Portland, OR - Great defense and special teams continues to be the trademark for the Portland State Vikings in the young 2015 season. The result in Saturday's home opener was a 31-0 shutout of Western Oregon.

The Vikings moved to 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2000. That sets up a key Big Sky Conference game with North Dakota (3-1, 1-0) at Hillsboro Stadium. The winner of that game will remain at the top of the Big Sky standings.

For the third straight week, Portland State got the job done with excellent defense and special teams play. The defense forced nine three-and-outs by the Wolves, and made two key interceptions in the first half on the Western's only sustained drives. A fake field goal also resulted in a 25-yard touchdown run.

"You will win a lot of games if you win the special teams battle and the turnover battle. The (defense and special teams) are fun to watch and letting us play with confidence because they have challenged everybody so far. I know where we are at with them," said Vikings Coach Bruce Barnum.

"We knew (Western's) defense was a strength so that was a battle for us," said Barnum. "Our tempo was down a little on offense early on. We never really clicked for whatever reason. But they scrapped, like a bunch of mudders, and put some points on the board."

In the end, the Vikings produced enough offense - 383 yards, including 256 rushing - to come up with a relatively easy win over the Division II Wolves. Western Oregon had 224 total offensive yards and dropped to 1-3 on the season.

The first quarter was simply an exchange of punts as neither team could get anything going.

It was a defensive play that finally ignited the Vikings. Senior safety Patrick Onwuasor made his second interception of the season, picking off Trey Shimabukuro at the Viking 3 and returning it 37 yards to the Viking 40. A 46-yard Alex Kuresa to Darnell Adams pass, and a 15-yard run by Nate Tago soon had the Vikings in scoring position. Kuresa scored from two yards out on a read-option run at the 9:51 mark of the second quarter.

That series seemed to spark the Vikings the rest of the way. After another 43-yard offensive march, the Vikings faked a field goal and holder Josh Kraght scampered around the left end for a 25-yard touchdown.  

A 24-yard field goal by Jonathan Gonzales rounded out the first-half scoring as PSU led 17-0. 

PSU's defense continued to dominate the Wolves in the third quarter. A methodical nine-play, 60-yard drive midway through the third quarter pushed the Vikings to a 24-0 lead and on their way to victory.

Steven Long added a 22-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.

PSU held Western Oregon to just 3.3 yards per play in the game. In all, the Vikings intercepted three passes, including two by Xavier Coleman. His interception in the end zone late in the first half helped hold Western Oregon scoreless.

The Vikings forced a remarkable 12 Western Oregon punts and also had seven tackles for loss, two sacks and four pass breakups.

Nate Tago led the Viking running game with 15 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown. Kuresa added 55 yards rushing and one score. Long ran for 54 yards on nine carries and scored a TD. David Jones also had seven carries for 38 yards.

Kuresa completed 8-18 passes for 127 yards.

Western Oregon managed only 27 rushing yards on 23 carries. The Wolves passed for 197 yards.

GAME NOTES: Coleman has three interceptions this season and Onwuasor has two… Portland State had all four quarterbacks on the field for several plays during the game. Alex Kuresa spent the majority of the time behind center, while Josh Kraght, the converted wide receiver, Paris Penn and Kieran McDonagh were frequently split wide… Portland State's last shutout was a 52-0 win over Southern Oregon on Sept. 3, 2011 - a span of 49 games… PSU is now 14-0 against lower division teams since moving to the Big Sky Conference in 1996… the Vikings are 16-4 in home openers in the Big Sky era… PSU has a three-game winning streak for the first time since Oct. 26-Nov. 9, 2013… the Vikings resume Big Sky Conference play next Saturday when they host North Dakota. The game will be played at Hillsboro Stadium and kicks off at 2:05 p.m.