MSU Stadium Expansion Plan <– Click to see the video

Included are six phases:

A. It should first be mentioned that MSU is installing FieldTurf as we speak.
1. 38 new skysuites over the student side bleachers.
2. Replace the south endzone bleachers with a bowl, in total adding about 600 seats (getting rid of those rickity bleachers we currently have).
3. Upper bowl of south endzone (adding 3,730 seats).
4. Rebuild east (student) grandstand, adding 3800 seats and removing 6000.
5. Lower bowl of north endzone, adding 2,630 seats.
6. Upper bowl of north endzone, adding 3,730 seats.

New capacity will be approximately 22,00, and is schedule to be completed over the course of about 10 years.

Throughout this off season I will make a quick preview of each team the Portland State Vikings will play, complete with the team facts and a quick overview. I’ll start off with the first team to play at PGE park for the 2008 season: Western Oregon.

Western Oregon Wolves
Head Coach: Arne Ferguson
Location: Monmouth, Oregon
Nickname: Wolves
Colors: Crimson Red and White
Enrollment: 4,889
President: John P. Minahan
Athletics Director: Jon Carey
Stadium: McArthur Field (2,500)
Playing Surface: Grass
Conference: GNAC
2007 Record: 9-2
Athletics Site: WOUWolves
Fan Site: The Wolves Den

Quick Overview

Coach Arne Ferguson’s Western Oregon football squad finished the 2007 season with a 26-12 Dixie Rotary Bowl victory over Colorado School of Mines on Dec. 1 in St. George, Utah. The Wolves finished the season with a 9-2 record. WOU’s nine wins in 2007 is only the fourth nine-win season in 78 years of Western Oregon University football. The Wolves visit PGE Park on Saturday August 30th and believe it or not lead the series between the 2 schools 11-8, The Wolves come to town having lost 17 seniors to graduation.

I’ll have more on this game soon….

The University of Northern Colorado broke several nasty streaks this week in notching their first ever Big Sky Conference win with a 16-13 victory over #19 Montana State at Nottingham Field in Greeley, CO. The Bears were on a 16 game loosing streak (the longest in school history) and an 8 game home loosing streak (the longest at Nottingham). This is the first home victory for second year head coach Scott Downing. With the win the Bears improve to 10-13-1 all time against MSU and 6-5 in Greeley. The game also marked the first successful field goal attempts of the season, with RS-Freshman kicker Zak Bigelow connecting on all three attempts from 25, 40, and 37 yards. The win did not come easily, as the Bears who lead for most of the second half, gave up a game tying touchdown with only 48 seconds remaining. However a 51 yard kickoff return by Cory Fauver followed by a 26 yard completion from Dominic Breazeale, to Ryan Chesla set up the final field goal with 8 seconds left on the clock.

Only two Big Sky Conference Teams are left in the FCS Top 25 Rankings with Montana leading the pack and remaining at #1. Montana State at #13 is the only other school from the Big Sky Conference.

Three Big Sky Conference Schools are in the FCS Top 25 Rankings with Montana leading the pack at #1 for the first time in two years. Appalachian’s loss this past weekend dropped them to number 5 allowing Montana to take over at #1. Montana State at #18 and Eastern Washington at #21 finish up the Big Sky Schools.

Sometimes there’s a silver lining a school’s own official website doesn’t even examine. That lining is that Sacramento State was 4-7 in 2006, and just hung in with Fresno State, an FBS team, in a 24-3 loss. Sure, the Hornets didn’t score a touchdown, and sure, they were never “in” the game. This wasn’t like Appalachian State upsetting Michigan by any means, but you have to look at the silver lining, and that is the Hornets were beaten by FCS teams in 2006 by much more than an FBS team beat them this year. Coach Sperbeck has definitely made strides with a small roster and a redshirt freshman QB.

Speaking of Smith, he completed 13 of his 23 passes for 60 yards and did not throw an interception in his first collegiate start. Travon Jones rushed for 49 yards, and Ryan Coogler caught six balls. That information is silver lining. Cyrus Mulitalo’s 16 tackles and a fumble recovery is silver lining. Shelton and Webber logging double-digit tackles is silver lining.

The Sac State official site’s article begins with this sentence: “The Sacramento State football team opened its 2007 season with a 24-3 loss at Fresno State, Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium.” The article is filled with stats and positives for Fresno State. This article is also filled with negatives towards the Hornets like, “With the exception of turnovers and penalties, Fresno State dominated the statistics. ” And there are only two paragraphs detailing the Hornets’ upside. The author leaves the positive remarks for the Notes section, which said: “NOTES: The 21-point margin of defeat is the smallest against a Football Bowl Subdivsion opponent since 1992.”

This article may be filled with negatives, but don’t let this article fool you, this was a positive game for Sacramento State Football as a program. This is a good sign for the future of the program. Coach Sperbeck is getting this team on the right path.