It’s not often that a team’s holder tucks the ball and scores a touchdown with a run right up the middle of the opponent’s defensive line, but that’s exactly what happened during Saturday afternoon’s game between the Portland State Vikings and the Eastern Washington Eagles.
At the end of the first quarter of Saturday afternoon’s game between the two teams, Portland State appeared to be set to kick a short field goal to try to go up 17-0 on Eastern Washington. But that’s not what happened. Instead, the holder picked up the ball, tucked it away, and ran it straight up the middle of the Eagles’ defense – all the way toward the end zone for an amazing fake field goal touchdown.
1Q, 0:08 | Viks 21, Eagles 0
You were not expecting that one huh?👀👀#GoViks | #DefendTheShip | @MTalalemotu pic.twitter.com/uruHmDMF47
— Portland State Football (@psuviksFB) October 29, 2022
“You were not expecting that one huh?” the team’s official Twitter account said Tweet on Saturday afternoon.
Instead of going up 17-0, the fake field goal touchdown gave Portland State a 21-0 advantage in just the first quarter. And the college football world was quick to react to the surprising play, praising the Vikings for their bold decision.
Go Viks! https://t.co/ENSJzyHhvh
— Roger Mize (@RogerMize) October 29, 2022
👀 2 trick plays in a row. The first one was a familiar looking throwback to the QB that EWU defended. The second was this one on 4th down https://t.co/YLKPT1lHcA
— Ryan Phillips (@VandalRadioRyan) October 29, 2022
This is becoming a habit now. This time it just was the holder to run it in. https://t.co/Am2mTkvSkv
— Aki Halonen (@akihalonen) October 29, 2022
This tricky TD was apart of a six minute, 13 play, 90-yard drive!
This was today's @LesSchwab Drive of the Game.#GoViks | #DefendTheShip https://t.co/fwwx8Xb5Ah
— Portland State Football (@psuviksFB) October 30, 2022
THE FAKE 😱 pic.twitter.com/LZ5iBcpPbC
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) October 29, 2022
RED FIELD FAKE FIELD GOAL pic.twitter.com/5qaXud5SH3
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 29, 2022
It was an incredible play made even better by the striking red turf that Eastern Washington plays on.
Ultimately, the play proved to be a big deal as Portland State won by a final score of 38-35 with those four extra points turning out to be the difference in the game.