Portland State might just be the toughest Big Sky Conference football team to figure out early in this 2023 season. Montana State’s next opponent allowed 81 points to FBS power Oregon and scored 91 points against a school few had heard of before PSU hosted North American University.
The Vikings followed the Oregon debacle with a respectable showing against FBS Wyoming, losing 31-17 in Laramie. Then last week they beat Cal Poly 59-21 in the Big Sky opener for both teams. PSU scored 52 points in the first half, meaning the Viks scored 143 points in five quarters (PSU did not score in the 4th quarter of its 91-0 win over North American).
Nonetheless head coach Bruce Barnum has his team prepped to play the No. 3 ranked Bobcats in Bozeman for MSU’s homecoming. The comical coach quipped that he has team busy preparing a float for the homecoming parade.
“Thinking some roses and some stairs,” Barnum joked. “I gotta be able to get up there.”
The fact that MSU is a formidable opponent isn’t lost on Barnum.
“Helluva squad, they’ve got all three (phases) playing well,” Barnum said. “Their defense is doing very well, their offense has (Tommy) Mellott sidelined and they put ‘the guy’s a (Sean) Chambers of horrors’ for any defense.”
Barnum doesn’t appear to be a big fan of his team’s 2023 early schedule.
“I’ll call it our preseason,” he said. “We played our (third string) versus Oregon because last year I lost seven starters against Washington, then had to go play the Grizzlies.
“The one thing about the North American game is we stayed healthy. That was a positive. I’ve never been in a game where I did everything I could to not score.”
Portland State perpetually seems to have a litany of talented players but hasn’t gotten over the hump of being a mid-level Big Sky team. When Barnum first took over for a fired Nigel Burton ahead of the 2015 season, PSU had an unforgettable season. Despite having to ride a bus all over the Western United States – the coach called it “Barney’s Americana Tour” – the Vikings became the first Big Sky Conference team to beat two FBS opponents, outlasting Washington State and destroying North Texas, 66-7. That was all part of a nine-win season that saw PSU make the FCS playoffs for just the second time in school history.
Portland State is 23-49 since, yet Barnum remains the head man. And the head coach likes the Viks’ chances of being more competitive this season.
“I want to be one that sneaks in (to the playoffs),” Barnum said. “That’s what I’m working towards.
“What I like about our team, I think we’re fast and I think we’re getting better every week. I wasn’t sure who we were and (the first four games) showed we’re fast. I got some kids who are fast for our conference. We like to run the football. My defense got better. Special teams made some big plays. If we can keep that trend going the right way. I’m trying to get back to not just beating the teams we’re supposed to, we got to beat the big guys, those seven (ranked BSC teams).”
The PSU offense has gotten a big boost from upstart quarterback Dante Chachere, who has run for 194 yards and three touchdowns and thrown for 394 yards and six scores.
“He’s more durable this year,” Barnum said. “Gained 20 pounds and the game slowed down for him. Understands how we start, how we finish. Has a better understanding of our offense. Just hearing him talk when we meet about game management, I like him. He’s fast for this conference. Be interesting to see if the Bobcats have something designed just for him.”
Barnum also likes his running backs and his offense, in general, which he wants to become balanced running and passing.
“I got two bigs and two littles at running back,” he said of Quincy Craig (185 pounds), Jabi Malary (225 pounds), Andrew VanBuren (240 pounds), and UCLA transfer Christian Grubb (170 pounds). “I don’t want to run it 100 percent of the time. Get the ball to all your play-makers. My best years I’ve had offensively, one year we were exactly 50-50.”
Despite all that Barnum knows his offense has a tall task on Saturday when his team takes on a Bobcat’ defense that is ranked first all but two of the Big Sky’s major statistical categories and they’re ranked second in both of those. Montana State is coming off its first shutout of a Big Sky opponent since 2006 when MSU beat Portland State 14-0. Last week, the Bobcats blanked Weber State 40-0 in Ogden.
“Montana State is probably one of the smartest defenses,” Barnum said. “First one you see is No. 10 (Brody Grebe). He’s not the only one. When I was with ISU you were happy to get 14 on them. We have to find something to do against it. If they don’t get you with their front, they’re going to add No. 2 (Polidore). The defense is solid, no mistakes and the best at how hard they play on film we’ve seen so far.”
Of course, the other order of business is dealing with MSU’s irresistible force of an offense.
“They’re your classic ‘we’re gonna run it and run it and run it’ and then they hit you with the play action,” Barnum said. “Nothing against Mellott, but they don’t drop off with Chambers. He’s not as yoked up as Mellott. They’re just a little different. Chambers is more your classic quarterback while Mellott wants to run it and he’s damn good at it.”
To get a win in Bozeman Barnum sees several factors that need to go PSU’s way. However, he says he’s not going to try anything sneaky.
“Weather the storm,” he said. “The crowd in Bozeman is impressive.
“Field position. Tilt field with special teams. Try to make them work at it. Biggest thing hurting us has been turnovers. The Wyoming one and the Cal Poly game. Two turnovers in both. I have to eliminate those. Can’t give a team of this caliber any extra chances. Not coming in there with gimmicks. Honest. We’re gonna come in there and matriculate the ball down the field and try to keep up.”
But with how much Barnum likes to kid around, you never know if he’s being honest when he says, “honest.” That’s part of why they call his style “Barney Ball.”
The Bobcats and Vikings will kick off at 2 in Bozeman on Saturday.
