SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State led 21-17 at halftime but was unable to stop Portland State in the second half as the Vikings scored touchdowns on each of their possessions on the way to a 58-38 win at Hornet Stadium.
 
The victory improved PSU to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in Big Sky Conference games. The Hornets dropped to 3-6 overall and 1-4 in league play.
 
Both teams posted gaudy offensive numbers with Portland State finishing with 544 yards on 76 plays and Sacramento State amassing 484 yards on 66 offensive snaps. The Vikings did most of their damage on the ground, rushing for 299 yards and seven touchdowns. Quarterback Dante Chachere rushed for 165 yards and four scores and threw for 245 yards and a touchdown.
 
Carson Conklin was the story of the Hornet offense as the redshirt freshman completed 31-of-38 passes for 314 yards and four scores. Anderson Grover was his top target with eight grabs for 134 yards and a score.
 
Sacramento State led 21-17 at halftime but held that lead for just over two minutes of the second half as Portland State started its barrage with a 77-yard scoring drive. Eric Denham caught a 37-yard pass down the middle of the field to take the ball to the Hornet 34. Three plays later, Chachere found tight end Tanner Beamon in the flat and he ran 15 yards for a touchdown.
 
After Zach Schreiner tied the game, 24-24, with a 41-yard field goal, the Vikings gained some separation with a pair of touchdowns in less than two minutes. Delon Thompson scored from a yard out to put PSU up by seven points. The Viking defense then created a 3-and-out and the offense found the end zone on a 54-yard rush from Chachere for his third touchdown of the game. The snap on the extra point was bobbled keeping the score at 37-24.
 
Sacramento State responded on the next drive with a 47-yard touchdown pass from Conklin to Anderson Grover down the middle of the field. The pass put Grover over 100-yards in a game for the second time this season and gave Conklin his sixth contest with three or more passing touchdowns in his young career.
 
Portland State answered with another long drive which included a 48-yard pass from Chachere to Brandon Alverez to set up a short TD rush from Quincy Craig. The drive was kept alive after a third-down sack was negated by a defensive holding penalty against the Hornets. A quick turnover gave the ball back to the Vikings and Chachere put the game out of reach with his fourth rushing touchdown of the game. The score made Chachere the first player to rush for fourth touchdowns against Sacramento State since DJ Adams had five for the Vikings in 2013.
 
Conklin matched his career high with four touchdown passes when he hit Gipson for the second time during the game.
 
With a large lead, the Viks weren't done. The team ran a flea-flicker for a 24-yard gain to take the ball to the 1-yard line with just over two minutes to play. Thompson then plunged in for a 1-yard score.
 
The teams traded scores in the first half with both teams holding a lead. Sacramento State scored the first points of the game with a 25-yard rush from Danny Scudero with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. The score was the second rushing touchdown for Scudero during his career.
 
Just eight seconds later, Portland State tied the game with a 27-yard rush from Chachere. The drive was setup by a 71-yard kickoff return from Christian Grubb.
 
Six seconds into the second quarter, the Hornets moved ahead 14-7 on a 3-yard pass from Carson Conklin to tight end Jayden Flaig. On the play, Conklin rolled to his right, pumped fake a couple of times and then found Flaig for his first collegiate reception. The touchdown pass also set the school single-season record by a freshman as Conklin's 18^th TD pass moved him past Ryan Leadingham who had 17 in 2001.
 
Chachere again called his own number with a 15-yard scramble to tie the game, 14-14, with 8:58 left in the half. The team took the lead with a 30-yard field goal from Mathais Uribe. However, it was Sacramento State which took the lead into the locker room as Conklin connected with Jared Gipson on an 8-yard slate route with 1:57 on the clock.
 
Sacramento State will next play at No. 2 Montana State on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 12 p.m. PT. The team's final home game will be the Causeway Classic on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.
 
NOTES

• Elijah Tau-Tolliver, the team's leading rusher, did not play in the game due to injury.
• Jared Gipson became the sixth player in school history to surpass 2,000 career receiving yards.
• Gipson moved into a tie for eighth place in school history with 15 career receiving touchdowns.
• Carson Conklin moved past Jake Dunniway and Ricky Ray and is now sixth in school single-season history with 21 passing touchdowns.
• The winning team in the series has now scored at least 40 points in the last seven meetings.
• Zach Schreiner is now 6-for-7 on kicks of at least 40 yards this season.
• Will Leota and Eian Moore each had 11 tackles to lead the team. The game was the 10^th in double figures for Leota during his career and the first for Moore.
• Neither team was able to record a sack in the game — marking the first time the Hornets did not have a sack this year.