Washington Huskies Opponent Preview: Week 2 – Portland State Vikings
Herb Nightengale
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The Washington Huskies move on to Week 2. Saturday, they host Portland State at Husky Stadium. Here is a look at their opponent.
On Saturday, the Washington Huskies take on the Portland State Vikings of the Big Sky Conference. They will try to make it two in a row at Husky Stadium.
Portland State lost their opening game of the season to San Jose State last Saturday, 21-17. They hung in tough with their Mountain West Conference opponent on the road but fell just short. UW can’t take the Vikings lightly.
The last time they took a Big Sky Conference lightly, Washington lost 13-7 to Montana in the 2021 season opener. Surely Kalen DeBoer will prepare the Huskies for this Saturday better than Jimmy Lake did that day.
Portland State Offense
PSU’s starting quarterback is sophomore Dante Chachere. He is much like Kent State’s quarterback Collin Schlee in more ways than one. Last week the dual threat Chachere made his starting debut.
The sophomore completed 24 of 37 for 270 yards and two touchdowns. Like Schlee, Chachere also led his team in rushing. He had 83 rushing yards on 17 attempts.
Andrew Van Buren is the starting running back. The senior transfer from Boise State ran for 1,028 yards and 21 touchdowns in four seasons with the Broncos. Last week he only picked up 29 yards on 13 carries. If he struggles again, Jalynne McGee will also see time in the backfield.
The Vikings mainly go with a three wide receiver base offense. They are led by senior Beau Kelly, who had nine catches for 133 yards and a touchdown in San Jose. Another senior, Emmanuel Daigbe, had five catches for 27 yards.
Sophomore Nate Bennett had five catches as well for 76 yards, including a game-high 48-yard reception. The Washington Huskies’ defensive backs, Jordan Perryman, Mishael Powell, and Dominique Hampton, will be busy.
Portland State Defense
Defensively, Portland uses a 4-2-5 setup with two defensive ends, a nose tackle, a defensive tackle, two linebackers, two safeties, two cornerbacks, and a rover back.
At one defensive end is VJ Malo. Saturday is a homecoming for the senior who went to O’Dea High School in Seattle. Jake Porter is on the opposite side. The bookends combined for a pair of sacks against San Jose last week. Another pair of seniors, EJ Ane and Moses Finau, handle the interior spots.
Parker McKenna and Tevita Tuitavake are the linebackers. McKenna led the Vikings with 88 tackles last season. Against SJS, he had four stops and a sack.
Rover Tyreese Shakir is in his second year as the starter. He’s more than a coverage guy. The Washington Huskies and especially quarterback Michael Penix Jr. need to prepare for the blitz because Shakir had two sacks last week.
Arizona transfer Xavier Bell plays one of the safety spots, and UTEP transfer Broderick Harrell handles the other one. Bell was in on three tackles, and Harrell had six in the opener.
The two starting cornerbacks are seniors Anthony Adams and Isaiah Avery. Adams moves over from safety, where he started the first 35 games of his career. Avery played for two years at Liberty before transferring to Portland State.
As they were in the opener, the Washington Huskies should be big favorites again this week. Go Dawgs!