Vikings’ Upset Slips Through Their Fingers
Deep into the 4th quarter of last week’s Weber State game, for a tiny fraction of a second, two parallel dimensions existed inside a pocket of space defined by the two outstretched hands of a PSU cornerback. In one universe the Vikings upset #11 WSU with an amazing 3rd quarter turnaround and a game sealing interception. But in the other, the late-game heroics fall short in a potentially season-dooming loss at PGE Park.
The moment passed. The football shot through the portal unmolested and found the numbers of Weber State receiver Tim Toone. Your author, stuck in this version of reality, could only squeeze his eyes shut to block the offending image of the resulting touchdown. Schrodinger’s cat was indeed dead, and the Vikings are now 0-2 in the Big Sky conference.
And let’s be honest here. Between you and me, the Vikings didn’t deserve to win that game– even a biased fan can face it. That they nearly overcame atrocious execution in the red zone and poor pass defense with two touchdowns during one remarkable 12 second stretch made for brilliant theater, but the foreshadowing was clear from the first drive that this one could be a tragedy.
Even the final back-breaking touchdown can be categorized as a Vikings miscue. It was questionable to try for an interception on 4th down, when simply batting down the ball would have served PSU’s purpose. If the ball had hit the turf rather than Tim Toone in the numbers, the Vikings pull off an upset and remain firmly in the hunt for a Big Sky championship.
But a single play does not an entire game make, and it is harder to fault a corner back for overly aggressive play than a fumble on the opponent’s 1 yard line, to say nothing of three empty drives and over 100 yards of penalties. The team continued where it left off in Montana with drive killing pre-snap penalties and personal fouls. If not for those 12 glorious seconds in the third quarter, the Vikings could have been looking down the barrel of a blowout at home versus a team they appeared to match up well against on the field. So what happened?
The first drive of the game showcased the “run” in head coach Jerry Glanville’s “run-and-shoot” offense and brought PSU within three yards of the end-zone despite an offensive holding call that turned a manageable 3rd down into 3rd-and-13, requiring a 4th-and-1 conversion. But a stiff WSU defensive line and a great effort by Weber State cornerback Thyrell Lewis against Ray Fry in the endzone forced the field goal attempt. This drive also featured an odd play where Hubel lost the ball but an inadvertent whistle apparently saved PSU a turnover.
PSU then held the Weber State offense to a three-and-out and proceeded to advance into enemy territory on a nifty sideline grab from Hubel to Fry, but another holding flag pushed them back over the midfield line. Two incomplete passes later PSU punted the ball.
On the following WSU posession defensive end Jermaine Jacobs decided to introduce himself to the opposing QB six yards in the backfield. Not to be left out, Joe Ma’aseia caught the QB for a loss of seven on the very next play. These back to back sacks pushed WSU to their own nine yard line and setup PSU with good field position to start the 2nd quarter.
One quarter down and despite the Vikings success with Hubel, they switch from the run-and-shoot to a run-option offense led by Lincoln High alum Connor Kavanaugh. The change does not suit the Vikings as they kill their first drive of the 2nd quarter with an illegal shift followed by a 15 yard flag for pass interference. Kavanaugh did manage to get 15 back on an option rush but was then sacked on 3rd-and-10.
It was only a matter of time before Weber State’s offense woke from their nap and sure enough their first drive of the 2nd quarter took just four plays and about a minute to score the first touchdown of the game, Tim Toone’s 47 yard pass reception doing the most damage on the series.
Jerry’s commitment to the run game pays out a healthy dividend on the next possession by the home team. Ben Bowen rushed three consequetive times on 1st, 2nd and 3rd down, the last breaking through for 42 yards. A Weber State pass interference call put PSU on the six yard line, and Hubel found wide-out Aaron Woods in the end zone for the Vikings answering touchdown. 10-7 PSU.
The defensive line was the next area of attack for Weber State. During their next possession they rushed the ball eight times, starting with a 21 yard dash by Bo Bolen. The ground game took them all the way to PSU’s five yard line before a 3rd down delay of game pushed them back to the 10. But the PSU secondary could not take advantage of the foul by preventing the touchdown pass from Higgins to Kam Kaimikaua that followed. The next Viking drive increased the frustration factor as they fail to take advantage of a 56 yard bomb to Ray Fry that put them smack dab in the red zone. After a sack and a false start poor Zach Brown saw his 35 yard field goal attempt stretched to 47. The resulting miss should be pinned on the offensive line rather than the kicker.
Half-time: WSU 14, PSU 10.
