East Hartford, CT – He's only a sophomore, but Vernon Adams is staking himself as one of the most exciting players in the FCS.
The Eastern Washington quarterback accounted for 518 yards of total offense and six touchdowns, including a game-winning, 2-yard run with 18 seconds left, as the Eagles upset Oregon State, 49-46, in the season opener for both squads Saturday.
EWU (1-0) entered the game ranked fourth in the FCS, while Oregon State (0-1) was 25th-ranked in the FBS.
Adams' winning rollout around right end completed an 11-play, 75-yard drive which erased Oregon State's 43-39 lead.
Adams, who threw for six touchdowns in EWU's final game last season - an FCS national semifinal loss to Sam Houston State - completed 23-of-30 pass attempts for 411 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 107 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.
Nine of Adams' completions went to Ashton Clark for 155 yards and one touchdown. Cooper Kupp caught five passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
The two teams combined on 1,155 yards without any turnovers.
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Thursday, Aug. 29
No. 11 Towson (1-0) 33, Connecticut (0-1) 18
Towson pulled the biggest surprise on the opening night of the college football season, getting two touchdowns each from junior running backs Terrance West and Sterlin Phifer in beating an FBS opponent for the first time in seven all-time games.
Phifer caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Peter Athens in the first quarter and scored on a 5-yard run with 7:04 left in the second quarter to put the Tigers ahead for good, 13-7.
UConn closed within 13-10 by halftime, but Athens' 1-yard scoring run capped a 95-yard drive for Towson in the third quarter, making it 19-10.
In the fourth quarter, Towson put the game away on West's two touchdown runs on fourth downs. He finished with 156 yards on 36 carries and raised his career touchdown total to 46 in 22 career games.
No. 2 Montana State (1-0) 42, Monmouth (0-1) 24
The Bobcats jumped to a 39-3 halftime lead and had 561 yards of total offense while cruising to the season-opening win.
Walter Payton Award candidate DeNarius McGhee completed 19-of-27 passes for 270 yards, but failed to throw for a touchdown. Cody Kirk rushed for a pair of touchdowns.
No. 7 Central Arkansas (1-0) 58, Incarnate Word (0-1) 7
The Bears rolled to their 13th straight win on their three-year-old gray-and- purple turf at Estes Stadium.
Quarterback Wynrick Smothers was 27-of-31 for 267 yards and one touchdown. Running backs Blake Veasley and Danzel Williams and wide receiver Jatavious Wilson scored two touchdowns each.
Ball State (1-0) 51, No. 13 Illinois State (0-1) 28
Ball State overcame a 21-9 deficit in the second quarter by scoring six unanswered touchdowns.
Iowa State transfer Jared Barnett completed 20-of-29 passes for 282 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in his debut with Illinois State.
Junior college transfer Collin Keoshian scored on a pair of short runs, but only finished with 10 yards on eight carries.
UT Martin (1-0) 31, No. 24 Chattanooga (0-1) 21
D.J. McNeil (134 yards) and Trent Garland (116) both went over 100 rushing yards and scored one touchdown as UT Martin earned an impressive road win.
Chattanooga failed to make the most of UTM's three turnovers and 10 penalties. Quarterback Jacob Huesman had 316 yards of total offense (226 passing, 90 rushing) and threw for three touchdowns, including a pair to tight end Faysal Shafaat.
Friday, Aug. 30
No. 1 North Dakota State (1-0) 24, Kansas State (0-1) 21
Manhattan, KS (Sports Network) - At some point, when North Dakota State comes knocking at the door, an FBS school will be smart not to answer it.
The two-time defending FCS national champion Bison scored the game's final 17 points and stunned Kansas State for their fourth straight win over an FBS opponent, in this case the defending Big 12 co-champion.
Quarterback Brock Jensen capped an 18-play drive on a 1-yard keeper with 28 seconds left to erase a 21-17 deficit and lift the Bison (1-0) before a sellout crowd at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Jensen, who accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), completed 21-of-30 pass attempts for 164 yards.
The redshirt senior engineered the game-winning drive, which went 80 yards and clipped 8 minutes, 30 seconds off the game clock. On the touchdown, he spun around after taking the snap and then forced his way into the K-State end zone.
On Kansas State's final possession, Bison linebacker Grant Olson intercepted Wildcats quarterback Jake Waters to put the game away.
The win was head coach Craig Bohl's 90th in 11 seasons with the Bison, leaving him one shy of Rocky Hager's school record.
Arizona (1-0) 35, No. 18 Northern Arizona (0-1) 0
Arizona controlled the game with 306 rushing yards and intercepted Northern Arizona quarterback Kyren Poe three times while forcing three sacks.
NAU running back Zach Bauman carried the ball 21 times for 71 yards. The senior needs 48 rushing yards to pass Marcus King and become the school record holder.
Saturday, Aug. 31
No. 20 Montana (1-0) 30, No. 12 Appalachian State (0-1) 6
Quarterback Jordan Johnson returned to Montana's lineup and the Grizzlies looked like they are ready to return to an elite level in the FCS.
In losing Scott Satterfield's coaching debut, the visiting Mountaineers also lost star quarterback Jamal Londry-Jackson to an apparent hand injury.
Johnson, a junior, completed 19-of-23 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns.
After leading Montana to a share of the Big Sky Conference title and the FCS semifinals in 2011, Johnson was suspended by the school for all of last season following his arrest on sexual assault charges that were later dropped.
