Daily Cal: Vikings Aren't Your Average I-AA Pushover

BY Steven Dunst

Beating a Division I-AA team is supposed to be as easy as George Foreman grilling, Barack Obama getting elected President one day or Paris Hilton at a club after-party, right?  It used to be that a top-25 Division I-A team would schedule a cupcake nonconference opponent to get an automatic win and tune up before the treacherous conference slate begins.  Not anymore. With increased parity across the country, playing a Division I-AA team is now a lose-lose situation for major conference schools.  If the No. 21 Bears football team wins Saturday, few would be impressed. After all, there is a reason Portland State is not a Division I-A team. The Vikings lost to Oregon State last year, 41-14, and beat no team better than Montana State.

But if Cal loses, the catastrophe would immediately go down as the worst loss of the Tedford era. Any hopes for a national ranking would be extinguished for the season.  A loss seems unfathomable, especially with the strength of the Bears running game and a defensive line that will force Portland State quarterback Sawyer Smith to throw deep into coverage. But as the saying goes, "there's a reason they play the game."

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