The Portland State Vikings football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Portland State University located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1947. The team plays its home games at the 7,600 seat Hillsboro Stadium. Viking football practice takes place on campus at the Peter W. Stott Field.

History Classifications 1958–1972: NCAA College Division 1973–1977: NCAA Division II 1978–1980: NCAA Division I-AA 1981–1995: NCAA Division II 1996–present: NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

Conference affiliations 1947–1949: Independent 1950–1964: Oregon Collegiate Conference 1965–1972: 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 1993–1995: NCAA Division II independent 1996–present: Big Sky Conference

Head coaches 1947–1954 Joe Holland 8 20–42–3 1955–1956 Ralph Davis 2 4–11–1 1957–1958 Les Leggett 2 6–11–0 1959–1961 Hugh Smithwick 3 6–17–2 1962–1962 Tom DeSylvia 1 4–4 1963–1967 Jerry Lyons 5 21–24–1 1968–1971 Don Read† 4 20–19 1972–1974 Ron Stratten 3 9–24 1975–1980 Mouse Davis 6 42–24 1981–1985 Don Read† 5 19–33–1 1986–1992 Pokey Allen 7 63–26–2 1993–2006 Tim Walsh 14 90–68 2007–2009 Jerry Glanville 3 9–24 2010–2014 Nigel Burton 5 21–36 2015–2025 Bruce Barnum 11 39–75 2026–present Chris Fisk 1 0–4 † Read's combined statistics: 9 seasons, with a record of 39–52–1 (.429).

Championships Conference championships 1963 Jerry Lyons Oregon Collegiate Conference 6–2–1 5–1 1964† 7–2 5–1 1984 Don Read Western Football Conference 8–3 3–0 1987 Pokey Allen 11–2–1 4–1–1 1988 11–3–1 6–0 1989 9–4 4–1 1991 11–3 5–0 1992 9–4 4–1 Conference championships 8 † 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.

2000 First Round Delaware L, 14–49 2015 Second Round Northern Iowa L, 17–29

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

1987 QuarterfinalsSemifinalsNational Championship Game Minnesota State–MankatoNorthern MichiganTroy State W, 27–21W, 13–7L, 17–31 1988 First RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsNational Championship Game Bowie StateJacksonville StateTexas A&INorth Dakota State W, 34–17W, 20–13W, 35–27L, 21–35 1989 First RoundQuarterfinals West ChesterIndiana (PA) W, 56–50 3OTL, 0–17 1991 First RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinals Northern ColoradoMinnesota State–MankatoPittsburg State W, 27–7W, 37–27L, 21–53 1992 First RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinals UC DavisTexas A&IPittsburg State W, 42–28W, 35–30L, 38–41 1993 First Round Texas A&M–Kingsville L, 15–50 1994 First RoundQuarterfinals Angelo StateTexas A&M–Kingsville W, 29–0L, 16–21 1995 First RoundQuarterfinals East Texas StateTexas A&M–Kingsville W, 56–35L, 3–30

Rivalries

Eastern Washington Games playedPSU winsPSU lossesTiesWin%First meetingLast meetingNext scheduled meeting 46 22 23 1 W 19–13 (1968) L 35–27 (2025) November 21, 2026

The Vikings have a rivalry with the Eastern Washington Eagles in all sports, starting in 2010 called The Dam Cup. Eastern Washington won the first rivalry match between the two schools in 2010 with a score of 55–17. The purpose of the Dam Cup 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 and Spokane, WA 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 Games playedPSU winsPSU lossesWin%First meetingLast meetingNext scheduled meeting 49 13 36 L 7–33 (1965) L 17–63 (2024) November 7, 2026 The Vikings and the Montana Grizzlies have played each other 49 times since the 1965 football season. Coach Bruce Barnum and Griz coach Bobby Hauck have a friendly rivalry based in part on Hershey-owned Dot's Homestyle Pretzels. The 49 matchups are the most games Portland State has played anyone. Montana is one of Portland State's two protected Big Sky Conference rivalries (along with Northern Colorado) when the conference shifted to one division in 2022, meaning they will play every year. The University of Montana leads the all-time series 36–13 as of 2025.

Idaho State Games playedPSU winsPSU lossesWin%First meetingLast meetingNext scheduled meeting 47 20 27 L 7–27 (1965) W 42–38 (2024) October 24, 2026 Portland State first joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996, and have played Idaho State a total of 47 times. Before Portland State joined the conference, the two teams competed 21 times in non-conference play, the first being in 1965. In 2011, the Big Sky Conference released its football schedules for the 2012-2015 seasons, which assigned each team two protected opponents that they would play on a yearly basis, with Portland State and Idaho State being assigned to each other.

Ahead of the 2022 season, the protected matchups assigned to each team were changed, with Montana and Northern Colorado now being Portland State's annual guaranteed matchups. As a result, Portland State and Idaho State now play each other twice every three years under the current rotation.

Individual awards and honors Retired numbers

Portland State Vikings retired numbers No. Name Position Career No. ret. Ref. 11 Neil Lomax Quarterback 1977–1980 Neil Lomax bio on oregonencyclopedia.org 18 Peter W. Stott 2014 Notes

National award winners STATS FCS Coach of the Year Bruce Barnum (2015)

Conference award winners Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year Bruce Barnum (2015)

College Football Hall of Fame The Vikings have one player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

1996 Neil Lomax Quarterback 1977–1980

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:

Orshawante Bryant Sammie Burroughs Kameron Canaday Tony Curtis Clint Didier Tracey Eaton Adam Hayward Darick Holmes James Hundon Reggie Jones June Jones Rich Lewis Neil Lomax Antonio Narcisse Patrick Onwuasor Steve Papin Ted Popson Jordan Senn DeShawn Shead Jon Shields Dave Stief Julius Thomas Juston Wood Randall Woodfield Aaron Woods

Future non-conference opponents Announced schedules as of August 10, 2026.

at San Diego State at Oregon State at Stanford at Oregon at South Dakota North Dakota at Washington at Oregon at Idaho

References

External links