Tag: Portland State Football

Wyoming Cowboys Defeat Portland State Vikings, Remain Undefeated

The Wyoming Cowboys football team remains undefeated after a 31-17 victory in Laramie on Saturday over the FCS Portland State Vikings.

Wyoming Cowboys Defeat Portland State Vikings to Remain Undefeated

Wyoming flashes offense and downs FCS Vikings

Contact/Follow @KayceeClark & @MWCwire

Cowboys are 2-0

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The Wyoming Cowboys football team remains undefeated after a 31-17 victory in Laramie on Saturday over the FCS Portland State Vikings. For the second time in three seasons, Wyoming begins the season 2-0.

The Pokes controlled most of the game, as they never trailed. The first drive continued last week’s troubles of holding onto the ball, with a Sam Scott fumble to end a promising drive.

However, after Wyoming’s Wyett Ekeler intercepted Portland State’s Dante Chachere’s pass, Wyoming’s Jamari Ferrell would give the Cowboys a 7-0 lead.

After another defensive stop, on a 3rd and 7, Cowboy quarterback Andrew Peasley would fire a rocket to Ayir Asante for a 64-yard touchdown.

Entering the second quarter, Portland State would answer the 14-0 start by Wyoming, scoring their touchdown on a two-yard rush from Chachere after a nine-minute, 18-play drive, making it 14-7.

Once the Vikings got the ball back, they would reach Wyoming territory before fumbling it, and Wyoming’s Tyrecus Davis return to Portland State’s side of the field. Quickly, Peasley floated the ball to a wide-open Wyatt Wieland in the end zone.

In what began to seem like a routing, Peasley would throw an interception in Viking territory to Isaiah Avery, leading to a Portland field goal before the end of the first half. Wyoming led 21-10.

A slow 3rd quarter, which only saw five total drives, saw Wyoming tack on ten more with a John Hoyland 56-yard field goal and another Asante touchdown from 14 yards out.

With the Cowboys up 31-10 entering the fourth quarter, several starters took a seat, giving way to some others for snaps. After a penalty wiped out a 33-yard Wieland jet sweep, Wyoming’s offense fell stagnant.

In response, the Vikings would drive 54 yards to score a 10-yard touchdown pass to Maclaine Griffin to bring it closer. Despite a last-minute drive that fell short on 4th down at Wyoming’s nine-yard line, the Pokes would win 31-17.

Wyoming would finish with 170 yards on the ground, led by Scott with 70. Peasley finished with a hat trick of passing touchdowns, 244 total yards and an interception. Asante finished with only two receptions for 78 yards, leading the team, but both went for touchdowns, including his first in his career for Wyoming.

Defensively, Wyoming gave up 344 total yards, 254 coming from the pass. Cole Godbout led the team with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. Godbout is now tied for eighth in all-time career tackles for loss with Ward Dobbs at 24.

Wrook Brown and Easton Gibbs led the team with total tackles at eight.

In week 3, Wyoming will play their first road game of the season, traveling to Austin, Texas, to play the No. 11 Texas Longhorns on September 16—kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. MT.

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Wyoming Football: First Look At The Portland State Vikings

The Cowboys will host FCS Portland State as part of its non-conference slate this fall. Here’s a first look at the Viks.

Wyoming Football: First Look at the Portland State Vikings

The Cowboys will host FCS Portland State as part of its non-conference slate this fall. Here’s a first look at the Viks.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS and @MWCwire

A reasonable FCS test.

Wyoming Football: First Look at 2023 Non-conference Opponents

Texas Tech | Portland State | Texas | Appalachian State

After opening the 2023 season with a big-time home clash against Texas Tech, the Wyoming Cowboys will finish a season-opening two-game homestand against the Portland State Vikings.

While it may be tempting for Pokes fans to chalk up an automatic “W” in Week 2, this team nearly took down another Mountain West team in non-conference play last year and boasts a potent offense that could surprise if Wyoming looks past them.

Location: Portland, Oregon

Conference: Big Sky

Series History: This will be the first meeting between Wyoming and Portland State.

