caseyorourke

Alex is not afraid to turn it upfield on a busted play and Paris ads an extra passer if needed. IIRC we tried to recruit him out of high school (his highlight video was something like 45 minutes long) when he was a top QB in Utah, but he went to BYU instead, who redshirted him and began to work on converting him to a WR before he had to go on mission (as all young Mormons are required to to). When he came back he decided he really wanted to go back to being a QB a QB so he went to a junior college to play. We followed him through his career and when he graduated Barnum offered him a scholarship. But he had to earn the position because we still had 3 other QB, McDonaugh (good runner), Penn (our U-QB) and Kraght (Kraft now a WR). Now Barnum is looking to find a way get all four of these guys on the field for a quadruple threat.

Actually, Green and white are our colors with black as an accent. The all black stuff was a holdover from the three years of the Jerry Glanville debacle

Don't blame us for what Vegas sets as odds.

If I might chirp in here. The University of Oregon Ducks spent many years playing the role of doormat and perineal laughingstock of the PAC 8/10 till they started to finally go their winning ways. Many think the turnaround is due to the financial gifts and influence from a certain donor who is an Oregon alum with extra hellishly deep pockets, Phil Knight. He has donated millions to Oregon, practically funded their entire sports program, built a world class training facility and provides their all their teams with cutting edge uniforms. Hopefully someday UNT will produce such a person who can provide your program with the same shot in the arm.

One innovation that came out of the QB selection this year was creation of a utility quarterback Utilizing the talents of Paris Penn along with our starting QB Alex Kuresa, giving us an extra threat

About 4 years ago, our university president said our football program had to become self-sufficient. so to that end we started scheduling two money games each year, which has managed to cover our travel for the rest of the season. Last few years we have had tried to get one or two PAC-12 opponents, especially if we can snag Oregon or Oregon State. But with this new college playoff system, the PAC 12 contenders are trying to avoid cupcake games for their OOC schedule in favor of teams from the other power conferences. We got $525,000 from Washington State. I'm not sure what the payout is from you guys, but when every dollar counts, we aren't going to allow our pride turn down an opportunity when it presents itself. Actually there is a movement in the background, especially if we can manage to win consistently win, manage to put butts in the seats and can to compete with Oregon and Oregon State for the hearts and minds of Oregonians, of moving up to the next level, possibly in the Mountain West conference. Right now it is a pipe dream, but.... if we were to do so, it would be nice to have a ready made rivalry to make it all the more interesting.

You wound me sir...... never meant to sound like I was trying to trash talk..... after three seasons at the bottom of our conference and losing every winnable game, we are not letting where we are now, go to our heads. We know that things can change in an instant and we could end up where we was predicted to be this year, at the bottom of our conference. Besides, we of the Big Sky like to save our trash talk for when we play either Montana or Montana State.

Actually, Portland State has a history with Teams from Texas. Back when we were an independent Division II power, we had a rather strong and intense with Texas A&I- Kingsville (now A&M- Kingsville and still D-II. We played them 12 times in 10 years, usually during the D-II playoffs. Around 10 or 12 years ago (tail end of the Tim Walsh era) after we had been in the Big Sky for a few years, We brought A&M Kingsville to Portland for a rematch. IIRC we also visited Stephen F. Austin that year.

Hate to say this, but last season a post like this could have been the case on Portland State's campus until Nigel Burton was finally fired.

Big Oregon/Texas howdy to y'all, PSU alum (class of 2000) and fellow Texan (spent a lot of years in Texas courtesy of Uncle Sam before settling in Kerrville (near San Antone)). I wish I could make it to the game and enjoy that legendary Texas hospitality, but right now I'm currently living and working in China. First I want to invite you to visit our forum at http://www.bigskyfans.com/vikings/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=c13f77c334cd09ab297133aba7d286b9 We would enjoy meeting and talking with the fans of our opponents and share insights. Stop in and say howdy. I also want to let you guys know that despite our current unexpected success, we aren't taking you guys lightly. Based on our teams performance last year we were projected to be 1-3 (our only win against D-II Western Oregon) instead of 3-1 (with a totally inconceivable win against PAC-12 Washington State). But even then, we lost a close We feel your current pain. Last year our team was in disarray. We went into games last year where we started out OK, built a good lead, then ended up playing not to lose and inevitably our defense would completely collapse and we ended losing by one or two scores. Their was mistrust amongst the coaching staff and players. Many players wanted to either quit or leave. It was so bad, that our interim AD fired head coach Nigel Burton and put in the current interim head coach Bruce Barnum. Now that we have a new AD, we are looking to hire a new coach. Coach Barnum knows that his position is not permanent, and this year is essentially his job interview, but Oregon has the "Art Rooney law" (we have to interview at least one minority applicant). Anyway I read that once Barnum was named coach, every player from last year opted to stay, every person who signed a LOI honored their commitment, and there was even a player who initially left the program rejoined it. Evidently the players have responded well enough to Barnum's philosophy that they started calling his style "Barneyball." Anyway, I'm sure our team is looking forward to heading down your way in the coming days, and may the best team win. I'm hoping that team will be PSU, but whoever it is will rest assured, it was a hard fought and well deserved win.