Scouting Portland State

Portland State tight end Charlie Taumoepeau was an All-American in 2018 when he had 100-yard receiving games against two FBS opponents.

A 4-7 record in 2018 was seen as improvement at Portland State, a Football Championship Subdivision team that lost all 11 of its games the year before and snapped a 15-game losing streak in the third game of last season.

The Vikings have fallen on hard times since a great 9-3 campaign in 2015, the first season of the Bruce Barnum era that ended in the FCS Playoffs. With Barnum coaching as an interim that year, Portland State defeated two Football Bowl Subdivision teams - Washington State by a score of 24-17, and North Texas by a score of 66-7.

The 59-point victory over the Mean Green was the most lopsided ever by an FCS team over an FBS team and, reminiscent to Arkansas’ loss to The Citadel in 1992, North Texas fired its head coach following the game.

The 2019 Vikings appear to be Barnum’s best team since that season, although that might not be saying much given that Portland State has just seven wins in the past three seasons. The Vikings were predicted to finish 10th out of 13 teams by both coaches and media in preseason Big Sky Conference polls.

Portland State Key Stat

About Portland State

Coach: Bruce Barnum (16-29 in fifth season)

2018 Record: 4-7 overall, 3-5 Big Sky

Postseason Result: None

Offense: West Coast Pistol

Defense: 4-3/3-4 Flex

Returning Lettermen: 46 (25 offense, 19 defense, 2 special teams)

Returning Starters: 19 (9 offense, 8 defense, 2 special teams)

Players to Watch: QB Davis Alexander, TE Charlie Taumoepeau, DT Kenton Bartlett, SS Romeo Gunt, K Cody Williams

Series Record: First Meeting

The Vikings have 18 projected starters on offense and defense who are either juniors or seniors. FCS over FBS upsets typically happen by older teams. It will be interesting to watch how much the Vikings’ experience matters against the youthful Razorbacks.

Portland State Key Player

Senior tight end Charlie Taumoepeau was a consensus FCS All-American last season when he recorded 28 receptions for 580 yards and five touchdowns - all team highs.

Taumoepeau was especially effective in the Vikings’ two games last season against FBS opponents, Nevada and Oregon. Both games were blowouts - Portland State lost to Nevada 72-19 and to Oregon 62-14 - but Taumoepeau had more than 100 yards receiving each game.

In the season opener against the Wolf Pack, he caught three passes for 130 yards and touchdowns of 48 and 75 yards. The following week against the Ducks, Taumoepeau caught five passes for 125 yards, including touchdowns of 71 and 4 yards.

His two touchdown catches against Nevada included long runs after catch, 30 and 61 yards. Against Oregon, his long touchdown reception included a 40-yard run after the catch.

Taumoepeau injured his ankle in the Vikings’ third game at Idaho, missed two additional games and did not return to full speed until late in the season, hampering what could have been a record-setting season.

In 31 career games, Taumoepeau has 81 receptions for 1,402 yards and nine touchdowns. He is one of 25 players on the preseason watch list for the Walter Payton Award, which is given each year to the most outstanding offensive player in FCS.

In May, Taumoepeau was listed by Gil Brandt as one of 15 “small-school players” who could be drafted in 2020. Brandt is the former Dallas Cowboys’ vice president of player personnel who this year was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Portland State coaches have likened Taumoepeau to former New England Patriots great Rob Gronkowski. Among his nicknames are “Gronkopeau” and “Baby Gronk.”

Portland State on Offense

The Vikings’ offense is run predominantly out of the pistol formation in which the quarterback lines up in a shortened shotgun, in the vicinity of where a fullback would line up in a traditional I-formation look.

Most of Portland State’s plays include a running back lined up behind the quarterback, although there are some empty backfield sets. The Vikings will often use two or three tight ends to help in run blocking. Many of the team’s plays are runs, including a high amount of quarterback keepers.

When adjusted to eliminate sacks, quarterback Davis Alexander was second on the Portland State team last season with 94 rushes, and led the team with yards gained rushing, 580. Twelve of his 94 runs went for touchdowns.

Alexander is elusive and has the capability to keep a play alive outside the pocket. On multiple occasions last season, Alexander’s scrambling ability led to long touchdown passes to Taumoepeau, who stands out on film by not giving up on plays that seemingly break down. Taumoepeau is good on scramble routes, returning to the quarterback.

It would not surprise to see backup quarterback Jalani Eason see some playing time. He started the team’s game at Oregon last year and played in every game.

The Vikings have to replace their top running back from a year ago, Darian Green, who rushed for 470 yards. The top two candidates to replace him in the starting lineup, Carlos Martin and Sirgeo Hoffman, rushed for 319 and 299 yards, respectively, last season.

Portland State appears to be strongest from the center to the left side of its offensive line. Senior center Garrett Stauffer started all 11 games last season and has 15 career starts, while projected left guard Brady Brick played in 10 games as a freshman in 2018. Projected left tackled Korbin Sorensen started all 11 games last season at right guard.