2022 Record: 4-7 (3-5 Big Sky)

Head Coach: Bruce Barnum (ninth year, 30-50 overall). The Big Sky can be a tough place to make headway, which explains in part why the Viks suffered their seventh straight losing campaign in 2022. After opening the year with a narrow road loss to San Jose State and a blowout defeat to Washington, the Viks couldn’t put it together against the class of their conference, losing by a combined 196-61 margin to the four FCS playoff teams on their schedule.

Key Players

Dante Chachere, QB

The younger brother of former San Jose State star Andre Chachere didn’t need much time to establish himself as a bonafide dual-threat quarterback. In his first full season as PSU’s starter, the Fresno native completed 59.7% of his throws for 1,956 yards and 19 touchdowns against a 3.2% interception rate and led the Viks with 609 rushing yards and seven more touchdowns on the ground.

Parker McKenna, LB

After establishing himself as one of the Big Sky’s top young defenders as a freshman in 2021, last year didn’t go quite as smoothly for the Beaverton, Oregon native as injuries limited him to just three starts. Even in that limited stint, though, he picked up 27 total tackles, a forced fumble, and 1.5 tackles for loss, so a return to health should mean a return to form.

Jaymason Willingham, LB

McKenna’s 2022 injury provided an opportunity for Willingham, who’d transferred to PSU from Utah State last off-season, to step into the starting lineup. He ended up making seven starts altogether and tallied a total of 53 tackles, the most of any Viks defender back for this year, as well as five tackles for loss, so chances are the two might end up as running mates in the middle of the Portland State defense in 2023.

Nate Bennett, WR

The Viks will have to replace a big chunk of their passing production, but Bennett provides Chachere at least one reliable target. According to Pro Football Focus, he had a team-high 78 targets in 2022 and led PSU with 47 receptions totaling 517 yards.

Tyreese Shakir, S

If the name sounds familiar, that’s because Tyreese’s brother Khalil was a former Boise State standout. In two seasons with the Viks, Tyreese has started to make his own name, though injuries limited to him to seven starts as a sophomore last year. Nonetheless, he collected 37 total tackles, three tackles for loss, and two interceptions, doing a little bit of everything in Portland State’s defensive backfield.

Overview:

Offense

PSU’s offense had a fair bit of talent in 2022 but it scuffled against the tougher teams on its schedule, which helps to explain why the Viks finished 10th among Big Sky offenses in converting red zone opportunities (69.4%) and 11th in third-down conversion rate (36.5%) despite averaging a respectable 5.63 yards per play and 25.6 points per game. They’ll look for better results this fall while replacing Beau Kelly and Mataio Talalemotu, two of their top three pass catchers from last season.

Chachere has proven he can do some heavy lifting, but the rushing attack will benefit if Joby Malary and Quincy Craig (96 combined carries, 576 combined rushing yards, five combined touchdowns) can remain explosive with larger workloads. The offensive line returns lots of experience, as well, led by swingman Shiloh Ta’ase, who has seen plenty of reps at tackle and guard dating back to 2019.

The passing game could be a little more of a mystery, but the Viks have lots of options from which to choose. Bennett and Maclaine Griffin (14 catches, 175 yards, three touchdowns) lead the veteran contingent while Jaden Casey converted from quarterback in the spring and showed promise, Jermaine Braddock transferred in from San Jose State, and Darien Chase (54-579-4 in 2021) returns from an injury that wiped out his 2022 season.

Defense

Key injuries didn’t help, but PSU’s defense was clearly a weakness in 2022: The Viks gave up 6.7 yards per play, the sixth-highest average among all FCS teams, and 36.5 points per game. On paper, it may not get much better since Portland State has to replace its leading tackler and all five players who had at least six tackles for loss in 2022.

Needless to say, a lot will be expected of players who had part-time roles over the last couple seasons like defensive linemen Dino Kahaulelio and Kennedy Freeman and linebacker Isaiah Henry, who should fill in some of the gaps around McKenna and Willingham in the front seven.

The secondary, on the other hand, brings back a wealth of experience despite losing star safety Anthony Adams. Shakir and David Joseph (44 total tackles, three pass breakups, one interception) both have experience at safety and nickelback while Isaiah Avery (28 tackles, four PBUs) held his own as a season-long starter at cornerback. It’ll be crucial for the Viks to improve the 63.7% opponents completion rate and 8.43 yards per attempt they gave up in 2022 if they want to surprise this fall.

