A rare morning lightning storm shortened the Portland State Vikings' "Breakfast With Jerry" practice time by nearly one hour on Monday. Lightning and thunder crackled all over downtown Portland and the Park Blocks just after 8 a.m., accompanied by a 30-minute downpour. The result was an early shower for the Vikings as well.
"This is the first time we've ever had to leave the practice field, including all the spring practices," said Head Coach Jerry Glanville. "Lightning is not a big deal if you've coached in the southeast, but it's obviously a much bigger deal here.
"In Georgia or Texas if there is lightning you keep on practicing until it gets real close. When it hit near (DT) Jermaine Jacobs today, they thought it was close enough that everybody ran off the field. It hit behind the goal post. It was probably 25 yards away. And that was it."
Despite the close proximity of the storm, and suspension of practice, the Vikings only missed out on one special teams session. It gave Glanville more time to reflect on how far his team has come in the first two weeks of practice.
"We still have a lot of lights that have to come on," said Glanville. "But, it's amazing to watch where we are now than where we were 11 days ago... here is a guy making errors, but making a lot fewer errors."
"Our three linebackers (Ryan Pedersen, Andy Schantz and KJ McCrae) who played for us (last year), they aren't making errors anywhere. Any formation, any shift, any motion, anything you want to do, they just look at you and do the right thing. We don't have 11 like that yet."
Glanville had three brief freshman scrimmages last week and learned a lot from them.
"The rookie running backs have to keep getting better. They are getting better, but are not where they need to be. Our offensive line is so young, that reps are so important. (RS FR Adam) Kleffner has come out of nowhere as a backup center, but he needs that kind of work. Our wide receivers, they haven't played with
us, so all the work we can get them is important.
"Defensively, (FR OLB) Eloka (Anyaorah) just keeps getting better. (FR ILB Jordan) Beltz just keeps getting better. We see them differently now than we did a week ago. The two young defensive ends, Nick Gale and Kyle Van Arden, got lots of work in and they got better.
"The guy that is going to be on the field as a freshman is (SS) Cody Worthen. Cody just keeps doing it right. He can play football."
Glanville will amend those scrimmages this week. Instead of just having first-year players compete, he will go to first team vs. second team competition. The squads will have simulated drives, and compete in every down-and-distance situation possible. Those scrimmage times will be brief, and include a "full-speed thud" (in other words, not full contact tackling). They will run at the conclusion of morning practices on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
"We will be - at some point - very proud of who we are. I wish I could give you the date," said Glanville.
VIKINGS ARE LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY FROM THE OPENER: Portland State will open its 2008 season on Saturday, Aug. 30 against Western Oregon. The Vikings host the Wolves at 1 p.m. at PGE Park. The Vikings will face a Division II opponent for the first time since the season-opening game in 2004. On Sept. 2, 2004, PSU beat Western State of Colorado, 38-0... the game will be the first of a five-game home schedule for the Vikings. However, PSU does not play at home during the month of September, with three road contests at UC Davis, Washington State and Sacramento State, successively. The Vikings return to PGE Park on Oct. 4 to host 2007 NCAA playoff participant Eastern Washington. PSU beat the Eagles, 28-21, in Cheney in 2007.
MOUSE AND HIS ALMA MATER: Portland State Offensive Coordinator Mouse Davis is an alumni of Oregon College of Education - now known as Western Oregon University. As an offensive and defensive back at OCE from 1951-54, Davis played against Portland State - then named Vanport College - winning three of four games. In 1955, in his first coaching role as the defensive coordinator at OCE, Davis' team defeated newly-named Portland State College, 36-14. Finally, as a head coach at Portland State, Davis defeated OCE, 44-14 (1976) and 34-22 (1977) - much to the dismay of his brother, Gale, who was coaching at OCE at the time. That makes Mouse 6-1 in the series - on both sides.
CHEVRON SIGNS ON, AND VIKING FANS BENEFIT: Chevron has signed on to be the game sponsor for Portland State's home opener on August 30 against Western Oregon. As a result, 2,000 $5 gas cards will be handed out at the pregame Coors Light Block Party that takes place on SW Morrison Street between 20th and 21st avenues. Also, Chevron "Victor E. Van" toy cars will be given away to the first 1,000 fans through the gate at PGE Park. Chevron will also sell the Victor E. Van toys at their local outlets. Game time for the home opener is 1:05 p.m. The Coors Light Block Party begins at 11 a.m.
ON THE AIR: Portland State football will be heard on AM 910 KTRO once again this season, as well as www.am910ktro.com on the internet. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to the scheduled kickoff... Portland State's game at Washington State on Sept. 20 can be seen live on Fox Sports Net beginning at 4 p.m. Additional televised games will soon be announced.
VIKING SPORTS LUNCHEONS: Portland State Athletics will host the Viking Sports Luncheon at the Old Spaghetti Factory located at 0715 SW Bancroft beginning on Sept. 9 and running every Tuesday throughout the fall. That means Viking fans can have "Lunch With Jerry," as Head Football Coach Jerry Glanville and Viking football will be featured as well as other Portland State sports. The luncheons take place from noon to 1 p.m.
