PSU/Oregonian

[velochat]

Hits keep on coming in PSU film room
Tackles Chuck Jones and Chris Berg can handle opponents and absorb zingers from each other
Thursday, October 14, 2004
NORM MAVES JR.
Portland State defensive tackle Chuck Jones braced himself for one of the biggest hits of his football career this week.

It wasn't the usual kind of swat he gets in the crash-and-tumble world of college football's defensive interior line. Jones, at 6-feet-4 inches and 290 pounds, can handle that stuff.

This was worse. The Viking linemen were breaking down the film from last week's 31-0 victory over Sacramento State, and there was Jones, blocking a second-half punt and staggering futilely across the screen after the ball.

And there was Chris Berg, Jones' running mate at defensive tackle, watching the film and deadpanning, "This isn't slow motion, you know."

Jones knew the stick was coming. Three weeks earlier, after Berg intercepted a pass against McNeese State and stumbled to the ground inside the Cowboys' 5-yard line, Jones said, "That's exactly what I said to him."

There's plenty of merriment on the Portland State defensive line these days. With the addition of Jones, who transferred from Kansas this season, to Berg's already established game, Portland State can make a case for having the best two defensive tackles in the Big Sky Conference.

Although Jones is perceived to be the more athletically gifted of the two, Berg is agile enough to be a member of the Portland State hacky-sack club.

There is no question, however, that the Jones-Berg tandem lends some flexibility to the Vikings defense.

"It gives us options to do whatever we want," said Saga Tuitele, Portland State's defensive tackles coach. "We moved Berg to defensive end last week, for instance. We can do that with Chuck, too.

"Berg's more explosive, Chuck is more athletic. Who are you going to double-team? If you double both of them, our defensive ends are going to go wild."

It all filters back from the line, said Tuitele and Viking defensive coordinator Greg Lupfer. PSU linebackers don't have to blitz all the time to mount a pass rush, and it's also become harder to run on the Vikings.

"Now," Lupfer said, "it's a lot easier for us to just run our base defense."

Berg, a 6-2, 310-pound senior from Blakewood, Calif., welcomed the help immediately.

"I knew he could play right away last spring," he said. "Before that, he talked a good game, but I waited until I saw him to see if he was that good. He was.

"We definitely feed off each other. Whenever I get double-teamed, he gets a sack. Whenever he gets double-teamed, I get to make a play."

In an otherwise lackluster defensive performance against Eastern Washington on Oct. 2, the Vikings took advantage of a double team and got to Eagles quarterback Erik Meyer.

"They slid down to block me," Berg said. "Chuck did an athletic move, went around and got him."

It works both ways, said Jones, who described Berg's interception of a screen pass against McNeese State.

"I got doubled on a scoop block," he said, "and Berger just read that really well."

Their personal styles are different. Jones is loud and brash, Berg quieter and less obvious on and off the field. He recently trimmed his mohawk.

The needling is continual but good-natured. Jones and Berg get along well.

"We're having a lot of fun," said Jones, this week's Big Sky co-player of the week. "Berger's my other half. I love the guy, that's my dude.

"If I ain't right on the field he'll get me right. He's like an older brother to me."

Berg agreed. "Sometimes I have to calm him down," he said. "But he helps to motivate me sometimes, too."

If for no other reason than what Jones could do to get him back in the film room.

Note:

The Vikings are running out of skill-position players. Backup tailback Joe Rubin didn't play against Sacramento State because of a badly sprained right ankle, and Ryan Fuqua rushed for more than 80 yards on a tender left leg. Fuqua is still limping, but improving.

PSU's biggest loss is at wide receiver, where the Vikings are without Erik Selden and perhaps Ryan Brown, who sat out the Sacramento State game when his left knee swelled up on him. He said he thinks he can play Saturday, but the Vikings coaches say he probably cannot. Selden injured his right ankle early in the Sacramento State game, and he had a walking boot around on the foot and a magnetic resonance imaging Tuesday night to check on the damage.

Brendan Ferrigno will get the start at wide receiver in their place.

Norm Maves Jr.: 503-221-8204; normmaves@news.oregonian.com




Copyright 2004 Oregon Live. All Rights Reserved.

[WYCAT]

Just breaks my heart to hear they are having injuries at the wide receiver position And I take a little homage with the comment about having the two best defensive ends in the BSC. This is a great chance for our offense to break out and prove them wrong. Should be a very good matchup on Saturday.