PSU has holes to fill

By steve brandon

The Portland Tribune, Apr 11, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

GLANVILLE

Jerry Glanville can hardly believe what he’s not seeing.

Portland State is going into spring practice Monday with only eight offensive linemen, including just one (left guard Moses Punzal) who has had much playing time. Also, the Vikings will have only a few experienced receivers and almost no healthy players at fullback and safety.

“I’m kind of shocked we’re in this position,” Glanville says on the eve of his second spring with the Vikings.

The cupboard is bare at those positions for various reasons. Gone are 18 seniors who played a lot last season, and reinforcements won’t arrive until later (25 to 30 more players are expected to be on hand for August camp).

“I couldn’t fix the offensive line with junior college players,” Glanville says. “The high school players were better than the JCs we could get, so I went with them. The good JC offensive linemen are being sucked up by the four-year schools.”

Due to the lack of numbers, the May 10 spring game at PGE Park won’t be a true game. “We won’t have two offensive lines, but we do have enough to go offense versus defense,” Glanville says.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit