Looking Back At BYU Football’s History Against Portland State

PROVO, Utah – The BYU Cougars are facing an unfamiliar opponent as they kick off the 2025 season, welcoming the Portland State Vikings to Provo.

BYU begins the new season at LaVell Edwards Stadium, hosting Portland State on Saturday, August 30. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. MT.

Saturday’s meeting will be the second time the two programs have lined up across from each other on gameday.

BYU opened the 2017 campaign with a 20-6 win over the Vikings at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Cougars open 2017 with a win over the Portland State Vikings

BYU opened the season with punts on its first two drives before QB Tanner Mangum found his footing.

Mangum completed two passes on a four-play, 64-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 28-yard TD pass to Neil Pau’u with 2:01 left in the opening quarter.

The Cougars’ first prolonged drive came midway through the second quarter.

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Mangum completed three passes on the drive, moving the offense into the red zone with ease. Squally Canada capped the possession with a one-yard plunge into the end zone, giving his team a 14-0 lead.

The Cougars led 14-6 after the Vikings found the end zone on a 17-play, 87-yard drive late in the half.

The third quarter went scoreless with both teams punting twice.

The Cougars opened the final quarter with an 83-yard drive that ate up 6:02 of the clock and resulted in a 27-yard Rhett Almond field goal.

BYU’s Zayne Anderson set up the Cougars’ final scoring drive when he picked off a Jalani Easton pass and returned it 27 yards to the Vikings’ 23-yard line. Almond’s second field goal, this time from 35 yards out, gave BYU a 20-6 lead late.

The defense came up big on Portland State’s final drive. The Vikings lost five yards on the drive, including a sack from Trajan Pili.

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Mangum threw for 194 yards and one touchdown. Canada finished two yards shy of the 100-yard plateau, adding a touchdown for good measure. Tight end Matt Bushman caught three passes for 56 yards.

Defensively, Sione Takitaki led the Cougars with two sacks. LB Fred Warner finished with ten tackles.

BYU Football matchups against FCS opponents in the Kalani Sitake era

The Cougars are 19-0 all-time against FCS opponents and 10-0 under current head coach Kalani Sitake.

2016 – BYU 37, Southern Utah 7

The first game against an FCS team in the Kalani Sitake era.

There was a lot of talk about former BYU associate head coach Ed Lamb going up against his old team. Lamb coached at SUU and had success with the Thunderbirds. BYU rolled to a comfortable win.

2018 – No. 25 BYU 30, McNeese State 3

Riding high after a massive upset over No. 6 Wisconsin, BYU stuck with the conservative playcalling and jet sweeps to produce a 27-point win over McNeese State.

2019 – BYU 42, Idaho State 10

This game marked the return of an injured Zach Wilson, who worked his way back from a hand injury he suffered against Toledo two months prior. BYU started slow, only leading 7-0 through one quarter thanks to an Austin Lee pick-six.

In the second quarter, BYU’s offense began pulling away.

The win gave BYU their sixth victory of the season and clinched bowl eligibility. In the postgame locker room, BYU AD Tom Holmoe donned a fan-created t-shirt that said, “#EXTENDKALANI,” announcing to the team that head coach Kalani Sitake was receiving a contract extension.

2020 – No. 8 BYU 66, North Alabama 14

The unusual COVID season. Undefeated BYU was desperately searching for games, so star QB Zach Wilson donned a headband versus North Alabama that said, “Any Team, Time, Place.”

2021 – No. 17 BYU 59, Idaho State 14

Three BYU players who scored touchdowns in this game are in the NFL. Tyler Allgeier, Jaren Hall, and Puka Nacua.

2022 – BYU 52, Utah Tech 26

Utah Tech gave BYU a legitimate scare for three quarters. The Trailblazers only trailed 28-20 at the half. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that BYU’s offense pulled away. The game was another low point for a BYU defense struggling to stop anyone.

2023 – BYU 41, Southern Utah 16

BYU held a comfortable 27-3 lead at the half. In the second half, the T-Birds made it more competitive, scoring two touchdowns.

Southern Utah head coach DeLane Fitzgerald said on his coaches’ show the following week that he was concerned about BYU’s ability to compete in the Big 12 because of their offensive line. He was right, as BYU struggled to run the ball last season.

2024 – BYU 41, Southern Illinois 13

Jake Retzlaff completed 20-of-30 passes for 348 yards and three touchdowns in the blowout win, but it was BYU’s running game that kept Southern Illinois’ defense on its heels.

LJ Martin and Hickley Ropati combined for 125 yards, with both scoring a touchdown.

What would turn out to be an incredibly opportunistic BYU defense showed up, forcing a turnover and tallying two sacks while limiting Southern Illinois to 231 yards of total offense.

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The Cougars open the 2025 season on Saturday, August 30, at home against Portland State. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. MT. Find BYU’s entire 2025 football schedule here.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

Follow the BYU Cougars with KSL Sports here.

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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24. 

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