Standing 6-10 and weighing 410 pounds, right tackle John Krahn might be the biggest player in college football. Krahn played two seasons of junior college football before transferring to Portland State in the offseason.

Against Oregon last season - its most comparable competition to Arkansas - Portland State struggled to get a push along the line. The Vikings allowed four sacks against the Ducks and averaged just 1.7 yards per carry.

Portland State on Defense

Up front, the Vikings are strongest on the interior. Defensive tackle Kenton Bartlett has 23 career starts, including every game last season when he 21 tackles - 4.5 for loss.

Bartlett and senior defensive tackle Anthony Del Toro (24 tackles, 5 TFL, 2.5 sacks in 2018) were in a preseason starting battle for the right defensive tackle position, but both are expected to log significant minutes alongside left defensive tackle Semise Kofe, who had 24 tackles last season, including 3.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks.

Safety Romeo Gunt is the team’s leading returning tackler after recording 58 tackles last season. Gunt also had 6.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, intercepted two passes and forced a fumble.

The Vikings’ flex defense rotates a defensive tackle out of the game for a linebacker. In the flex look, will linebacker Nicolas Ah Sam is a crucial player, often crowding the line of scrimmage to make up for the missing tackle. Ah Sam must replace the Vikings’ top defensive player last season, Sam Bodine, who tied for the team-high with 61 tackles and had seven tackles for loss.

Despite some losses from last year’s unit, the Portland State defense is an experienced group that improved drastically last season in the first year under coordinator Payam Sadaat. In conference games, the Vikings allowed 16.4 points and 124.9 yards less than they did the year before.

Portland State will need to make another jump to hang with Arkansas, though. In its two FBS games vs. Nevada and Oregon last season, the Vikings allowed a total of 57 first downs, 1,198 yards and 134 points.

Portland State on Special Teams

Kicker Cody Williams has a big, consistent leg. The highlight of his freshman season last year was a 52-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to give Portland State its most notable victory, 22-20 at Montana, then ranked No. 14 in FCS.

Williams made 11 of 14 field goals last season. His only misses were from 49, 42 and 48 yards. The 52-yard attempt at Montana was his longest, but he was also good on three other kicks of 42 yards or more. He made all 37 of his extra-point attempts and handles the team’s kickoffs.

Portland State must replace its punter from last year, Ben Niesner, who averaged 38.5 yards per attempt. The leading candidate to replace him is junior Seth Vernon, who averaged 38.7 yards per punt in two seasons of junior college before transferring to Portland State. Davis Alexander, the quarterback, is also a candidate to pooch punt, successfully booting a 41-yard kick last season.

The Vikings must also replace their two leading kickoff returners from last season. The leading returner back on the team is Easton Trakel, who averaged 19.7 yards on three returns last season.

At punt return is Beau Kelly, who was not a threat last season when his seven returns netted 33 yards.

Kenton Bartlett blocked a field goal and Jake Porter blocked an extra-point attempt last season.

The Bottom Line

Like the season opener last year against Eastern Illinois, this will be one of the only times Arkansas is clearly the better team in 2019.

Even during their rotten years, the Razorbacks have been able to handle FCS opponents. They defeated Eastern Illinois 55-20 last season and Florida A&M 49-7 in 2017.

All FCS teams are not equal, but Portland State does not appear to be on par with the ones from its subdivision that have pulled upsets in recent years.

Portland State Depth Chart

Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr.

OFFENSE

QB 6 Davis Alexander 5-11 195 Jr.

10 Jalani Eason 5-11 185 Jr.

RB 21 Carlos Martin 5-11 210 Sr.

25 Sirgeo Hoffman 6-0 215 Sr.

WR(X) 80 Emmanuel Daigbe 6-1 210 Jr.

7 Davis Koetter 6-2 195 So.

TE 89 Charlie Taumopeau 6-3 245 Sr.

85 AJ Ruffin 6-5 250 Jr.

RT 73 John Krahn 6-10 410 Jr.

79 Carlos Barraza 6-3 300 Sr.

RG 64 Larry Brister 6-2 285 Sr.

76 Tommy Laverde 6-5 290 Jr.

C 65 Garrett Stauffer 6-3 290 Sr.

72 Babak Ghadaksaz 6-2 290 Jr.

LG 60 Brady Brick 6-5 290 So.

74 Tyson Pauling 6-5 310 So.

LT 77 Korbin Sorensen 6-6 305 Jr.

70 Daniel Giannosa 6-9 280 Jr.

WR(Z) 81 Mataio Talalemotu 6-1 180 So.

87 Jacob Bystry 6-0 180 Sr.

WR(U) 5 Easton Trakel 5-9 180 Jr.

13 Beau Kelly 5-9 165 So.

DEFENSE

DE 90 Jarryn Bush 6-1 265 So.

