2015 Portland State Vikings football team

2015 Portland State Vikings football
FCS Playoffs Second Round vs Northern Iowa, L 17–29
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 10
FCS Coaches	No. 10
2015 record	9–3 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Bruce Barnum (1st year)
Offensive coordinator	Steve Morton
Defensive coordinator	Malik Roberson
Home stadium	Providence Park (Capacity: 20,674) Hillsboro Stadium (Capacity: 7,600)

2015 Big Sky football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#18 Southern Utah $^		7	–	1					8	–	4
#10 Portland State ^		6	–	2					9	–	3
#14 Montana ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
North Dakota		5	–	3					7	–	4
Northern Arizona		5	–	3					7	–	4
Eastern Washington		5	–	3					6	–	5
Weber State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Colorado		3	–	5					6	–	5
Montana State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Cal Poly		3	–	5					4	–	7
UC Davis		2	–	6					2	–	9
Idaho State		1	–	7					2	–	9
Sacramento State		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

The 2015 Portland State Vikings football team represented Portland State University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by head coach Bruce Barnum and played their home games at Providence Park, with one home game at Hillsboro Stadium. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 9–3, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost in the second round to Northern Iowa.

On October 10, 2015, the Vikings beat North Texas, 66–7. The 59 point margin was the largest margin of victory by an FCS team over an FBS team since the split of NCAA Division I football in 1978 into the groupings now known as FBS and FCS.^[1] Portland State also became the first FCS team to defeat two FBS teams in the same season since North Dakota State in 2007.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	11:00 AM	at Washington State*		Martin Stadium • Pullman, WA	P12N	W 24–17	24,302
September 12	3:05 PM	at No. 23 Idaho State	No. 24	Holt Arena • Pocatello, ID	WBS	W 34–14	7,075
September 26	2:05 PM	Western Oregon*	No. 17	Providence Park • Portland, OR	WBS	W 31–0	5,017
October 3	2:05 PM	North Dakota	No. 16	Hillsboro Stadium • Hillsboro, OR	WBS	L 17–19	4,765
October 10	2:00 PM	at North Texas*	No. 25	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX		W 66–7	19,801
October 17	12:30 PM	No. 16 Montana State	No. 17	Providence Park • Portland, OR	RTNW	W 59–42	8,110
October 24	6:05 PM	at Cal Poly	No. 14	Alex G. Spanos Stadium • San Luis Obispo, CA		W 38–35	11,075
October 31	2:05 PM	No. 17 Montana	No. 12	Providence Park • Portland, OR	WBS	W 35–16	11,045
November 7	11:00 AM	at Northern Colorado	No. 10	Nottingham Field • Greeley, CO	WBS	L 32–35	4,173
November 14	2:05 PM	No. 18 Southern Utah	No. 15	Providence Park • Portland, OR	WBS	W 24–23	6,122
November 21	2:05 PM	at No. 18 Eastern Washington	No. 11	Roos Field • Cheney, WA (The Dam Cup)	WBS	W 34–31	8,649
December 5	7:00 PM	No. 15 Northern Iowa*	No. 5	Providence Park • Portland, OR (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	L 17–29	8,022
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game. All times are in Pacific Time.

^[3]

Game notes

at Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	0	10	14	24
Cougars	3	7	0	7	17

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	2014	WSU, 59–21

at Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#24 Vikings	17	7	7	3	34
#23 Bengals	7	7	0	0	14

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–24–1	2014	ISU, 31–13

Western Oregon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wolves	0	0	0	0	0
#17 Vikings	0	17	7	7	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–11–1	2014	PSU, 45–38

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Dakota	3	3	10	3	19
#16 Vikings	7	3	7	0	17

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2014	UND, 24–16

at North Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
#25 Vikings	14	31	14	7	66
Mean Green	0	0	0	7	7

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Bobcats	14	7	21	0	42
#17 Vikings	14	21	21	3	59

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–19	2014	MSU, 29–22

at Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Vikings	13	0	15	10	38
Mustangs	14	0	14	7	35

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–11	2014	POLY, 42–14

Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
#17 Grizzlies	0	10	0	6	16
#12 Vikings	7	14	7	7	35

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–29	2013	MONT, 55–27

at Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Vikings	7	10	0	15	32
Bears	14	7	7	7	35

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–3	2012	UNC, 32–28

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Thunderbirds	10	0	7	6	23
#15 Vikings	7	10	0	7	24

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–3	2013	SUU, 17–7

at Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#11 Vikings	13	0	14	7	34
#18 Eagles	10	7	0	14	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
19–17–1	2014	EWU, 56–34

FCS Playoffs

Second Round–Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
#15 Panthers	7	9	0	13	29
#5 Vikings	0	3	7	7	17

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	NR	24	19	17	16	25	17	14	12	10 (1)	15	11	5	10
Coaches	NR	RV	20	18	16	23	17	13	12	9–T	16	11	5	10

References

1. Vito, Brett (October 10, 2015). "North Texas' Dan McCarney Fired Following Mean Green's 66–7 Loss to FCS School". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
2. Sherman, Rodger (October 10, 2015). "FCS Portland State Beat North Texas So Badly, the Mean Green Immediately Fired Their Head Coach". SB Nation. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
3. "Football Schedule". Portland State University Department of Athletics. Retrieved March 13, 2014.