McCaffrey, PSU a perfect fit

Four games into his senior season, Portland State's Cory McCaffrey feels pretty good.

"As of now I'm not too beat up," said the 185-pound running back. "But I know by the end of the season I'll be ready for a break."

Portland State running back Cory McCaffrey carries the ball on the way to a second-half touchdown against Idaho State Oct. 1, 2011, in Pocatello, Idaho.
Photo by JOE KLINE/Idaho State Journal

Portland State at No. 14 Montana

Saturday, 1:05 p.m. (MDT)
Washington-Grizzly Stadium (25,217, SprinTurf)

Location: Portland, Ore.

Enrollment: 28,000.

Series history: Montana leads 27-11.

Man in charge: Nigel Burton (Washington, 1999) is 5-11 in his second year at Portland State.

The usual suspects make Portland State more dangerous in year two of the Burton Era.

Ones to watch:

1 Cory McCaffrey (5-9, 185, sr., Sisters, Ore.): The cat-quick running back leads the nation with 628 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.

6 Connor Kavanaugh (6-0, 185, sr., Portland, Ore.): The QB was dangerous enough running - 559 yards, 5 TDs on the ground - but now he's throwing it well.

34 Ryan Rau (6-1, 230, sr., Folsom, Calif.): The Vikings like to free their middle linebacker up to make plays and tackles, and Rau has two sacks among a team-high 47 stops.

McCaffrey actually sat out one game this year, at Texas Christian, with an injury and Portland State lost to the BCS-crashing Horned Frogs 55-13.

But when he  and quarterback Connor Kavanaugh are in the lineup at the same time - and they will be Saturday, when the 3-2 Vikings visit No. 14 Montana at Washington-Grizzly Stadium - watch out.

They are the Alpha and Omega of PSU's "Pistol" offense, where Kavanaugh takes the snap 4 yards behind center and McCaffrey lines up 3 yards beyond the QB.

Second-year coach Nigel Burton could hardly have found a better match for the run-first attack he brought with him from Nevada. McCaffrey leads the Football Championship Subdivision in rushing and scoring, and Kavanaugh rushes for over 100 yards a game.

"It definitely plays to both their strengths," Burton said of the Pistol. "The part that's been most exciting for us is how well ‘Kav' is throwing the football. And this past week, seeing the receiving corps come alive and win those one-on-on matchups when Montana State decided to just load the box."

The Vikings lost to the third-ranked Bobcats 38-36 after trailing 38-22 with 6:52 left. Kavanaugh's 15-yard touchdown pass to Kalua Noa cut the gap to two with 2:52 left, but the Cats stopped Kavanaugh's PAT run to preserve the win.

Still, PSU is 2-1 in Big Sky Conference play and at 3-2 overall has already eclipsed its 2010 win total. Burton has seen his squad's two league wins come in come-from-behind fashion.

"What we figured out about the 2011 Viks is the fact that we're a very resilient, mentally tough team," he said. "We did the same thing against Northern Arizona: Came back and fought and won (31-29). We did the same thing against Idaho State: We were down, then we were up, then we're down and came back and won (42-35).

"Down 16 to the No. 3 team in the country, they didn't bat an eye and kept playing, got back in and had a chance to win."

The Vikings returned 18 starters from last season - 20 starters total if you count guys like backup Drew Hubel, their record-setting QB under Jerry Glanville who redshirted in 2010. But Burton also has picked up some transfers like defensive tackle Myles Wade (Texas Tech) and safety Dean Faddis (Nevada).

Wade, like many of the Vikings, is originally from Oregon. The 300-pounder Portland native actually graduated college in Texas and so was able to play one year anywhere he pleased.

He helps fortify a defense that gave up scads of yards and points in 2010. Ryan Rau remains a fixture at middle linebacker, but the secondary is in a little bit of flux: DeShawn Shead, an all-Big Sky cornerback in 2008 who switched to safety this year, moved back to corner during the MSU game.

Another transfer who came in last year, defensive end Carl Sommer of Oregon State, has been sidelined by injury so sophomore Julious Moore has stepped in there. Moore had two sacks against ISU.

Meanwhile, eight of 11 PSU's offensive starters against MSU were from Oregon, including McCaffrey, who signed with former coach Jerry Glanville to play receiver.

This was despite rushing for 46 touchdowns at Sisters High.

"Portland State was the school that recruited me the hardest," McCaffrey said. "Idaho State offered, but I'm originally from Portland - the Beaverton area - and it seemed like a win-win."

Knowing Glanville needed slot receivers for his run-and-shoot, McCaffrey gave it a shot. He learned a lot, but didn't have much success in terms of catches or victories.

"It wasn't at all what I was used to," he said. "That first year was very, very difficult. By the second it was more second nature, but it was a long process."

Year three brought Burton. McCaffrey notes that in this offense, like his one in high school, he's lining up 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

He and Kavanaugh have started eight Big Sky Conference games together and in five of those both have rushed for 100 yards. In other words, the offense was a perfect fit.

And now it's on year two.

"We're a tighter crew, we have better chemistry," said the running back. "Especially on offense. That helped us going into fall camp, because we already knew the offense. Then it was just trying to perfect it."

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 523-5247 or at fneighbor@missoulian.com.