The 2016 Portland State Vikings football team represented Portland State University during the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Bruce Barnum and played their home games at Providence Park. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 3–8, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a four-way tie for ninth place.
Preseason Big Sky polls On July 19, 2016, the Big Sky Conference released its preseason coaches' and media polls. The Vikings were predicted to finish tied for second in the coaches' poll and fifth in the media poll.
+Coaches' poll 1 Northern Arizona 132 (8) 2 Portland State 121 (2) Montana 121 4 Eastern Washington 112 (2) 5 North Dakota 105 (1) 6 Weber State 83 7 Southern Utah 73 Montana State 73 9 Cal Poly 66 10 Northern Colorado 43 11 Sacramento State 30 12 Idaho State 24 13 UC Davis 23 +Media poll 1 Northern Arizona 287 (8) 2 Montana 283 (7) 3 Eastern Washington 269 (5) 4 North Dakota 262 (2) 5 Portland State 252 (3) 6 Weber State 174 7 Southern Utah 162 8 Montana State 157 9 Cal Poly 153 10 Northern Colorado 111 11 Idaho State 58 12 UC Davis 56 13 Sacramento State 50
Schedule
Game summaries
Central Washington
Statistics CWUPRST First downs 25 26 Total yards 445 508 Rushing yards 124 286 Passing yards 321 222 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 28:56 31:04 Team Category Player StatisticsCentral Washington Passing Justin Lane 19/37, 321 yards, 3 TD Rushing Quincy Carter 19 rushes, 81 yards, TD Receiving Jesse Zalk 9 receptions, 181 yards, 3 TDPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 16/26, 222 yards, 2 TD Rushing Nate Tago 24 rushes, 136 yards, 3 TD Receiving Maximo Espitia 5 receptions, 88 yards, TD
At San Jose State
Statistics PRSTSJSU First downs 17 28 Total yards 458 642 Rushing yards 202 409 Passing yards 256 233 Turnovers 6 0 Time of possession 25:00 35:00 Team Category Player StatisticsPortland State Vikings Passing Alex Kuresa 10/22, 135 yards, TD, 3 INT Rushing Paris Penn 14 rushes, 137 yards, TD Receiving Alex Kuresa 1 reception, 78 yards, TDSan Jose State Passing Kenny Potter 14/20, 233 yards, 3 TD Rushing Deontae Cooper 18 rushes, 126 yards, TD Receiving Tre Hartley 4 receptions, 93 yards, TD
At No. 8 (FBS) Washington
Statistics PRSTWASH First downs 13 20 Total yards 182 407 Rushing yards 34 213 Passing yards 148 194 Turnovers 4 1 Time of possession 33:42 26:18 Team Category Player StatisticsPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 11/17, 148 yards, INT Rushing Nate Tago 12 rushes, 20 yards Receiving Maximo Espitia 4 receptions, 75 yardsWashington Passing Jake Browning 12/19, 163 yards, 4 TD Rushing Myles Gaskin 13 rushes, 93 yards, TD Receiving Chico McClatcher 4 receptions, 69 yards, 2 TD
At Southern Utah
Statistics PRSTSUU First downs 25 16 Total yards 509 541 Rushing yards 234 292 Passing yards 275 249 Turnovers 5 2 Time of possession 36:09 23:51 Team Category Player StatisticsPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 15/33, 264 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT Rushing Alex Kuresa 18 rushes, 133 yards, TD Receiving Maximo Espitia 7 receptions, 138 yards, TDSouthern Utah Passing Patrick Tyler 15/30, 249 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT Rushing Malik Brown 15 rushes, 173 yards, TD Receiving Mike Sharp 5 receptions, 139 yards, 2 TD
This matchup quickly became known for the controversial comments made by Coach Barnum leading up to the game when he said, referring to Cedar City, Utah (home of SUU), "I didn’t want to stay in Whoville. We are going to stay up in the Grinch's Castle. We are going to go down, play them Saturday, whoop up on them." SUU fans responded by setting a single-game attendance record, with many students carrying signs mocking Barnum's remarks.
