A quick review of the Portland State football team's season-opening 52-0 win over Southern Oregon

LAST SATURDAY'S BEST STORY OF ALL
When JR OL Joey Esposito trotted onto the field for the opening snap on offense, few Viking fans noticed. Such is the anonymity of the offensive lineman. However, those familiar with Joey's story know it was the best one in a day filled with good Viking anecdotes.

Esposito was playing in his first game since signing a national letter of intent with Portland State in 2010. Shortly after competing in spring football that year, Esposito was diagnosed with cancer for the SECOND TIME in his life. Having previously battled testicular cancer, Esposito this time was told he had a spot on his lung.

The 6-5, 300-pound Esposito had previously overcome the insidious disease once while in junior college. This time, he underwent chemotherapy throughout the summer of 2010 and eventually surgery to remove a piece of his lung.

Not surprisingly, Esposito was unable to do anything football-related for the rest of the year. He returned for spring football this year, and despite being weak, showed promise. He was featured for his resiliency in features by the Oregonian and KGW TV Sports during spring ball. “I pretty much had to start all over again,” Esposito told Ian Ruder of the Oregonian. “I wanted to come back and play football but I had to go through every day like it was my first day. I had to take my time getting into it and not rush. It took a while to get back into but this is what I do, this is who I am.” 

Now with a clean bill of health, and after six months of preparation, Esposito, a native of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, is writing a new story in his life all over again.

Esposito's story by Ian Ruder of the Oregonian


THE VIKINGS FOR OPENERS
• PSU is 33-21-1 in home openers dating to 1958 (complete home/away schedules not available prior to '58)
• The Vikings are 12-4 in home openers since moving to the NCAA I FCS level and joining the Big Sky.
• Portland State is 9-6 in Big Sky Conference home opening games.
• PSU has won four straight home openers.
• The Vikings won the 2010 Big Sky Conference home opener (38-3 over Idaho State), and have won five of their last six Big Sky home openers.

WINS AND LOSSES: With a 52-0 non-conference opening win over Southern Oregon, the Vikings ended a seven-game losing streak to consisted of the last seven games of 2010... PSU still has a seven-game Big Sky losing streak, which is its longest-ever Big Sky losing streak... the Vikings are now 1-0 at home... PSU is 52-29 in home games since moving to the NCAA I level, 25-61 on the road... PSU is 50-65 all-time in Big Sky Conference games as it starts a 16th season as a member. The Vikings are 32-26 at home, 18-39 on the road in BSC games.

OREGONIAN OFFENSE: Portland State started eight players from the state of Oregon on offense against Southern Oregon. They were: Kyle Ritt (Aloha), Adam Kleffner (Portland/Jesuit), Mitch Gaulke (West Linn), Connor Kavanaugh (Portland/Lincoln), Cory McCaffrey (Sisters), Justin Monahan (West Linn), Ricky Cookman (Clackamas) and Nevin Lewis (Culver). The Vikings might have started a ninth, but sat SR LT Dustin Waldron after 24 straight starts. Waldron was resting a sore knee, but he will return on Sept. 17. Two other Oregonians started on defense: SR DE Carl Sommer and GR DT Myes Wade. Other Oregonians to see significant time included SR QB Drew Hubel (Corvallis), SR QB Justin Engstrom (Scappoose), JR K Zach Brown (Keizer/McNary) and SR K Tyler Cope (Portland/Jesuit)... in all, Portland State has some 35 Oregonians on its roster.

SHARING THE WEALTH: It was a big day for the Viking offense in the win over Southern Oregon. The Vikings totaled 597 yards, which did NOT make it into the all-time top 10 for a game, but the rushing total (335 yards) tied for eighth-best in PSU history... PSU was so effective, that starting QB Connor Kavanaugh played only one quarter. He completed 4-5 passes for 48 yards and rushed four times for 78 yards and a touchdown... SR QB Drew Hubel, playing for the first time since November 2009, played the second and most of the third period. He was 13-22-1 for 181 yards and a 21-yard touchdown pass to JR WR Justin Monahan. Hubel is back from a redshirt year due to shoulder and knee injuries... SR QB Justin Engstrom played the rest of the way, completing 3-4 for 33 yards and also had a two-yard TD run... four players had good rushing days, including Kavanaugh. FR RB Shaquille Richard was the leading rusher in a backup role. He had 16 carries for 89 yards. SO RB Justin Lilley had 10 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown. Last year's leading rusher, Cory McCaffrey had 13 carries for 69 yards and three first-period touchdowns. He came out of the game early in the second period... eight Viking receivers made catches, led by Monahan's five grabs for 82 yards and a score... SO WR AJ Powell caught four passes for 60 yards, while Ricky Cookman caught four for 50 yards.

DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS: PSU forced three turnovers, higlighted by SR CB David Ross's interception on the second play from scrimmage. That led to an easy SR RB Cory McCaffrey touchdown run and the Vikings were off to a 31-point first period. JR CB Denzel Davis also had an interception, while SR LB Ryan Rau recovered a fumble - the third of his career... Rau had a team-high nine tackles... JR LB Joel Sisler and SR LB Shane Melbo each had six tackles and combined for 4.5 tackles for loss.

MAKING BAGELS: Portland State's defense pitched its first shutout since the Tim Walsh era - a span of 48 games - with the 52-0 whitewashing of Southern Oregon. The last Viking shutout was a 34-0 win over Eastern Washington on Oct. 21, 2006... as a team, the Vikings had 14 tackles for loss (after making 61 all of last season), forced three turnovers and allowed the Raiders just 107 yards of total offense.

LED BY SHEAD: SR SS DeShawn Shead started his 34th straight game against Southern Oregon. He is the only Viking to start and play in all 34 games over the last four seasons. Shead played well with three tackles, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.

NEW ATTITUDE AT HOME: Portland State hopes to bring a new attitude to JELD-WEN Field. After going 35-9 at home over Tim Walsh's final eight seasons, 1999-2006 (including two 5-0 marks), the Vikings were just 7-13 at home the last four years (which includes 1-3 at Hillsboro Stadium in 2010). The Vikings have started their six-game home schedule 1-0.