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A few days after beating North Texas, Portland State has made interim coach Bruce Barnum the team's official head coach. The FCS-level Vikings beat North Texas 66-7 for the team's second win over an FBS team in 2015. Portland State opened the season with a win over Washington State. North Texas also fired coach Dan McCarney in the hours after the game. The loss dropped the Mean Green to 0-5. "It is my privilege to announce that Portland State has signed Bruce Barnum to a multi-year contract," athletic director Mark Rountree said in a statement. "Coach Barnum has proven he can lead our team to compete at the highest levels, and is committed to developing student-athletes to be successful for the rest of their lives. read more: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/portland-state-makes-interim-coach-permanent-after-north-texas-win-202001925.html

With our last victory of 35-16 over University of Montana Grizzleys and a 7-1 record, Portland State is now ranked #10 in the STATS FCS poll and tied for #9 in the FCS coaches poll. We have three games left, a road game at Big Sky cellar dweller Northern Colorado Bears (possible trap game), and games against the Big Sky leaders Southern Utah Thunderbirds (home game) and at Eastern Washington Eagles (rivalry game for the Dam Cup). 8 wins and hopefully we will be a seeded team in the FCS national championship tourney or one at least of the teams getting an at large selection.

The Vikings went into the North Dakota game having relied heavily on the run and without having showed a lot in the passing game — and not much changed. PSU had trouble throwing the ball, other than Kuresa’s 76-yard TD slant pass-and-run to fleet Grant High graduate Paris Penn on the team’s first play from scrimmage. North Dakota was playing to stop the run first, which led to PSU gaining only 97 yards on 30 carries. “When that’s happening, we need to throw the football better,” Barnum says. “When there’s eight or nine (defenders) in the box, two more than us, we have to distribute to our receivers until we loosen you up.” By loading up defensively near the line of scrimmage, North Dakota was locked into playing man-to-man coverage on Portland State’s receivers, and the Vikings couldn’t make them pay for it. “If someone’s going to go man against us consistenly, we’ve got to throw the football and get them back into zone,” Barnum says. “This game is simple: If they’re in man, throw it. In zone, run it. That’s football 101. I’ve talked to (offensive coordinator) Steve Cooper about how we have to improve that part of our game.” Overall, when it comes to run-pass, “we need to get to 50-50,” Barnum says. Through four games, the Vikings are at 75 percent run, 25 percent pass. The Vikings suffered one key injury in the North Dakota game, losing standout cornerback Aaron Sibley to a pulled hamstring. Sibley, also a key contributor on special teams, has had problems with that in the past, and the Vikings went into the week waiting to see if scar tissue was the issue this time and could be treated enough for him to get back on the field at North Texas. North Texas quarterback Andrew McNulty is a 6-1, 210-pound senior from Iowa City, Iowa (North Texas coach Dan McCarney is an Iowa graduate who used to coach there and at Iowa State). McNulty has completed 60 of 126 passes (47.6 percent) for 699 yards and three touchdowns in the Mean Green’s 0-4 start, with four interceptions. View full article

Check out Campus Insider's North Texas vs. Portland State prediction and game preview. At least someone has us picked to win something! Read article: http://campusinsiders.com/news/north-texas-vs-portland-state-prediction-game-preview-10-06-2015