Oregon's new quarterback

Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams is headed to Oregon, where he immediately becomes the favorite to replace Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota.

After three prolific seasons at the FCS school, Adams announced Monday -- just over a week after visiting Eugene -- that he will make the rare jump in subdivisions. A short time after Adams made the news public, Oregon announced he had signed a financial-aid agreement with the school.

He is the favorite to replace Mariota but will not join the competition with five other quarterbacks -- including Mariota's primary backup the past two seasons, junior Jeff Lockie -- until after receiving his degree in the spring.

Once the 6-foot, 190-pound Adams graduates, he will be able to enroll at Oregon as a graduate student and be eligible to play right away.

In three years at Eastern Washington, Adams threw for 10,438 yards and 110 touchdowns with 31 interceptions while completing 64.8 percent of his passes. He was a runner-up for the Walter Payton Award, given to the FCS' best offensive player, the past two seasons and has twice been named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year.

Adams' success hasn't been limited to lower-level competition either. In two starts against Pac-12 teams, Adams turned in two of his best performances.

In a 59-52 loss at Washington in 2014, he completed 31 of 46 passes for 475 yards and seven touchdowns without an interception. That came a year after he led the Eagles to a 49-46 win at Oregon State in which he threw for 411 yards and four touchdowns with 107 yards rushing and two more scores.

The Ducks weren't alone in their pursuit of Adams. He also fielded interest from UCLA and Texas, according to The Oregonian.