BYU Football vs. Portland State: 3 things we learned

The eyes of the nation were on Utah this Saturday where BYU Football took care of business, dispatching Portland State at home. Here’s what we learned.

Read Also: 2017 BYU football season preview 

No Independent team has made an appearance in the College Football Playoff. That’s understandable given the brief history of the playoff and the scarcity of teams without conference affiliations. With Notre Dame in the midst of what looks to be a rebuilding year it might be up to the Cougars to break through.

BYU opened their season against Portland State on Saturday. One game won’t define their ceiling or squelch their dreams, but there were three things that stuck out as important takeaways from their season opener. Here’s what we learned during the Cougar victory over Portland State.

1. Portland State is a dangerous FCS team

The Vikings aren’t your run of the mill FCS team that comes to town, goes through the motions, rolls over and cashes their check. In 2015 they beat a pair of FBS teams: North Texas and Washington State. There has been turnover on the roster since then, but the Vikings have giant-slaying DNA.

Portland State wasn’t able to string together any semblance of a consistent offensive attack. In spite of that they found themselves within one score of a talented BYU team at half time. They cut the 14 point deficit to eight points with a 17 play, 87 yard touchdown drive that required a pair of fourth down conversions before quarterback Jalani Eason hit Darnell Adams on a short pick route for the touchdown.

There are two FBS teams on the Vikings’ schedule in 2017. They travel to Oregon State next weekend and host North Texas later in the year. The Oregon State offense looks to be much more explosive than the Cougars’ was. Portland State will be ready and that matchup should make for a fun one next weekend in Corvallis.