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Wednesday, September 9, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Adams makes debut in 61-42 Oregon win
By Anne M. Peterson
AP Sports Writer
EUGENE (AP) — Vernon
Adams’ debut for the Ducks
started with four crisp scoring
drives and ended with a scary
hit.
But most importantly for
Adams, it was a win.
Adams threw for 246
yards and two touchdowns
before he left the game in
the fourth quarter, and No. 7
Oregon defeated his former
team, Eastern Washington,
61-42 to open the season on
Saturday night.
“It was great going out
there, the fans going crazy,”
Adams said. “I had goose-
bumps. My heart was beating.
I was like, man this is crazy,
this is real life.”
Royce Freeman ran for
a career-high 180 yards and
three scores for the Ducks,
who didn’t appear to have
slipped much offensively
without Heisman Trophy win-
ner Marcus Mariota.
Adams, who transferred
to Oregon for his final year
of eligibility, was ushered to
the locker room after he stag-
gered getting up from a late
hit by Eastern Washington’s
John Kreifels, who was
ejected.
Adams, a repeat Big Sky
Conference offensive player
of the year, was replaced by
Mariota’s backup last season,
Jeff Lockie. Adams came
back to watch the end of the
game from the sidelines.
Later he said he was fine
and planned to play next
week when Oregon goes on
the road against Michigan
State.
“Very proud of him the
way he performed today,
there was a lot of anxiety out
there, a lot of people wonder-
ing what he was going to do
and how he was going to do,”
Freeman said about Adams’
much-anticipated debut. “But
at the end of the day I like
him because he’s a baller.
Point blank. Period.”
Jordan West, who took
over as Eastern Washington’s
quarterback after Adams’
departure, threw for 293 yards
and three touchdowns. He
also left the game in the third
quarter and was seen limping
on the sideline, but later he
said it was cramps.
Receiver Cooper Cupp
caught 15 passes for 246 yards
— both records at Autzen sta-
dium — and three scores for
the persistent Eagles, who
were ranked No. 6 in the pre-
season FCS coaches poll.
Adams took advantage of
an NCAA rule that allowed
him to join the Ducks with-
out sitting out a season after
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he wrapped up his degree
at Eastern Washington. He
arrived at fall camp several
days late because he had to
take one last final exam.
In 37 career games with
the Eagles, Adams passed for
10,438 yards and 110 touch-
downs while rushing for 11
more.
He has a considerable chal-
lenge in replacing Mariota,
arguably the best quarterback
in Oregon’s history. Now with
the Tennessee Titans, Mariota
led the Ducks to a 13-2 record
last season and a spot in the
championship game of col-
lege football’s first playoffs.
O r e g o n ’s i s s u e s o n
Saturday appeared to be on
defense and the inability to
contain West, who started
in four games as an injury
replacement for Adams last
season, and Cupp.
Adams was efficient
from the start with each of
Oregon’s first four scoring
drives taking less than three
minutes.
Freeman led the Ducks
with 1,365 yards rushing last
season — a Pac-12 true fresh-
man record — and 18 touch-
downs. He certainly showed
no sign of slowing down on
Saturday night, running for a
pair of first-half scores.
After Oregon went into the
break ahead 37-21, Freeman
opened the second half with a
one-yard TD dive.
Adams’ 24-yard scor-
ing pass to Byron Marshall
pushed Oregon’s lead to
51-28. It was Adams’ 27th
consecutive game with mul-
tiple touchdown passes. He
completed 19 of 25 passes,
and also ran for 94 yards,
before he left the game.
Eastern Washington Coach
Beau Baldwin sought out
Adams on the field following
the game.
“I was just making sure
he was OK,” Baldwin said.
“Obviously it was heartbreak-
ing to see that (hit). He said
he was fine, he said he was
good and that made me feel a
lot better.”
Baldwin was angry with
Kreifels, not only for the hit,
but for taunting the Autzen
Stadium crowd before he left
the field.
“He should’ve been kicked
out, but he needs to go out
humbly and learn from it, not
act like that,” Baldwin said.
With the victory, Oregon
upped its record to 14-0-2
all-time against Big Sky
opponents.
Oregon has thrown a
touchdown pass in 69 con-
secutive games, matching the
national record set by Texas
Tech from Sept. 23, 2006, to
Oct. 22, 2011.
Fire in
Crater Lake
largest ever,
70 percent
contained
BEND (AP) — Oregon
has seen a hectic wildfire
season and the largest fire in
the recorded history of Crater
Lake blackened the north-
west corner of the state’s only
national park.
The Bend Bulletin reports
that the blaze in the park
has been burning for five
weeks but was 70 percent
contained by Saturday. It
burned almost 25 square
miles.
Of that, about 20 square
miles are in the park and the
rest is national forestland.
While historic, the big
blaze did not leave a mark
close to Crater Lake or
any of the park’s signature
sights.
The fire closed the park’s
north entrance for 13 days.
The park has two entrances,
with most visitors coming
from Bend or Portland typi-
cally entering through the
north. That entrance is now
open.
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