after his success as a linebacker at Portland State

LEAVING ON TOP OF HIS GAME Schantz scores

touchdown

in 2007 game

JIM BESEDA

Portland State linebacker Andy Schantz has been nervously looking ahead to the Vikings' game against Northern Colorado for weeks.

Like the Vikings, the Bears are a former Division II national power struggling in the transition to the higher classification Big Sky Conference.

The prospect of playing against the Bears on Saturday at PGE Park doesn't shake up Schantz, though. This does: It will be his last college game.

The Vikings' 6-foot-1, 235-pound defensive captain from Santa Clarita, Calif., has no idea if he'll get a chance to play professionally or if his Football career will end Saturday.

"The road that I've taken has had a lot of strange turns, forks, bumps and all sorts of obstacles along the way," Schantz said. "At the end of it, it's been a pretty sweet ride."

Two years ago, it looked as if Schantz's career had hit a dead end at San Diego State in the wake of a coaching change. But then he transferred to Portland State, arriving as the Vikings handed their program over to former NFL coach Jerry Glanville.

The situation was ideal for Schantz. He not only got to play one of the most important positions in Glanville's pro-style defense, but also played well enough to be a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which goes annually to the nation's top Division I-AA defensive player.

"To come here and get re-energized and rejuvenated in a new city with what I felt was a clean slate, and then to play for Coach G, too, it's all pretty memorable," Schantz said.

Among Schantz's personal highlights with the Vikings:

* A season-high 14 tackles and an 84-yard fumble return for a touchdown, which were the final points in last season's 73-68 loss to Weber State --the highest-scoring regulation game in NCAA history.

* Being voted the team's most inspirational player as a junior and earning all-Big Sky honorable mention after finishing the season with 85 tackles, including six for losses and three sacks in nine games.

* A career-high 16 tackles with 10 solo tackles, two tackles for loss and his second career interception in last month's 36-13 rout of Idaho State.

* Having completed 99.9 percent of his work toward his degree in social science, all that's left for him to do is pick up the diploma.

"To come here and have everything work out the way it did for two years, I've been pretty fortunate," he said. "The things that I've experienced here, the people I've met, the relationships I've formed . . . it's kind of storybook."

Schantz, of course, would have enjoyed a few more wins.

"I'm not going to lie and say, 'Oh, it doesn't bother us,' " Schantz said. "Yeah, it's disappointing. You look at our season, and we probably thought our record (3-7, 2-5 Big Sky) was going to be flipped right now. But it's one of those things, man."

He's also adamant that the program is on the verge of contending for a Big Sky title.

"I wish I had two more years, because it will be turned around and they are going to win a ton of games. I do believe that."

Glanville wishes he could have Schantz for two more years, too.

"This is why I have never liked college Football," Glanville said. "I'm not against college. I'm against graduation. Where I've spent the majority of my coaching life, graduation doesn't mess up your team. You get an Andy, and you get to keep him 10 years."

Glanville said he wouldn't be surprised if Schantz ends up playing 10 years after Saturday's game. At least, that's what he has told any NFL scouts who are willing to listen.

"I hope he gets an opportunity to continue," Glanville said. "In some respects, Andy has some strengths that are above some people that I've coached at that level, and he has some things he needs to work on.

"People ask me, 'Would you draft him if you were still in the NFL' Yes, he'd be on my draft board."

Schantz has talked to some of the scouts, too, but doesn't know what to expect.

"For me, I'm into sure things . . . and that's never been a sure thing. . ." Schantz said. "If it doesn't happen, will I be disappointed? I'll be a little disappointed, but I won't have any regrets, because I've done the lifts, I've done the running and I've worked as hard as humanly possible. I'm never going to look back and say, 'What if I would have worked out harder? Or what if I'd done this or that?' I'll never have that.

"If it doesn't happen, it will be because, 'Well, he wasn't quite at that level.' It won't be anything where, 'Oh, God, he had the talent, but he didn't work hard enough.'

"I'll never have to say that to myself, and I can live with that."

Jim Beseda: 503-221-8380;

jimbeseda@news.oregonian.com