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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eagles react to Vernon Adams starting at Oregon

Vernon Adams signs autographs at Oregon Fan Day on Saturday in Eugene. (Chris Pietsch / Eugene Register-Guard)
A day after learning that former EWU quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. would face them in the season opener next week at Oregon, the Eagles appreciated the challenge. “It’ll be fun, and hopefully we’ll get a couple of sacks,” said Eastern defensive tackle Matthew Sommer, who’s faced Adams for three years in practices. Sommer doubts that familiarity will help the Eagles next week. “We’re just going to go out and do our thing – there’s nothing we know that anyone else doesn’t,” he said. Adams was named starter on Friday by Oregon coach Mark Helfrich, who on Saturday explained his decision by saying the the “separation was enough” between Adams and redshirt junior Jeff Lockie. Three years ago, Adams was a redshirt freshman at Eastern, backing up SMU transfer Kyle Padron. Since then, he’s thrown for 10,438 yards and 110 touchdowns to lead the Eagles to three straight Big Sky Conference titles. For coach Beau Baldwin, “Preparation is tough because I know exactly how good he is. He’s a premier player in the country at any level.” In addition to throwing 13 touchdown passes against Oregon State and Washington, Adams led the Eagles to a 22-2 record in the Big Sky over the last three years. Going into the Oregon game, Baldwin said Saturday that “We just have to know that he’s going to make plays, but you just have to find a way to make things as difficult as we can, and make him earn everything.”