Early Prediction

The Cowboys aren’t likely to win this one in a walk — they beat an inferior Northern Colorado State by only 23 last year — but their defense should be more than good enough to put the clamps on anything the Viks might hope to do for a workmanlike victory.

Wyoming 28, Portland State 13

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Mountain West Football: Examining Each Opponent’s Week 1 Depth Chart

What stands out in the depth charts released by each of the Mountain West’s 11 Week 1 opponents?

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Mountain West Football: Examining Each Opponent’s Week 1 Depth Chart

What stands out in the depth charts released by each of the Mountain West’s 11 Week 1 opponents?

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

What to keep in mind before kickoff.

Cal Poly (link to game notes, depth chart on page 11)

What stands out: The Mustangs have a couple of solid defensive pieces, most notably defensive end Eljiah Ponder, and they’ll hope that sophomore Robbie Greer can bookend Ponder’s production at the other edge spot.

Why that could be important: Cal Poly’s pass rush wasn’t a particularly strong one in 2021, as the team had just 22 sacks, tied for tenth among teams in the Big Sky. Ponder had eight by himself, so the 6-foot-6, 250 pound Greer, who got his first taste of action as a true freshman in the spring season last year but redshirted during the fall, will be expected to do his part in taking down Jake Haener.

Portland State (link to game notes, depth chart on page 13)

What stands out: Dante Chachere is tasked with replacing Davis Alexander, one of the best quarterbacks in Portland State football history.

Why that could be important: Alexander had a lot of moxie and, more importantly, knew how to produce, doing so to the tune of 294.5 yards of total offense per game last year. The sophomore Chachere, after winning the competition over Jaden Casey, is a Fresno native who has earned a lot of praise throughout the offense for his growth as a potential dual-threat quarterback. His homecoming will be a test of how true that is.

Texas State (link to depth chart)

What stands out: As the Bobcats already return more than half of last year’s starters on both sides of the ball, there weren’t a ton of roles for players to step up and claim but nickelback Jarron Morris, who’s actually reclaiming a spot, could be the rare exception.

Why that could be important: Texas State’s secondary got picked on quite a bit last year, allowing a completion rate of 65.4% while interceptions just three passes all season. It could be in part because they missed Morris, a second-team all-Sun Belt defender who played in only one full game before a hip injury cost him the entire season. If he’s back in form, the Bobcats will be that much better for it.

Michigan (link to discussion of depth chart)

What stands out: The Wolverines will have work to do in replacing Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, but one surprising entry that will be part of the cohort to do so is true freshman Mason Graham.

Why that could be important: A two-way player who also wrestled at California’s Servite High School, Graham won’t have to do everything by himself with veterans like Mazi Smith and Kris Jenkins back, as well. At 6-foot-3 and 317 pounds, though, Graham could disrupt Colorado State’s best laid plans from the point of attack if the Rams aren’t ready.

Northern Iowa (link to overview of team depth)

What stands out: The Panthers found themselves having to replace a first-round NFL Draft pick this summer, but Matthew Vanderslice emerged as Trevor Penning’s successor throughout the off-season.

Why that could be important: Vanderslice isn’t completely new to the starting lineup, having made two starts in 2019, three in spring 2020 and three last fall, but you could make a reasonable case that no one else mentioned in this article has bigger shoes to fill.

The upside? Vanderslice is a pretty big dude himself, listed at 6-foot-8 and 318 pounds on the UNI roster. If he can protect Theo Day’s blind side half as well as Penning did, Air Force could be in for a much tougher fight than expected.

Arizona (link to depth chart)

What stands out: The Wildcats aren’t wasting any time throwing true freshman Tetairoa McMillan into the mix, starting opposite UTEP transfer Jacob Cowing and sophomore Dorian Singer.

Why that could be important: McMillan is the highest-ranked recruit that Arizona has ever landed, a five-star prospect according to some sites, and at 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, it’s not hard to see why. We know that Cowing is one of the nation’s premier deep threats, but it’ll be interesting to see what kind of role Jedd Fisch carves out for his off-season’s biggest prize.

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