PORTLAND, Oregon -- It's been four years since Cal Poly has played Portland State and five seasons since the Mustangs have made the trip north to The City of Roses.
This time, the Mustangs and Vikings won't be playing in Providence Park, formerly known as Civic Stadium, in downtown Portland. Instead, the Big Sky Conference football contest will be held in Hillsboro Stadium, a 7,600-seat facility located about 15 miles west of Portland.
The Vikings officially moved their football games to Hillsboro beginning with the 2019 season primarily because of scheduling conflicts with the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer. Portland State was forced to play four of its five home games in 2018 at Hillsboro because of such conflicts and made Hillsboro its permanent home a year later.
"We plan to play there for the foreseeable future," said Mike Lund, Portland State's Associate Athletic Director for Media and Communications. "We have a five-year contract with Hillsboro. They are working with us on stadium upgrades such as a video board, more seating and suites.
"There are no other options at this time," Lund added. "We will look into potential long-term solutions of getting a stadium closer to Portland State. However, Hillsboro is a home base for us."
The Vikings also play soccer and softball at Hillsboro as well.
Cal Poly head football coach Beau Baldwin throws a pass
during the team's walk-through Friday at Hillsboro Stadium.
Portland State had been playing football games regularly at Providence Park since 1967. Through more than a half-century, coaches such as Mouse Davis, Pokey Allen and Tim Walsh and players such as June Jones and Neil Lomax plied their trade there.
The Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League also play at Providence Park.
Civic Stadium also was home to a minor league baseball team, the Portland Beavers, and was featured in a famous catch made by New York Mets prospect Rodney McCray, who while playing for the Vancouver Canadians ran through the wall to run down a fly ball off the bat of the Beavers' Chip Hale in 1991.
McCray didn't make the catch and Hale ended up with an RBI triple.
The logistics and cost of moving back and forth between venues, and occasionally not knowing if Providence Park would be available (due to potential MLS post-season games), helped necessitate the move by Portland State to Hillsboro. Having Hillsboro as a consistent home should be more beneficial to the program, fans and staff, as well as be financially more prudent, according to a press release issued by the university in 2019.
Saturday's kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m. and will be available on ESPN Radio (1280 AM and 101.7 FM), KRKC (1490 AM and 104.9 FM) and ESPN+. Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats are available at the top of the page as well as on the football schedule page at www.GoPoly.com.
The Vikings are led by a prolific passer in senior Davis Alexander, who has thrown for 2,008 yards and 15 touchdowns this season and 8,148 yards and 57 touchdowns in his Portland State career (33 starts). He also has rushed for 22 scores in his Viking career, accounting for 79 career touchdowns.
A graduate of Gig Harbor High School in Gig Harbor, Wash., Alexander has completed 600 of 1,056 passes and has eight 300-yard passing games and a trio of 400-yard passing games as a Viking. He likely will finish second to Lomax in most Portland State career passing records.
Alexander made his first career start in the last meeting between the two teams, Nov. 4, 2017, at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, completing 30 of 51 passes for 409 yards and one touchdown. His lone interception came in the final minute when Mustang Mark Reza dove for the theft as the Vikings were driving for a potential game-tying touchdown in the matchup of then 0-8 squads.
Instead, Cal Poly held on for the 35-28 Homecoming triumph. The Mustangs also won in their last trip to Portland, a 55-35 decision in 2016 as Joe Protheroe, Kyle Lewis and Kori Garcia all rushed for over 100 yards. The Mustangs lead the all-time series, 13-11, thanks to victories in the last two meetings.
Portland State (3-4, 2-2 Big Sky) is coming off a bye week after defeating Idaho State 31-10 two weeks ago. Cal Poly (1-6, 0-4 Big Sky) nearly upset No. 10 UC Davis last week, falling 24-13. A blocked field goal and runback for a touchdown by the Mustangs was nullified by an offsides penalty and the Mustangs also failed to score after driving inside the Aggie 25-yard line three times in the fourth quarter.
Each team has five receivers with double-digit catches. Cal Poly is led by Chris Coleman with 24 receptions and Zedakiah Centers with 20 while Portland's top receivers are Beau Kelly with 46, Nate Bennett with 33 and Darien Chase with 26.
Mustang senior linebacker Matt Shotwell continues his climb up the list of career tacklers. With 80 this season, the Bishop Diego High School graduate has 298 career stops, No. 9 in the record book, and Shotwell can move into the fourth spot with just 28 more tackles.
Shotwell has been Cal Poly's leading tackler each of the last three seasons and has 41 more tackles than runner-up and fellow linebacker Laipeli Palu this fall.
Cal Poly Football Linebacker Kenny Olson Postgame Press Conference - UC Davis (Oct. 4, 2025)Cal Poly Football Linebacker Kenny Olson Postgame Press Conference - UC Davis (Oct. 4, 2025)
Sunday, October 05
Cal Poly Football Head Coach Paul Wulff Postgame Press Conference - UC Davis (Oct. 4, 2025)Cal Poly Football Head Coach Paul Wulff Postgame Press Conference - UC Davis (Oct. 4, 2025)
Sunday, October 05
Cal Poly Football Locker Room Speech by Josh Ngaluafe After Win Over No. 21 Sacramento StateCal Poly Football Locker Room Speech by Josh Ngaluafe After Win Over No. 21 Sacramento State
Sunday, September 28
Coach Wulff Postgame Interview - Western Oregon (9-13-25)Coach Wulff Postgame Interview - Western Oregon (9-13-25)