99 Shawn Richard 6-1 230 Sr.

DT 95 Semise Kofe 6-2 315 Jr.

58 Ethan Tela-Porter 6-2 285 Fr.

DT 98 Anthony Del Toro 6-2 300 Sr.

51 Kenton Bartlett 6-3 270 Sr.

DE 53 Noah Yunker 6-4 255 Jr.

54 Jake Porter 6-4 250 So.

WLB 26 Nicolas Ah Sam 6-1 250 Jr.

56 Dylan Hanley 6-2 225 Jr.

MLB 42 Steffen Jacobsen 6-2 215 Jr.

39 Isaiah Henry 5-11 205 Fr.

SLB 14 Anthony Adams 6-0 180 So.

20 Greg Oliver 5-10 165 Fr.

CB 23 Montre Brown 6-1 185 Sr.

24 Davion Gaines 6-0 170 Fr.

SS 1 Romeo Gunt 5-10 190 Sr.

30 David Joseph 6-1 200 Fr.

FS 16 KJ Walker 6-0 180 Jr.

29 Ryan Lesch 6-1 200 Sr.

CB 27 Deon Crayon 6-2 180 Sr.

8 Maxwell Howell 6-2 195 Sr.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K 57 Cody Williams 5-10 190 So.

P 96 Seth Vernon 6-5 230 Jr.

H 7 Davis Koetter 6-2 195 So.

LS 48 Riley Shackelford 6-1 225 Sr.

PR 13 Beau Kelly 5-9 165 So.

KR 5 Easton Trakel 5-9 180 Jr.

Arkansas Depth Chart

OFFENSE

QB 6 Ben Hicks 6-1 217 R-Sr.

17 Nick Starkel 6-3 214 R-Jr.

RB 5 Rakeem Boyd 6-0 213 R-Jr.

21 Devwah Whaley 5-11 212 Sr.

WR(2) 8 Mike Woods 6-1 203 So.

1 De’Vion Warren 5-10 188 Jr.

TE 85 Cheyenne O’Grady 6-4 256 R-Sr.

89 Grayson Gunter 6-6 243 R-Jr.

RT 78 Dalton Wagner 6-9 308 R-So.

71 Ryan Winkel 6-6 285 R-Fr.

RG 76 Myron Cunningham 6-6 290 Jr.

51 Ricky Stromberg 6-4 266 Fr.

C 66 Ty Clary 6-4 285 Jr.

55 Beaux Limmer 6-5 293 Fr.

LG 54 Austin Capps 6-4 304 Sr.

57 Shane Clenin 6-6 302 R-So.

LT 74 Colton Jackson 6-5 298 Sr.

76 Myron Cunningham 6-6 290 Jr.

WR(9) 7 Trey Knox 6-5 205 Fr.

T.Q. Jackson 6-4 197 Fr.

WR(2) 16 Treylon Burks 6-3 223 Fr.

3 Koilan Jackson 6-2 211 R-So.

DEFENSE

DE 6 Gabe Richardson 6-3 240 Sr.

11 Mataio Soli 6-4 239 Fr.

DT 3 McTelvin Agim 6-3 294 Sr.

93 Isaiah Nichols 6-3 277 R-Fr.

DT 52 T.J. Smith 6-3 293 Sr.

42 Jonathan Marshall 6-3 299 Jr.

DE 5 Dorian Gerald 6-3 261 Sr.

86 Jamario Bell 6-5 265 R-Sr.

MLB 8 De’Jon Harris 6-0 245 Sr.

31 Grant Morgan 5-11 229 Jr.

WLB 10 Bumper Pool 6-2 228 So.

36 D’Vone McClure 6-2 219 Jr.

CB 21 Montaric Brown 6-0 187 R-So.

14 Britto Tutt 6-1 176 Sr.

OR 23 Devin Bush 6-0 203 Fr.

SS 2 Kamren Curl 6-2 198 Jr.

18 Myles Mason 6-2 203 So.

FS 7 Joe Foucha 5-11 195 So.

37 Brenden Young 6-1 202 Sr.

OR 1 Jalen Catalon 5-10 196 Fr.

CB 4 Jarques McClellion 6-0 175 R-So.

24 LaDarrius Bishop 6-0 193 R-Fr.

NICKEL 9 Greg Brooks 5-11 179 Fr.

26 Micahh Smith 6-0 201 Jr.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K 19 Connor Limpert 6-1 175 Sr.

P 28 Reid Bauer 5-11 198 So.

OR 42 Sam Loy 6-1 195 R-Jr.

H 18 Jack Lindsey 6-2 204 Jr.

LS 48 Jordan Silver 6-1 217 R-So.

PR 16 Treylon Burks 6-3 233 Fr.

KR 1 De’Vion Warren 5-10 188 Jr.

5 Rakeem Boyd 6-0 213 R-Jr.