The Oregon Ducks are playing for the Alamo Bowl.

Vernon Adams Jr. is as well, but in his eyes, he's playing for much more.

When the fifth-year senior transferred from Eastern Washington to Oregon before this season, it was with the hopes that the added spotlight of playing for a premier program would put more eyes on his game. And now, heading into the final game of his college career, Adams said the pressure is on him for his future.

The Jan. 2 Alamo Bowl isn't just another game for Adams. It's the climax of the biggest job interview of his life.

"I feel like it is," Adams said. "I try not to look at it like that, but deep down I think it is. If our team plays well and I do good in this game and the East/West shrine game then hopefully I get an invite to the combine or something and pro day.

"From here on out it's got to be, I got to play my A game."

Not that Adams has really deviated from his best much this season.

Since recovering from a broken finger suffered in Oregon's season opener against Eastern Washington, Adams has been one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country. He finished his first and only regular season with Oregon with 2,446 passing yards, 25 touchdowns to six interceptions, a 64.6 competition percentage and his 179.6 quarterback rating was the best in the Pac-12.

After Oregon sputtered to a 3-3 start, Adams returned against Washington and led the Ducks to six consecutive wins to close out the season, a stretch that included a win over the Rose Bowl-bound Stanford Cardinal. Now, the last team remaining before Adams' college career ends is the TCU Horned Frogs.

Adams played in the playoffs three times at the FCS level for Eastern Washington, but this will be his first and only appearance in a bowl game. He considers it to be one of the biggest games he's ever played in.

"At Eastern we were in the playoff system so we practiced every week for just one team," Adams said. "Now we have a couple weeks to prepare for one team, so it's kind of different. Lot of time to break down their defense and I'm really excited to play in my first bowl game."

The Ducks have only played TCU twice before, with the last meeting coming in 1978. But now it's a matchup featuring two teams that had higher aspirations than the Alamo Bowl. But both teams' seasons went off course with injuries to their star quarterbacks.

TCU finished the season 10-2, with a 30-29 loss to Oklahoma coming while quarterback Trevone Boykin was out with an injury.

But Boykin is expected to be healthy for the Alamo Bowl, as is Adams, which forms the makings for a potentially high-scoring affair.

"Hopefully we don't give up that many points," Adams said. "We want to score that many but hopefully we don't give up that many. I know we won't."

-- Tyson Alger

talger@oregonian.com

@tysonalger