Vernon Adams Named Oregon's Starting QB vs. Utah

Oregon Ducks quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. sat out the team's 61-28 victory last week over the Georgia State Panthers with a broken index finger on his throwing hand, but that injury won't prevent him from lining up under center for Oregon's Pac-12 opener against the Utah Utes on Saturday night. 

According to the Salt Lake Tribune's Matthew Piper, Adams was announced as Oregon's starting quarterback at Autzen Stadium prior to kickoff. CSN Northwest's Aaron Fentress reported earlier Saturday that Adams would make the start, but the stadium announcement made things official.

Adams hinted all week that he would suit up as the starter after telling reporters he felt "80 percent," per the Oregonian's Tyson Alger.

However, head coach Mark Helfrich didn't want to disclose whether Adams would slide back into the starting role a week after backup Jeff Lockie led the Ducks to a decisive win. 

"He looks very similar to last week, so how's that?" Helfrich said, per Alger. "It's going to be similar to last week in it will be right up until the end of the week before we make that call."

Now that the call has been made, Adams can try to erase memories of Oregon's 31-28 loss to Michigan State and open Pac-12 play with a victory over Utah. The Utes haven't captured a win in a Pac-12 opener since joining the conference in 2011, and upsetting the Ducks in enemy territory would be a stunning result, to say the least.

According to the Oregonian's Andrew Greif, Oregon hasn't lost two games in September since 2004.