Idaho State
Statistics IDSTPRST First downs 24 21 Total yards 370 531 Rushing yards 158 531 Passing yards 212 0 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 29:45 30:15 Team Category Player StatisticsIdaho State Passing Tanner Gueller 22/39, 212 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Jakori Ford 18 rushes, 78 yards, TD Receiving K. W. Williams 10 receptions, 101 yards, 2 TDPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 0/5, 0 yards Rushing Nate Tago 12 rushes, 199 yards, TD Receiving None
At Weber State
Statistics PRSTWEB First downs 18 15 Total yards 317 271 Rushing yards 136 185 Passing yards 181 86 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 34:07 25:53 Team Category Player StatisticsPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 14/25, 181 yards Rushing Nate Tago 12 rushes, 51 yards Receiving Paris Penn 6 receptions, 65 yardsWeber State Passing Jadrian Clark 12/25, 86 yards, TD, INT Rushing Jadrian Clark 7 rushes, 77 yards Receiving Tui Satuala 1 reception, 29 yards
No. 19 Cal Poly
Statistics CPPRST First downs 32 18 Total yards 658 347 Rushing yards 462 72 Passing yards 196 275 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 38:45 21:15 Team Category Player StatisticsCal Poly Passing Dano Graves 12/13, 166 yards, 3 TD Rushing Kyle Lewis 11 rushes, 158 yards, 2 TD Receiving Carson McMurtrey 2 receptions, 44 yards, TDPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 19/30, 275 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Paris Penn 14 rushes, 68 yards Receiving Josh Kraght 6 receptions, 83 yards
Northern Colorado
Statistics UNCOPRST First downs 28 25 Total yards 558 549 Rushing yards 245 371 Passing yards 313 178 Turnovers 1 2 Time of possession 23:53 36:07 Team Category Player StatisticsNorthern Colorado Passing Kyle Sloter 20/31, 313 yards, 3 TD Rushing Trae Riek 12 rushes, 90 yards Receiving Stephen Miller 7 receptions, 143 yardsPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 11/22, 178 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Alex Kuresa 22 rushes, 130 yards, 2 TD Receiving Josh Kraght 4 receptions, 100 yards
At UC Davis
Statistics PRSTUCD First downs 25 21 Total yards 602 408 Rushing yards 177 190 Passing yards 425 218 Turnovers 0 2 Time of possession 32:38 27:22 Team Category Player StatisticsPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 16/20, 384 yards, TD Rushing Paris Penn 15 rushes, 53 yards, 2 TD Receiving Austin Holman 3 receptions, 108 yardsUC Davis Passing Ben Scott 8/22, 118 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Joshua Kelley 10 rushes, 91 yards Receiving Keelan Doss 4 receptions, 91 yards, TD
At Sacramento State
Statistics PRSTSAC First downs 21 20 Total yards 522 519 Rushing yards 424 324 Passing yards 98 195 Turnovers 0 3 Time of possession 30:48 29:12 Team Category Player StatisticsPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 11/24, 98 yards, TD Rushing Alex Kuresa 15 rushes, 198 yards, 2 TD Receiving Josh Kraght 3 receptions, 35 yards, TDSacramento State Passing Nate Ketteringham 10/17, 195 yards, 2 INT Rushing Jordan Robinson 23 rushes, 262 yards, 4 TD Receiving Jaelen Ratliff 4 receptions, 103 yards
No. 3 Eastern Washington
Statistics EWUPRST First downs 22 26 Total yards 442 471 Rushing yards 138 213 Passing yards 304 258 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 25:15 34:45 Team Category Player StatisticsEastern Washington Passing Gage Gubrud 24/41, 304 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Antoine Custer Jr. 13 rushes, 69 yards Receiving Shaq Hill 7 receptions, 124 yards, TDPortland State Passing Alex Kuresa 22/33, 252 yards, TD, INT Rushing Alex Kuresa 13 rushes, 93 yards Receiving Charlie Taumoepeau 2 receptions, 71 yards
Ranking movements
References