It was the summertime, shortly after Vernon Adams Jr. moved to Eugene, when the graduate transfer from Eastern Washington grew increasingly worried. He considered cutting his losses and moving on from the Oregon Ducks, the program where he'd been hailed as a savior before ever taking a snap.

Four months earlier, in February, Adams announced his plan to graduate from Eastern, where he'd become a sensational star quarterback at the Football Championship Subdivision level, and play his senior season at Oregon on college football's big stage. In the months that followed, he spoke like he played --

, openly accepting the challenge of winning a quarterback competition and returning the Ducks to national championship contention. In mid-June, decked out in a black cap and gown, he walked in Eastern's graduation ceremony. By the end of the weekend, he was Eugene's newest resident.

But as Adams needed three tries to pass a final math class needed for admission at Oregon, he became privately racked with doubt.

"I was just so stressed," he said in an interview Wednesday with The Oregonian/OregonLive. "I didn't even want to come to Oregon. I was like, none of this is worth it. I don't even want to play."

As he prepped for the August math test that would decide his eligibility, he questioned whether he was good enough to play in the Pac-12, the conference that overlooked him as a 5-foot-10 recruit despite playing in its backyard, in Pasadena, and what the rest of the team must be thinking about his delayed start.

He formed a contingency plan -- the Canadian Football League.

"... I was almost ready to give up and go to the CFL and play in the CFL. My mom and my dad and family kept pushing, kept pushing me, kept saying, 'Stay with it, this is going to work out for you.'"

They were right.

In hindsight, Adams is deeply thankful he heeded his family's advice to follow through on taking the unprecedented step of transferring "up" a level to play in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

"Man," he said, "it was the best decision I've ever made."

In an unpredictable

, Adams proved to be the catalyst as Oregon dug itself out of a 3-3 start to finish the regular season with six consecutive victories. He finished as the country's leader in yards per attempt (10.2) and passing efficiency (179.1) who completed 64.9 percent of his passes for 2,643 yards, 26 touchdowns and six interceptions. In Saturday's Alamo Bowl against 11th-ranked TCU, Adams staked No. 15 Oregon (9-4) to a 28-0 lead before leaving after taking a hard hit, and UO never recovered to the loss of several starters to injury,

.

UO's six-game winning streak coincided with Adams' return from a broken finger to play -- at about "85 percent" of his health -- against Washington on Oct. 17. The plan had been to sit Adams until the following game, Oct. 29 at Arizona State. But a home loss to Washington State the previous week, in which UO blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, increased the urgency of his return.

"I was just like, OK, I have to play this game," he said. Adams threw a 36-yard touchdown on the first drive and called the victory in Seattle the moment when he earned the credibility to speak up in the locker room.

Adams has since returned to Southern California and expects to sign with an agent Wednesday. Later this week, he'll begin training in Orange County for the NFL draft and the Jan. 23 East-West Shrine Game. He doesn't have an invitation to the league's February scouting combine, but hopes to change that during Shrine Game practices, just as he believes his play has converted critics his entire career.

Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. gets a pass away in front of TCU linebacker Ty Summers in the first half Saturday of the Alamo Bowl.

Will Adams' example make schools more accepting of bringing in small-school quarterback transfers? Oregon clearly believes so, anyway, after signing Montana State graduate transfer Dakota Prukop in December.



"I proved a lot of people wrong and I love doing that, because not a lot of people in this world, and I'm sure not a lot of you media people believed in me at first, either," Adams said. "I'm glad I showed all y'all wrong. I know I can play at this level."



Adams quickly established deep passes, many of which came on plays he kept alive, as his calling card. On passes 20 yards or longer, he completed 57.4 percent of attempts -- when adjusting for drops and throwaways -- for 15 touchdowns, three interceptions and 1,094 yards, per PFF College. His completion percentage is fourth-highest among 128 FBS quarterbacks with at least 25 attempts.



But his talent came with a caveat: his health. Playing the what-if game became an almost unavoidable activity as Oregon's season wore on and many wondered: What if he hadn't been hurt during UO's 3-3 start? Adams chooses not to consider such questions, saying "everything happens for a reason."



He broke the index finger on his throwing hand in the Sept. 5 season opener against his former team, Eastern Washington, saying it occurred on the same play when linebacker John Kreifels appeared to hit him late as Adams slid. Adams' finger was caught between Kreifels' helmet and his own as he cradled the football high, near his chest.



Kreifels, who was suspended for the hit by EWU, called to apologize a couple weeks later and Adams "never held it against him."



"It's football," he said. "It's the heat of the moment."



His finger still broken, Adams played the next week in a 31-28 loss at Michigan State in a top-10 matchup, and his overthrow of an open Byron Marshall will long be associated with UO's near miss of knocking off the Spartans, who eventually made the College Football Playoff. Adams missed four games as the finger healed, and earned honorable mention all-conference honors. On Jan. 2, Adams and the Oregon offense betrayed little rust from a five-week layoff and built a four-touchdown lead over TCU. Adams had passed for 197 yards on 13-of-19 passing -- with nine of those completions resulting in a touchdown or first down.



But UO's party in the Alamodome all changed in the second quarter.



On a read-option, Adams saw TCU's defensive end shadow the running back, which was Adams' cue to keep the ball and turn upfield. Four yards later, safety Derrick Kindred collided with Adams, who was hit in the head and knocked out of the game.



"I know it looks like I was trying to run over the guy or whatever, but I was really trying to dive forward," said Adams, who appeared to lower his head before getting hit. "I was just blacked out for like, 5, 10 seconds."



Adams said he passed Oregon's concussion protocol with the exception of a balance test, thus ending one of the most unique seasons in UO's history. The next time he was on the field, he wore street clothes and a headset as he signaled plays in from the sideline. But the Ducks, who led by as many as 31 points, couldn't muster any points in the second half before losing in three overtimes. Adams wasn't made available after the game for interviews.



"My senior year didn't go as I planned it," he acknowledged.

But he leaves Oregon with no regrets and many relationships he's proud of -- not the least of includes his family, which talked him out of bolting for the CFL. He is three academic quarters from finishing his master's, and as the first person in his family to earn a bachelor's degree, he vows to complete that coursework, too. In the future, he's considering coaching.



But first comes his shot at professional football, and he is looking forward to meeting with NFL executives at Shrine Game practices beginning Jan. 16 in St. Petersburg, Florida. He can already anticipate some of the inquiries he'll face, knowing how it will likely go from experience.

It was only five months ago that he was questioning himself. There's no more doubt now.



"It's not even about my size," he said. "It's about if you have that football IQ and you have the heart -- and I have both. I showed everybody what I could do."



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif