It's a date: Vikings and Grizzlies to meet at Providence Park

They'll be playing football at the football stadium on Nov. 15.

PORTLAND — Not all of Bruce Barnum’s problems are suddenly solved.

The Portland State head coach lost his offensive coordinator to Sacramento State this offseason, he’s still fending off FBS programs from poaching players from his roster and while the knee he had replaced last spring is finally starting to feel better, it’s now the other one that he figures is next to go under the knife.

But Barnum doesn’t like to focus on his problems. And on Wednesday, he found a solution to at least one of them: He finally has a field worth showing recruits on visits.

The Portland State Vikings will play a game at Providence Park in 2025. The university, along with the Portland Timbers, announced on Wednesday that the Vikings will host the University of Montana at their former downtown home on Nov. 15. It will be the Vikings’ first game at the 99-year-old stadium since 2018, offering Portland’s Division 1 FCS football squad a one-game reprieve from the 14-mile trip to Hillsboro Stadium that they’ve been making for the last six years.

It’s just one game — for now — and the Vikings will play their four other home games out in Hillsboro. But this is a big one for PSU, for more reasons than just the commute.