The first Weber State drive of the second half was again throttled by Jermaine Jacobs who appears to play defensive end like a 280 pound linebacker with a black-belt in Judo. He pulled the ball carrier down after a single yard on a 3rd-and-8, but a 60 yard punt to the two yard line puts Portland deep into their own territory to begin their own posession. Hubel hands off to the fullback on first down which kept the linebackers honest for the 83 yard bomb to Aaron Woods that followed. A reception that looked like a sure six points until Woods was caught from behind by WSU’s Caldwell Taylor.
The crowd had finally found their voice but Portland, now at the opponent’s 12 yard line, fizzles in the red zone as uninspired play calls (two runs and a shovel pass?) and a missed 32 yard field goal quiet the home fans once again. What’s worse, WSU takes advantage of their own long pass play on the following possession, helped along by a 15 yard personal foul by mercurial linebacker Erik Pedersen, with a four yard touchdown pass to Tim Toone to finish the drive.
It’s 21-10 Weber State, and crunch time for PSU in the 3rd quarter. They responded with a nice return by Aaron Woods to mid-field, and Ray Fry caught a long pass to bring it within 10 yards of the end zone. Portland appeared to be back in business as they hand the ball off to Ben Bowen and opened a nice lane through the defensive line, but Bowen fumbled the ball a few scant feet from the end zone. WSU recovers at their own 4.
Now the crowd is downright tense. And it only gets worse as WSU marches down field for another six points. 28-10 is a deep hole with less than two minutes left in the third quarter and watches were consulted and text messages were sent as plans for early dinners were made en masse.
Then Aaron Woods, his earlier healthy punt return apparently just the warm up, took the kickoff 97 yards to pay dirt. Finally, an honest-to-god “event” as Jerry calls them. One can change a game versus a superior opponent- two can win it.
Well, PSU didn’t wait too long for their second. On the very next play from scrimmage, WSU QB Mike Hoke’s sideline pass is picked off by DeShawn Shead and run down the sideline for six more. The resulting two-point attempt was fouled by a bad snap but the damage was done and after just 12 seconds of clock the Vikings had made it a game once again. After a nice defense stop by PSU Weber State is still up 28-23 at the end of the third quarter, but Big Mo appeared to be swinging towards the Vikings.
The fourth quarter began with some jocking for field position as first WSU, then the Vikings fail to move the ball past midfield. The crowd finds their voice again as a 42 yard field goal attempt comes up short for Weber State. The Vikings responded well on the following drive, mixing the run with the shoot and staying one step ahead of WSU’s linebackers and secondary. Key plays on this series included a 4-yard grab by Woods on a 4th-and-3, a 35 yard connection with Fry on a third down and a 15 yard TD pass from Hubel to Woods with 1:15 on the clock. Glanville again tries switching to his option QB for the two-point play but Kavanaugh comes up short.
But no matter: Portland is up by a point with just over a minute to play in a game they seemed destined to win. The crowds elation turns to nervous tension as the first two pass plays by WSU cover thirty yards and bring them quickly to mid-field. Then PSU’s penalty yards cross the 100-yard mark with a pass interference call that hands over another 15 critical yards of lawn. But finally the home team finds the will to defend the pass game, and over the next three plays Higgins is thwarted by the PSU secondary on three consecutive pass incompletions.
4th-and-3 with 25 seconds left and Weber State is still outside field goal range. They need three yards or the game is over.
Somehow cornerback Tracy Ford knew exactly what would happen. Tim Toone has been burning PSU all day and with just three yards to gain for a first down, a slant pass would be just the high-percentage play call that Weber State would be looking for. Ford picked his spot, jumped the star receiver’s route and reached for the game-winning interception. It was almost too easy.
But every tragedy needs a good twist at the end: the ball shot the gap between his gloves and found Tim Toone, now all alone and a quick scamper away from the game winning touchdown. Adding a bit of insult to injury, WSU makes their two-point conversion and makes it 36-29 Weber State.
The pressure on Glanville surely ratchets up for the rest of the season. That his offense couldn’t manage to clean up the sloppy play that has characterized the season thus far and lost a pivotal home game in a schedule that allows for few mistakes is bad enough. But this is the third and final “rebuilding” year that will allocated to The Man in Black, and this was a gut-wrenching way to lose what was already being labeled a must-win game by the local media. Glanville has a steep climb ahead of him and will have to tighten both his pass defense and team discipline if he expects to salvage this year’s campaign.
I’ll be watching for the results of his team tune up this afternoon as the Vikings host struggling Sacramento State at PGE Park at 1:05pm. They had best make the most of this week’s match, Montana and Northern Arizona will be coming to town this season and they will be far less forgiving.
