Portland State Vikings 2010 Review

2010 Record: 2-9 (1-7), 8th Big Sky
2010 Playoffs: None
2010 Schedule/Results
@ Arizona State, L 54-9
@ UC-Davis, W 41-33
@ Oregon, L 69-0
Idaho State, W 38-3
@ Montana State, L 44-31
Montana, L 23-21
@ Weber State, L 44-41
Eastern Washington, L 50-17
Sacramento State, L 28-15
Northern Colorado, L 35-30
@ Northern Arizona, L 62-14

OFFENSE
396.5 yards per game
Passing Leader: Tygue Howland, 1017 yards, 3 TDs, 7 INTs
Rushing Leader: Cory McCaffrey, 1287 yards, 10 TDs
Receiving Leaders: Nick Hutter, 38-521-3; Julius Thomas, 29-453-2; Justin Monahan, 30-369-2

There wasn't much that went right for the PSU offense in 2010 other than the rushing contributions of McCaffery. Even with his success, one would have to belive that had he had a passing attack to take the pressure off of his own shoulders, he would have been even better. Howland was just terrible all season, and when your QB is awful, you really don't have much to rely on. Train wreck.

DEFENSE
Tackle Leader: Ryan Rau, 7.55 per game
TFL Leader: Carl Sommer, 11
Sack Leader: Carl Sommer, 4
INT Leader: Manoa Latu, 3 (1 TD)
Passes Defended: Deshawn Shead, 7

The Vikings could not stop anyone on the ground or in the air in 2010. It doesn't help that they scheduled two dates against FBS teams in Arizona State, and eventual national runner-up Oregon. Oregon shredded the Vikings to pieces in their matchup. Nigel Burton has a huge task in rebuilding this unit just to get it to respectable. What a mess here as well.

SPECIAL TEAMS
FG: Zach Brown, 18/26
Punting: Thomas Duyndam, 42.57
Punt Returns: AJ Powell, 4.75 per return
Kick Returns: AJ Powell, 17.82

While Brown and Duyndam gave the Vikings reasons to be happy (most of the time in the case of Brown, who still missed 8 kicks), The return game is a mess. Powell needs to improve or be pushed out. He'll be a junior next season, so we'll see if Burton was able to get a young recruit to give him a shove.

FINAL NOTES

NIgel Burton needs a little bit more time, but this team is one of the worst in the Big Sky, and it's not looking good for 2011 at this point. Burton worked at Nevada, which is no stranger to program building, so he has the blueprint. It's just a matter if he can sell the plan to the high school kids and get commitment and skill into Portland. If he can, then this is salvagable, but the clock is ticking.