PORTLAND, Ore.-Saturday, Southern Utah University football (1-4, 0-1 in Big Sky Conference play) visits Portland State (2-3, 0-1 in Big Sky play) as their Big Sky Conference season continues.
The Thunderbirds are coming off a heartbreaking 24-21 loss to Cal Poly at Eccles Coliseum for Homecoming when Kekoa Sasaoka missed a 23-year field goal as time expired.
SUU currently ranks 85th nationally in scoring offense (22 points per game) while redshirt sophomore Chris Helbig completes 62.1 percent of his passes (110-177) on the season for 1,096 yards, 4 TD’s and 3 INT’s.
Redshirt junior tailback James Felila (59 car, 184 yards, 2 TD’s) and sophomore running mate Thomas Duckett (34 car, 126 yards, TD) are the Thunderbirds’ leading backs.
Sophomore tailback Lance Lawson (44 rec, 382 yards, 2 TD’s) remains the Thunderbirds’ leading receiver and freshman receiver Zach Nelson (12 rec, 183 yards, 3 TD’s) has also been solid. SUU’s leading receiver in yards per reception is freshman wide-out John Mitchell, who has 9 grabs for 165 yards and a score and averages 18.3 yards per catch.
The Thunderbirds’ defense ranks 112th nationally in scoring defense, surrendering 39 points per contest.
Defensively, sophomore defensive lineman Aaron Romero leads the Thunderbirds with 2 sacks. Redshirt senior safety Nathaniel Vaughn, redshirt freshman cornerback Carlton Johnson and junior cornerback Khalid Taylor have an interception apiece for SUU to lead the squad in that statistic.
Romero, redshirt sophomore linebacker Quaid Murray, sophomore defensive end Francis Bemiy and redshirt safety Kyle Hannemann all have a forced fumble apiece for SUU as well.
The Vikings come into Saturday’s game having lost 20-13 to Arkansas to open the season, followed by a 70-7 rout of NCAA Division II foe Simon Fraser. They then fell 45-10 to Boise State, routed NCAA Division II Eastern Oregon 59-9 and fell 51-24 to Idaho State last weekend in the Big Sky opener at the Holt Arena of Pocatello, Idaho.
While searching for their first NCAA Division I win of the season, the Vikings’ offense has been productive. They average 35.2 points per game, which ties them for 24th nationally with Albany and fellow Big Sky member Montana State.
Junior signal-caller Davis Alexander ranks 22nd nationally with 1,168 passing yards. He is tied for 14th nationally with 10 touchdown passes and has only three interceptions on the season for the Vikings. He also completes 61.8 percent (84-136) of his passes on the season.
Alexander has several reliable targets he can call upon in the passing game. Sophomore receiver Davis Koetter (14 rec, 247 yards, 3 TD’s, 17.6 yards per grab) is the most productive. Other stalwart receivers for the Vikings include junior Emmanuel Daigbe (16 rec., 206 yards, 2 TD’s), senior tight end Charlie Taumoepeau (14 rec, 198 yards, TD) and sophomore receiver Mataio Talalemotu (12 rec, 215 yards, 2 TD’s, a team-best 17.9 yards per reception).
Senior tailback Sirgeo Hoffman (35 car, 205 yards, 3 TD’s, 5.9 yards per carry) leads the Vikings’ running game. Junior back Evyn Holtz (17 car, 110 yards) leads the squad with 6.5 yards per carry.
The Vikings’ scoring defense ranks 47th nationally (26.4 points per game) and they have posted 13 sacks, tying them for 20th nationally with Stony Brook, North Carolina-Central and William & Mary.
Senior defensive tackle Kenton Bartlett leads the squad with 3 sacks and senior defensive end Shawn Richard has added 2.5 more sacks.
Sophomore safety Robert Holt has an interception and a team-best 2 forced fumbles, while senior safety Ryan Lesch and freshman safety Greg Oliver have an interception apiece as well for the Vikings.
This is the first team the two schools have met since 2016 and the Thunderbirds’ first visit to Portland since 2015. The Vikings lead the series 9-4 all-time, including a 6-1 mark at Portland.
