For maybe the first time this season, Oregon looked like the team many thought it would be, a team featuring a bend-but-don’t-break defense coupled with an exciting offense led by a quarterback who could take care of the ball.

Against Washington (a team that had upset No. 17 USC on the road a week earlier) Oregon (a team that had lost two of its past three games) was just that.

In his return, Vernon Adams Jr. threw for 272 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. But his biggest contribution to the team came on the small handful of plays he made thanks to unique skill set.

Vernon Adams Jr. completed 14 of 25 passes for 272 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against Washington. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

“Where he adds value to them is when the play breaks down, he’s able to extend the play whereas with the other two quarterbacks if the play wasn’t there they might not be able to create magic, so to speak,” Washington defensive back coach Jimmy Lake said. “He’s very much like a Russell Wilson type guy where if the initial play is stopped you still have to play the extended part of the play as he scrambles around for eight to 10 seconds.”

“Ad lib” is a word that came to mind when Lake described Adams. On Sunday night Mark Helfrich referred to it as “freelancing.”

Call it whatever you’d like, but it’s the same thing Marcus Mariota did so well. Though Adams can’t do it at the same level as Mariota, the fact that he can do it at all is what made the Oregon offense look like an Oregon offense against Washington.

Without Adams, the Ducks lost to Washington State at home in double overtime and got wrecked by Utah.

With Adams, they took care of business on the road. And maybe Adams wouldn’t have changed the outcome of those games against the Cougars and Utes. But he would’ve certainly given the Ducks a better chance. And with the offensive weapons at running back and wide receiver, all the Ducks needed at QB this season was a player who could give them a chance -- that extra half-second of improv, that ability to elude a defender and keep his eyes downfield.

Without Adams, the Ducks were a combined 9-of-29 on third downs against Washington State and Utah.

With Adams, Oregon converted 9-of-18 (six of those were passing scenarios in third-and-long situations) against Washington.

“We would stop the initial route but now he starts scrambling around, extends the play,” Lake said. “That’s what’s frustrating about playing a mobile quarterback who’s able to make those throws downfield.”

Lake said he didn’t see anything different scheme-wise from Oregon with Adams than he did without him. The Ducks offense ran 76 plays against Washington. In their previous three games, the Ducks averaged 75 offensive plays per game.

Through those three games, the Ducks averaged 25 pass attempts per game. Adams attempted 25 against the Huskies. In those three games the Ducks averaged 50 rushing attempts. The Ducks ran the ball 51 times against the Huskies.

Helfrich didn't think the Ducks' energy level was noticeably different against the Huskies than in past games, but their third-down execution was, which is a credit to Adams.

Helfrich doesn’t want to make too much of Adams return to the lineup, and understandably so. It’s the instinct of a coach to not put too much credit or blame on any one player. It’s a team sport and everyone gets that.

But there’s cause and effect, too, and it seems pretty obvious here.

Oregon is a better team -- a team that looks more like Oregon teams we've become accustomed to -- with a player like Adams at quarterback. He didn’t turn the ball over and kept the offense on the field more than any other guy the Ducks tried in his absence.

On Saturday, he gave the team a chance to win with his ability to extend plays. And this season -- as long as he stays healthy -- he gives the Ducks a chance to be the team they thought they could be.