: ''For information on all Portland State University sports, see

Portland State Vikings Portland State Vikings is the nickname of the NCAA-affiliated, intercollegiate athletic teams representing Portland State University of Portland, Oregon. The Vikings compete at the NCAA Division I level in basketball, soccer, volleyball, golf, t ...

'' The Portland State Vikings football program is the intercollegiate

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team for the

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

located in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The team competes in the

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

(FCS) as a member of the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

. The school's first football team was fielded in 1947. The team plays its home games at the 7,600 seat

Hillsboro Stadium Hillsboro Stadium is a multi-sport stadium in the northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb west of Portland. Opened in 1999 and owned by the city of Hillsboro, the award-winning stadium is part of the Gordon Faber Recreat ...

. Viking football practice takes place on campus at the Peter W. Stott Field.

History

Classifications

* 1958–1972:

NCAA College Division The NCAA College Division was a historic subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) consisting of member schools competing at a lower level of college sports. The NCAA initially divided schools into a College Division and a ...

* 1973–1977:

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

* 1978–1980:

NCAA Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

* 1981–1995:

* 1996–present: NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

Conference affiliations

* 1947–1949: Independent * 1950–1964:

Oregon Collegiate Conference The Oregon Collegiate Conference (also the Oregon Intercollegiate Conference) was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1950 to 1970. The conference's members were located in the state of Oregon.NCAA College Division independent * 1973–1977: NCAA Division II independent * 1978–1980: NCAA Division I-AA independent * 1981: NCAA Division II independent * 1982–1992:

Western Football Conference Western Football Conference may refer to: * Canadian Football League West Division, one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League * Western Football Conference (United States) The Western Football Conference was an NCAA Divisi ...

* 1993–1995: NCAA Division II independent * 1996–present:

Head coaches

† Read's combined statistics: 9 seasons, with a record of 39–52–1 (.429).

Championships

Conference championships

† Co-champions

Playoff results

Division I-AA/FCS

The Vikings have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs two times. Their overall record is 0–2.

Division II

The Vikings appeared in the Division II playoffs eight times from 1987 through 1995 with an overall record of 12–8.

Rivalries

Eastern Washington

The Vikings have a rivalry with the

Eastern Washington Eagles The Eastern Washington Eagles are the intercollegiate varsity athletic teams that represent Eastern Washington University, located in Cheney, southwest of Spokane. A member of the Big Sky Conference, EWU's athletic program comprises five men's ...

in all sports, starting in 2010 called The Dam Cup.

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

won the first rivalry match between the two schools in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

with a score of 55–17. The purpose of the

Dam Cup The Dam Cup is an American college football rivalry in the Pacific Northwest between the Eastern Washington Eagles and the Portland State Vikings. Both are members of the Big Sky Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision of NCAA Divi ...

is to create a rivalry between Portland State University and Eastern Washington University and provide a sense of pride between alumni in the

Portland, OR Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous cou ...

and

Spokane, WA Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canadi ...

areas. Other goals include increasing attendance at events between both schools and building school spirit among each institutions' student body. ‡ The Dam Cup rivalry with Portland State was officially established in 2010, but both teams have played against each other since the date listed above.

Montana

Dot's Pretzels Bowl The Viks and the Montana Grizzlies have played each other 46 times since the 1965 football season. Coach

Bruce Barnum Bruce Eugene Barnum (born April 13, 1964) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Portland State University, a position he had held since the 2015 season. Early life and education Born in Vancouver, Washington, Barnum grad ...

and Griz coach

Bobby Hauck Robert Lawrence Hauck (born June 14, 1964) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Montana, a position he held from 2003 to 2009 and resumed before the 2018 season. Hauck was also the head footba ...

have a friendly rivalry between each other based in part on Hersey-owned Dot's Pretzels. The 46 match ups are the most games Portland State has played anyone. Montana is one of Portland State's two protected

rivalries (along with

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

) when the conference shifted to one division in 2022, meaning they will play every year. The

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

leads the all-time series 33–13 as of 2022.

Idaho State

The Viks and

Idaho State Bengals The Idaho State Bengals are the varsity intercollegiate athletic teams representing Idaho State University, located in Pocatello, Idaho. The university sponsors thirteen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis, and trac ...

have played each other 45 times since 1965.

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

leads the series 26–18–1 as of 2022.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: *

Orshawante Bryant Orshawante Bryant (born November 16, 1978) is a former American football wide receiver who played six seasons in the Arena Football League with the Arizona Rattlers and Utah Blaze. He played college football at Portland State University and att ...

* Sammie Burroughs *

Kameron Canaday Kameron Canaday (born August 20, 1993) is an American football long snapper who is a free agent. He played college football at Portland State and signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2016. Early years Canaday played hi ...

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

Clint Didier Clinton Bradley Didier (born April 4, 1959) is a professional American football player and politician. He played for the Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers, and later sought elected office on four occasions. Didier was finally elected to ...

Tracey Eaton Tracey Bruce Eaton (born July 19, 1965) is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Houston Oilers, Phoenix Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football for the Portland S ...

* Adam Hayward * Darick Holmes * James Hundon * Reggie Jones *

June Jones June Sheldon Jones III (born February 19, 1953) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the Offensive Coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 19 ...

* Rich Lewis *

Neil Lomax Neil Vincent Lomax (born February 17, 1959) is a former American football quarterback who played his entire professional career for the St. Louis / Phoenix Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Portland S ...

* Antonio Narcisse * Patrick Onwuasor * Steve Papin * Ted Popson *

Jordan Senn Jordan Senn (born June 11, 1984) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Portland State. Senn also played for the Carolina Panthers and Chi ...

DeShawn Shead DeShawn Anthony Shead (born June 28, 1989) is a former American football cornerback and current coach. He is a defensive assistant/assistant defensive backs coach for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He signed with th ...

* Dave Stief *

Julius Thomas Julius Dewayne Thomas (born June 27, 1988) is a former American football tight end. He played college football and basketball at Portland State, and was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He also played fo ...

* Danny Urrego * Juston Wood *

Aaron Woods Aaron Woods (born 13 March 1991) is an Australian rugby league forward who plays for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL. He previously captained Wests Tigers and played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Cronulla-Sutherland Sha ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Portland State Vikings Football American football teams established in 1947 1947 establishments in Oregon