Without Johnson, Montana suffered its first losing season in 27 years. Then this offseason, the Grizzlies received NCAA penalties for illegal booster activity from past years, but their program still remains eligible for the national playoffs.
A lot was restored on the field against Appalachian State as a record crowd of 26,293 looked on at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Montana rushed for 246 yards, with Travon Von and Jordan Canada gaining 118 and 112 yards, respectively. They both scored on touchdown runs.
In relief of Londry-Jackson, Kameron Bryant was 8-of-12 for 116 yards. The Mountaineers' points came from Drew Stewart's two field goals.
No. 3 Sam Houston State (1-0) 74, Houston Baptist (0-1) 0
The Bearkats, coming off two straight appearances in the national title game, built a 49-0 halftime lead in a win over start-up program Houston Baptist.
Quarterback Brian Bell threw for two touchdowns and rushed for one. Backup running back Steven Hicks had 99 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground.
Boston College (1-0) 24, No. 5 Villanova (0-1) 14
Villanova built a 14-7 lead in the first quarter, but didn't score again, surrendering the game's final 17 points in the second half.
For 'Nova, Jamal Abdur-Rahman scored on a 47-yard touchdown run off a fake punt and caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from 2012 Jerry Rice Award winner John Robertson.
No. 6 South Dakota State (1-0) 55, Butler (0-1) 14
South Dakota State's Austin Sumner threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Jason Schneider, who had 167 receiving yards.
Jackrabbits junior Zach Zenner, who led the FCS in rushing last season, had 117 yards on 16 carries, including two touchdowns.
No. 8 Georgia Southern (1-0) 77, Savannah State (0-1) 9
Eight different players combined on 10 rushing touchdowns in Georgia Southern's lopsided win. The Eagles had 576 yards on 68 carries, an average of 8.5 yards per attempt.
Quarterback Jerick McKinnon rushed for 107 yards and one touchdown and threw for another score. Dominique Swope added 100 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
No. 14 Cal Poly (1-0) 38, San Diego (0-1) 16
Kristaan Ivory gained 185 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries, sparking Cal Poly.
His 2-yard TD run with only nine seconds left in the second quarter broke a 10-10 tie and put the Mustangs ahead for good.
No. 16 Richmond (1-0) 34, VMI (0-1) 0
Richmond's Michael Strauss was 23-of-36 for 265 yards and three touchdowns.
The Spiders outgained VMI, 539 yards to 174, and intercepted Keydets quarterback Eric Kordenbrock three times.
No. 17 Northern Iowa (1-0) 28, Iowa State (0-1) 20
Northern Iowa suffered its first losing season since 2002 a year ago, but the perennial Missouri Valley Football Conference got the 2013 campaign off to a rousing start with a victory at Iowa State of the Big 12.
Junior running back David Johnson sparked the upset, scoring all four UNI touchdowns. He rushed for 199 yards and scored twice on 23 carries, and caught four passes from Sawyer Kollmorgen for 41 yards and two touchdowns.
The Panthers last beat the Cyclones in 2007.
No. 19 James Madison (0-0) 38, Central Connecticut State (0-1) 14
Quarterback Michael Birdsong rushed for two touchdowns and threw for one more, while Dae'Quan Scott rushed for 120 yards - nearly half of James Madison's 247 yards on the ground - and scored on a 54-yard punt return.
Central Connecticut State held the ball for 13 1/2 minutes more than JMU despite the lopsided score.
No. 21 Eastern Illinois (1-0) 40, San Diego State (0-1) 19
Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns and the Panthers scored the game's final 21 points.
The game was tied 19-19 when the defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Panthers (1-0) went ahead for good on Taylor Duncan's 2-yard touchdown run with 7:36 left in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Shephard Little scored on a 60-yard punt return to extend EIU's lead to 33-18 with 13:43 left.
Duncan then scored on a 45-yard run with 4:34 to go, putting the game away.
EIU's Erik Lora caught 10 passes for 87 yards, while Keiondre Gober had six receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown.
EIU forced five turnovers, including four interceptions of San Diego State quarterback Adam Dingwell.
No. 25 Coastal Carolina (1-0) 27, South Carolina State (0-1) 20
Coastal Carolina's Lorenzo Taliaferro rushed for 153 yards and scored on a 1- yard run with 10:52 left to snap a 20-20 tie.
Taliaferro also scored on a 3-yard pass from Alex Ross to open the scoring in the first quarter.
Baylor (1-0) 69, No. 8 Wofford (0-1) 3
Only Kasey Redfern's 22-yard field goal in the third quarter prevented Wofford from being shut out.
Donovan Johnson had 77 yards on 18 carries in the loss.
Sunday, Sept. 1
No. 23 Bethune-Cookman (1-0) 12, Tennessee State (0-1) 9
The visiting Panthers slip past Tennessee State on Jackie Wilson's 6-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Murphy with 5:01 left to play - the game's only touchdown.
Until that point, Werley Cagle had a pair of field goals for Bethune-Cookman and Jamin Godfrey three for Tennessee State. Godfrey missed a 49-yard attempt that would have tied the game on the final play.
Idle
No. 10 New Hampshire Wildcats (0-0)
No. 16. Stony Brook Seawolves (0-0)
No. 22. Lehigh Mountain Hawks (0-0)
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