Viking_Yearbook_91

Heartbreakers cost PSU a winning football season A season of great hope and high expec– tation dissolved into blown leads and lost chances as the 1990 PSU foot– ball team fell to 6-5 , missing the Di– vision II national playoffs for the first time in four years and relinquishing a three-year run atop the Western Football Conference. The Vikings lost their first home conference game in four years and dropped to 2-3 , tied for third , in conference play. While it often seemed the talent was there, some missing intangible cost PSU several last-minute losses. Included were a 19-1 8 loss at Cal St.-Northridge on a touchdown pass with 41 seconds left, a 41-35 loss at University of the Pacific on a TO pass with 33 seconds remaining, and a 28-26 home loss to Santa C lara when the Vikings were unable to stop the clock after apparently getting into field goal range. Even in victory, PSU made things interesting; in a 30-27 win over Division 1-AA Western Illinois, the Viks nearly blew a 16-point lead when the Leathernecks converted consecutive onside kicks and scored three times in the final 4:13. There were bright spots for the team which had Right, Curtis "Smurf" Delgardo observes his team in action. Don Finkbonner dives for the turf on a touch– down play. Finkbonner suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth game of the season. Photo by Tom Boyd • Sports/Football spent much of the past three years in the national rankings. Head coach Pokey A llen moved past Mouse Davis as the all-time winningest coach at PSU, running his record to 42- 26- 17 with a season– ending win over Southern Utah. Curtis Delgardo, the 5-foot-5, 205-pound "Smurf," finished his career with nearly every rushing record ever established at PSU, and also ranked sixth on the NCAA's all-di – vision, all-time all-purpose yardage list with 6,978 yards. The play of several underclassmen, combined with an aggressive recruiting effort immediately af– ter the season ended, should help propel PSU back into the national spotlight and return them to the WFC's penthouse. They won't have long to enjoy it - in its annual conference, the National Collegiate Athletic Asso– ciation voted in several restructuring proposals which are likely to break up the Western Football Conference. While the future of Portland State's status in collegiate football may come into question in the coming years, the team's on-fie ld exploits should continue to draw the kind of crowds which vaulted it to the No. 4 ranking in attendance among all Division II schools in 1990. • • • JR Rardon Below, A rotater cuff injury to his throwing arm cost Darren Del'Andrae a shot at making the All American T earn. H e played on the team last year. Photo by Deborah Hallick Photo by Tom Boyd