that can extend plays with his legs and is best throwing the short and intermediate routes. He struggles with accuracy down the field. Alexander does a great job of distributing the ball to his WRs, with his favorite target being Beau Kelly (59 rec, 787 yds, 8 TD). 3 other WRs have at least 28 catches and 400 receiving yards. The Viking running game is led by Malik Walker (145 car, 732 yds, 9 TD) who has big play potential when in the open field.
Portland State runs a 3-3-5 defense and rushes 4 almost every play. They are a solid defense that is 6th in the BSC in scoring defense (26.0 ppg), 5th in total defense (374.2 ypg), 5th in rush defense (145.0 ypg) and 6th in pass defense (229.2 ypg). PSU’s defense can get after the QB quite well and are 2nd in the BSC with 26 sacks. MLB Parker McKenna (73 tkl, 3.5 TFL, 1 INT) leads the defense in tackles but the impact player is DE VJ Malo (39 tkl, 18.5 TFL, 10.5 sack) who is a complete wrecking ball. CB Anthony Adams (42 tkl, 3 TFL, 3 INT) leads the Vikings in INTs.
PSU’s K Gianni Smith (5/7 FG, 23/23 PAT) is solid and has hit from 49 yards out this year. PSU’s kick returning is in the bottom 3rd of the BSC and their coverage is comparable as they are allowing only 20 yards a kick.
This is going to be a close game as both teams are very comparable in a lot of statistical categories. The Vikings are peaking at the right time of the season and are motivated in their pursuit of a playoff berth. Likewise, the Hornets have been cruising and are looking for back to back BSC Titles. Something is going to have to give and I think this game can go either way. I’ll give the slight advantage to the Hornets given that this game is in Hornet Stadium.
Stingers Up!
