THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: A team that needs a home closer to home

Portland State football is a team you could get behind because of Bruce Barnum.  

He has that down-home style that seems to fit perfectly in the Big Sky Conference. 

One time, he bought beers for anyone who would come to one of his Portland State home games. 

Now, he just needs “home” to be a little closer to home. 

And for his Vikings to win a few more football games. 

PORTLAND STATE, which visits Idaho on Saturday, currently plays its “home” football games at Hillsboro Stadium, some 14 miles from the PSU campus; head west on Highway 26. 

The Vikings played their home games at Providence Park in Portland — a place you might remember as Multnomah Stadium or Civic Stadium — from 1967-2018. But their last game at Providence Park was in October 2018, as the soccer folks squeezed PSU out of the stadium, which is now home of the MLS’ Timbers and NWSL’s Thorns. 

But no football at the stadium which was once home of the Triple-A Portland Beavers in baseball. 

Only soccer, Barnum was told. 

Then Oregon State and Montana State played a football game at Providence Park in 2022. 

“That was embarrassing to me, to me that was straight-ass embarrassing,” Barnum said this summer, at the Big Sky Football Kickoff in Airway Heights. “But, water under the bridge; we’ve got one down there.” 

Yes, indeed. 

Thanks to new Portland State president Ann Cudd, the Viking football team will play Montana at Providence Park on Nov. 15.   

“She asked, when I first met with her, ‘everybody’s talking about building a stadium,’” Barnum said. “I said, ‘just get us back home, even if it’s one game.’ And she pressed the buttons and she got it done. That’s exciting.” 

There’s been talk of building an on-campus stadium at Portland State. 

Barnum, in his 11th season as Portland State coach, would rather go back to playing home games at Providence Park. 

“That would be the best-case scenario, for everybody — local high schools, the PIL (Portland Interscholastic League). That used to be a pretty cool spot. Now it’s straight soccer. Nobody else.” 

Except for Nov. 15. And that one Saturday in 2022. 

And maybe in the future. 

“I think that’s on her mind,” Barnum said of more PSU football games at Providence Park. “And maybe stick our foot in again, and get two (home games in a season), sneak back in there.” 

BARNUM ENTERED this season 38-64 overall at Portland State. In his first season, he led the Vikings to the second round of the FCS playoffs. Though Portland State has threatened the .500 mark a few times since, the Vikings have not had a winning season since 2015. 

In addition to playing its home games at home, how else do the Vikings take the next step? 

"No. 1 is scheduling; I need to schedule better,” Barnum said. “Playing two money games, I would love to have some more FCS games sprinkled in there. FBS games, cut me to one." 

But two money games mean two six-figure checks to the athletic department instead of one. And that money helps fund the other, non-revenue sports at PSU. 

So is that realistic? 

"Right now, no,” Barnum said. “So it is, what it is. Obviously if you can come out and catch lightning in a bottle, the momentum comes. But I treat it (a money game) like a preseason game for my team, (bring in) a lot of money for our athletic department before we start conference.” 

At least Barnum is able to schedule other FCS teams for his other nonconference games now. 

"I’ve got Tarleton State (the 2025 season opener) instead of a lower division,” he said. “Last year we had Chattanooga instead of a lower division. "So a big piece of that (making that step up) is scheduling, and then trying to retain some players in this world, with NIL, and the portal.” 

Ah, the portal ... 

“I’ve lost my starting center two years in a row,” Barnum said. “Got bought by Washington (last year); this year’s guy got bought by Arizona. I’ve got a guy going to Montana (linebacker Peyton Wing, a second-team All-Big Sky pick last year and the Grizz’s third-leading tackler this year) and a guy going to Idaho (safety Zach Wusstig). 

“Somebody asked me earlier (at the media day) about leadership on the team,” Barnum said. “One’s at Montana, the other’s at Idaho.” 

You could pick worse teams to follow than Portland State football. 

Besides, if you did, Bruce Barnum might even buy you a beer.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports. 

    Bruce Barnum