When I sat down in front of the television on Saturday for my Sportscenter fix, I could not believe my eyes: ESPN was spending a couple of minutes every hour during its broadcast announcing Vernon Adams as Oregon’s starting quarterback. What? That level of media coverage has never happened before to an Oregon quarterback, not even to St. Marcus. Does this mean the Ducks have finally been accepted into the elite old boy’s club of college football?
I have been thinking for some time just how amazing the “Big-Play VA” story is. Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated pretty much nailed what’s been going through my mind in the short video below (less than a minute and a half).
Something else I find interesting that Staples did not discuss is how Oregon fans and the rest of the nation will view Adam’s lone season in Eugene. Here we have a little quarterback (under six feet) coming from a little school (Eastern Washington), and trying to lead a major FBS program to the College Football Playoff! This is an incredibly unique storyline to watch unfold over the course of the season. As Staples mentioned, we see players transfer down all the time, but rarely do we see a player transfer up, especially to such a high-profile setting.
This site (yours truly) went out on a limb in July, predicting that Adams would have a mega-season, break some of Mariota’s records, be a Heisman finalist, and help Oregon earn a repeat appearance in the National Championship Game. Thus, the Adams storyline is admittedly interesting to me because of my personal investment. But again, this whole scenario is unprecedented … a quarterback moving up from FCS to an FBS team with national title aspirations? Unheard of.
Millions of college football fans will tune in to follow the Ducks this season with the same fascination as the Oregon faithful. The nation will truly be on the edge of its seat in 2015 to see how this most unusual situation will play out.
What an interesting new national story centered on the Oregon program, and one that will continue through the entire season! The more Oregon wins, the more Vernon Adams will engross us all. And it just might put our beloved Ducks in the biggest national spotlight ever — all because of the smallest player on the field.
You gotta love a story like that!
Top photo from video
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Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 38 years and has written reports on football boards for over 26 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports, and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He is single, has a daughter Christine, and resides in Eugene Oregon where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years.
He now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations in addition to managing his two Oregon Football Websites, of FishDuck.com and the Our Beloved Ducks forum. He is a busy man!
He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…