Eastern collects both respect, and their check at Oregon

Sometimes there’s no place like being live to really soak in a college football game.

Other times, however, when the distance is just a bit too far for a quick road trip, the comfort of the living room and the 55-inch flat screen was the perfect place to catch the kickoff of the 2015 college football season.

Montana and North Dakota State can claim to playing first, but the season really hit high gear this past Saturday with many a head-turner — and certainly a head scratcher in Pullman.

Arguably the best final seconds, unless you live and breath Nebraska football, came in Lincoln where freshman backup quarterback Tanner Mangum might have finally usurped Doug Flutie for football finishes.

Mangum, playing his first game in over two years after missionary work, heaved a 42-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game to hand Nebraska its first home loss since 1985, a 33-28 stunner in Mike Riley’s Cornhusker coaching debut.

It was a huge day for the Big Sky Conference as two schools, North Dakota and Portland State — programs picked in preseason polls to finish in the bottom of the league — each scored big, perhaps huge, victories over Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

UND traveled to Laramie and ruined the day for Wyoming, going home with a 24-13 win. They earned their first-ever victory over an FBS program, perhaps made even sweeter as it came against former North Dakota State coach Craig Bohl.

And then there was Portland State. The Vikings were supposed to grab their check, and the customary whipping that is supposed to come with it — like they received in 2014 with a 59-21 loss to Washington State.

But PSU emerged from Pullman with, perhaps, a program saving 24-17 stunner of a win on a dreary, rainy day at Martin Stadium. It was that darned “liquid sunshine” some of the Cougar players said was part of the problem.

The result has people wondering just what the $2.75 million a year salary head coach Mike Leach receives and the $141 million Wazzu has spent on football-related construction buys as he now has a 12-25 record a game into season four.

While focus might have been diverted throughout the day, it returned to Eugene later in the afternoon where the eight-month drama finally played out with former Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams’ debut with the Oregon Ducks.

When other FCS teams generally just show up for a payday as they venture into hostile FBS stadiums, Eastern heads in with the mindset that along the way to the pay window they just might win. They did the last time they ventured into the Willamette Valley in 2013 shocking Oregon State 49-46.

Well over a 30-point underdog in the eyes of the odds-makers, the Eagles had a slow start. It was similar to last year at Husky Stadium where they trailed 21-0 at one point to Washington, and lead briefly before falling 59-52.

The script was similar Saturday, falling behind 21-7 after the first quarter in Eugene, then playing pretty even with the nation’s No. 7 ranked team, was too much of a task in the 61-42 loss.

While much of the spotlight shown on Adams — who former coach Beau Baldwin, said he never underestimates — Adams’ friend, Cooper Kupp, stole some of it away with his record-setting day at Autzen Stadium with new marks for receptions, with 15, and yards, with 246.

Kupp had three touchdowns, too, thanks in part to his punishing yards after the catch which were aided with classic stiff-arms.

Adams was not at all to be denied on the day, just like he was in his three years in Cheney, racking up 246 yards passing, 94 more in classic Vernon-esque scrambles and throwing two touchdowns in the process.

“Big Play VA,” also was part of some controversy, too, as when he scrambled for some of those rushing yards midway through the fourth quarter and began to slide safely to the turf, Eastern sophomore linebacker John Kreifels was already airborne and made helmet-to-helmet contact with his former teammate.

Adams was flat on the turf before being helped off the field. He was later determined to be OK by Duck docs.

Kreifels was ejected for the action and left the field amidst a deluge of boos, to which he reacted with a waving of his hands like wings. That caused Baldwin to chase after Kreifels to administer a sure “teachable moment.”

In the end the Eagles certainly put a scare in the Ducks, and their fans. They rolled up the most points on Oregon of any FCS team they’ve faced in a long time, and Eastern equaled, or beat, what some FBS teams have scored. USC put up 51, but gave up 62 in 2012 while the Eagles matched Ohio State’s 42 points scored this past January in the national title game.

There used to be a time when people would ask, “EWU who?” No longer is that the case.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].