Those are what separate the Portland State Vikings from Big Sky Conference contender and league also-ran.
On Oct. 16, Portland State took leads of 21-3 and 24-10 over Montana State, only to see the Bobcats drive for a game-tying touchdown as time ran out. MSU won 31-24 in overtime. Last week the Vikings led Northern Arizona 20-10 with just over seven minutes left, and ended up giving up a field goal with 12 seconds remaining. NAU prevailed 21-20.
"Maybe it's a bigger game than some people may anticipate," Walsh said. "What a statement they can make for themselves by coming out and playing hard after the last two weeks."
The Vikings have been playing hard. They sit first in the league in total defense, first in pass efficiency defense, second best in passing yardage given up, first in scoring defense, and second in time of possession. That's not to mention giving up the least sacks and committing the fewest penalties in the Big Sky, and rushing for a robust 184.9 yards a game on offense.
Add it up and the Vikings are in a three-way tie for fifth in the conference.
"If you don't look at the standings, you'd say, 'Wow, that team's pretty good,' " Walsh said. "Bottom line, we've allowed our opponents to score points where we shouldn't allow them to score these last two games. We've given up 27 points in our last 10 minutes of football. You take those last 10 minutes (the last five in each game) away and we're good."
Portland State came into this season with high expectations, built up behind a seasoned defense and the return of star running back Ryan Fuqua. The defense, anchored by linebackers Tolo Tuitele and Joey King and 290-pound Kansas transfer Chuck Jones at defensive tackle, has not disappointed. Fuqua, a 205-pound senior, has been solid even when not healthy. He suffered a torn muscle in his hip against McNeese State, and sat out a 41-21 home loss to Eastern Washington. The next two games he ran for 82 and 108 yards, and for another 90 against NAU. He has 607 rushing yards this season. For his career, he has 4,316 yards and 38 touchdowns on the ground.
"He was 60 percent against MSU and 75 percent against Northern Arizona," Walsh said. "He hasn't practiced all week, and I don't know if he's going to practice. He's not healthy, that's just a fact of life, and he's still averaging 100 yards a game. That speaks well for him."
The offense took another hit early when big-play receiver Ryan Brown went down with torn cartilage in his left knee during preseason camp. He returned from surgery three games ago, and has 10 catches for 117 yards.
"It's as good as you could ask for," Brown said of his knee, which has bothered him since high school. "The speed's there. The main thing is conditioning."
Conditioning may be a key for Portland State, which has been real good for 3fi quarters.
"The past two games are probably the toughest losses I've ever encountered," Brown said. "It's hard to play a team so hard, so tough for 58 minutes, then the last two minutes have them pull out the win. All losses hurt, but I guess it makes it that much tougher when it's that type of a game. As a team, we did play pretty good football."
Brown's return made things a little easier for quarterback Joe Wiser, who has completed just 48 percent of his passes. Junior receiver Shaun Bodiford has excelled the last three weeks, averaging 17.8 yards a catch. The offensive line, pressed into drive-blocking partly by Brown's absence, has continued to gel.
"That's probably one of the reasons we are running it so well," Walsh said.
There's no question about that. Against MSU's league-best run defense (111.1 yards a game), the Vikings piled up 124 yards. Last week they ran for 216 against a solid NAU squad, including a 55-yard TD burst from Fuqua. Neither performance got PSU a win.
"You never envision yourself being down in the conference," said Brown. "With the type of defense and the type of running game we have, I probably expected to be more up on the win-loss spectrum. But the season's not over. We have a lot more to play for. We just want to go out there and show people that hey, we are a good football team."
That's what Walsh is hoping for.
"We need to do something in the next four weeks to let these young people finish with something positive, and let them realize that sometimes life isn't always fair," said the coach, who has led the Vikings to the I-AA playoffs once, in 2000, since they joined the Big Sky in 1996. "If we end up 7-4, maybe we can say that. If we don't play well these last four weeks, maybe we weren't as good as we thought."
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