Heaven forbid that we get another weather related fiasco like we did last year against Mercer!

humidity will be much lower in Portland than it was in Montgomery Alabama or will be in Dallas. Bodies can’t get rid of heat when the humidity is high as it retards evaporation off skin. Dewpoint of 76 here in North Carolina with a high of 90 today. Pure misery outside. Why anyone would want to live in Florida puzzles me.

I grew up in the heat and humidity in Indiana and all we had was a fan in the window. It was miserable but it was all I knew back then.

Having done two-a-days in low 90 degree weather in the Portland area as a kid -- that is a drainer -- way hotter up there with that heat than in Davis. It's not Texas or Alabama humidity, but it's far more humid up North than in Davis.

I think PSU chose this start time on purpose. Coaches should be conditioning their players accordingly.

I think we're all overstating the potential heat and humidity of an August noonday in Portland, Oregon. It will be hot, yes. Not many places outside of Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Eureka, Gold Beach, and Astoria that won't have the potential of a 90+ degree day with some humidity. Big deal. These are college athletes with, at least in our case, an elite strength and conditioning program, training all summer in the heat on a daily basis. Absolutely no chance the day in Portland is comparable to the night in Montgomery. The weather is a non-factor for this game unless you are hungover in the 3rd quarter from an early start or a late night on Distillery Row. The only way it plays into the outcome is if there is a driving rainstorm. I suffice to say that the empty stadium and crappy game atmosphere is a bigger concern for the coaches, but that will be mitigated by the excitement of the first game. The key to victory taking the better team on the road to Portland is not the "brutal" Oregon heat; it's managing the first game mistakes (especially with a rookie QB) and bringing your own juice to the party.

I'm not so worried about the players; the Davis players will be more heat-adjusted than the PSU players. Just another reason I'm not particularly interested in attending in person.

Looking forward to seeing everybody up North.

Everybody - this is now 6 weeks away.

If I make it, the noon kickoff sucks with an early Saturday morning flight up, we'll have to tailgate on the plane.

Single-sided stadium with a cover, correct? Hopefully it is oriented properly.

is there any talk of them ever getting to play somewhere else? It’s embarrassing for the big sky conference IMO to have a team playing on a stadium that’s arguably worse than most d2 or even many high school stadiums.

The only talk I've heard in recent years was trying to get into the old baseball stadium turned soccer stadium, and I believe that's where they played Montana last year, but nothing long term. Until they secure that lease, or build something else, they're out in the suburbs. Big school, right downtown so space is at a premium. The stadium is a multipurpose sports complex, so there are a lot of different uses for it I guess. Harkens back to a slightly nicer version of the old 1970s convertible stadiums like Candlestick, Anaheim, Riverfront, and 3 Rivers.

I had this thought that they might be better off working with Lewis and Clark College (south of downtown but ostensibly closer than Hillsboro) to renovate their little D3 stadium than start fresh somewhere or fight to get back into Providence Park, the downtown stadium.

Worth noting that Providence Park has been expanded recently and while it's a cool and historic soccer venue now, it probably is too big for what PSU can reasonably expect to fill.

Interesting idea on L&C. One-sided if I recall, or at least the one side is substantially larger than the other. Would come down to the ability to expand on the opposite side. If you could just replicate the home side, you'd be close to 10k I'm guessing. Nice call!

Providence Park is where they should be, but they have not been good enough to draw crowds large enough to fend off the Timbers taking over and they can't afford the rent now even if they could work around the soccer schedule.

Who owns/operates Providence Park, is it the City or the club? That's a shame, would really boost their profile and be good for the entire Big Sky.

The city owns it; it looks like the parent company of the Timbers operates it though. So you'd think/hope the city would figure out a way to have PSU stay there but I guess the actual operator has no such preference and apparently the city doesn't care enough to force it.

I’m up in the air about going to Portland. We’re definitely going to SD the following week for that pay back night game. My wife has relatives in Vancouver, WA so she’s usually an easy sell on Portland games. That stadium is such a strange venue for football, but at least the overhang keeps you dry if it rains.

Newsletter they sent out today has a Friday night reception with details to follow.

We going to San Diego and there are late kickoff home games to follow (hotel rooms for us). Portland is a no-go. We really disliked our last visit up there in 2019.

I am really curious about this Hillsboro Stadium, is it really that bad? Especially if you sit up high.

Its just a strange venue. Visitors and home team fans are on the same side. There is an overhang that helps get you out of the rain. Regardless, i hope we really lay some wood on them this year in their “house.”

I imagine the vastness of staring out on the open, visitor side with nothing there is a contributing factor. Those kinds of stadiums do suck. No track around it is a positive, but the two-tone turf on the sidelines is a trip, as are the baseball cutouts. Bottom line is none of that should matter once we kickoff, but crap venues can suck the life out of teams.

One of his recommendations for saving Portland State football: Drop the money games. Play the mid level teams (G5).
That should also be a goal for Davis.

I hadn't heard much from Barnum before this video, but he seems like a guy players could get behind. Alignment between admin and staff and athletes seems hard to come by

He was one of those cases where he was hired as an interim head coach because he was on the staff and later made head coach based on how popular he was with the players.

I wonder what the $800/month for scholarships is supposed to cover. Just food? Can’t cover food and lodging.

Those "popular with the players" are sometimes rough. Just because a bunch of 18-22 year olds like a guy doesn't mean he's the best fit. If he is, he better hire a heck of a staff around him, which Barnum did not.

Also, if the players are hardly getting full scholarships, I wonder what assistant coaches are getting paid. Prob not worth it

My guess on those assistant coaches is likely anywhere from $55k to $85k, max. Maybe an experienced coordinator at $100k but doubtful. Should be public record.

As far as the $800 a month figure, that one is brutal if true. $9600 annually won't cover an estimated $13k room/board/tuition. Just a bunch of partials if that's the case.

Just bought my tix to Portland.

Sounds like there might be a social event downtown Portland Friday, 8/28 afternoon around 5 pm.

Most recent scrimmage report from PSU

https://goviks.com/news/2026/8/15/FB_20260815.aspx

Also looks like the Viks are stepping up their uniform game... however their video has so many jump cuts it's hard to actually see what they look like.