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• You like the story line of a veteran quarterback returning from injury to weave magic and lead his team to victory against a rival? Or are you more partial to the young guy stepping into the breach created by the loss of a star, standing tall and deliver all the big blows in a comeback road victory? Either way, you got your wish Saturday. My only regret is the two games aired nearly simultaneously, forcing choices and not allowing this college football aficionado to watch both in their entirety. One channel featured Vernon Adams and his Eagles, all dressed in black, as they faced the hated – and respected – Montana Grizzlies. The junior quarterback wasn't 100 percent – he seemed to limp off and on – but the broken bones in his foot had healed enough for him to lead EWU to a crucial Big Sky Conference victory. Adams wasn't alone, of course, and his receivers made a couple of the best catches you'll ever see, but he was at the heart of Eastern's 36-26 victory – and that's the right way to say it. Adams is the heart of this Eagle team, the beat they march to, the muscle that gives them strength. And he'll have to be at his best if they want to reach their ultimate goal, another NCAA FCS title. There will be at least one game in the playoffs – and no matter what happens in the regular season's final game at Portland State, the Eagles are in the playoffs – Adams will have to make a crucial play or plays in crunch time for Eastern to win. It's the way the game, and the Eagle offense, works. Having him back Saturday was a bonus, but a bonus that was crucial in the win. The other side of the commemorative coin features Luke Falk, the redshirt freshman quarterback Mike Leach and the Cougars called on Saturday to fill the shoes of record-holder Conner Halliday, sidelined by a broken ankle. Falk didn't have to be spectacular, but he was. He didn't have to play with the poise of a fifth-year senior, but he did. And he didn't have to be carried off the field – probably shouldn't have been carried off the field – but he experienced that too. After all, the Cougars aren't playing for anything other than respect these days, something that's been in short supply this season. Rutgers took it to them. Nevada too. A handful of Pac-12 teams as well. And when Halliday's ankle snapped last week, it looked as if the season was going to end in despair. Now there just may be hope. Falk supplied it with his 471 passing yards – a WSU record for a first-time starter – and five touchdown passes. He supplied it by not throwing an interception. And he supplied it with his demeanor. If this were 1969, he would already be dubbed "Cool Hand" Luke. But that Paul Newman movie is ancient history and Falk is the Cougars' future. A future that certainly looks brighter today. After all, Washington State is already counting on a bunch of young, athletic players at about 18 of the 22 positions. They'll all be back, a year wiser, more experienced. The big question before last week was who would replace Halliday, the man at the controls of Leach's passing game. Falk took a giant step toward answering that yesterday in what could have been considered a storybook performance. It wasn't. It was reality. And, along with Adams' heroics, it made our Saturday special.

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• WSU: A trivia question: Which Pac-12 road venue has WSU been the most successful recently? The answer is, of course, Reser Stadium. The Cougars have won three of the last five games in Corvallis. Not to belittle that accomplishment, Oregon State is the only team in the Pac-12 WSU owns a winning record against. ... Jacob Thorpe got to cover his first win for Washington State in the series and he filed a game story, a notebook, scoring, keys to the game and statistics for the paper. He also posted a handful of items, including videos of interviews with Riley Sorenson, a couple of defensive linemen, two of WSU's biggest offensive weapons, Falk and Leach. There is also video of Vince Mayle's touchdown catch, Jacob's final thoughts from last night and, as usual, his morning post with links. ... Falk earned a helmet sticker from ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog and is part of its "what we learned" this weekend. ... Bud Withers has this column about Falk's performance. ... Oregon earned a big win last night, but it might have been a Pyrrhic victory in the truest sense of the phrase.

• Gonzaga: BYU is expected to be Gonzaga's biggest threat in the WCC race and nothing that happened in the Cougars' exhibition win over Seattle Pacific would change that view.

• EWU: If I were an athlete in this area, I would hope that someday John Blanchette would write a column about one of my accomplishments. Adams earned the Blanchette treatment today and it's something special. ... Jim Allen has the game story of Eastern's win as well as a notebook. ... Colin Mulvany has a series of photographs from the game. ... Montana knows that it has no margin for error if it wants to make the postseason after the defeat. ... Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State struggled with Portland State at home, but still won, 29-22. ... Sacramento State dominated Southern Utah, 42-21. ... Northern Arizona won another close game at home, 23-21 over hapless UC Davis. ... Idaho State stayed in the title hunt by handing Cal Poly another road loss. ... Weber State finally won a game. ... North Dakota State finally lost a game.

• Idaho: A non-conference road win was within the Vandals grasp yesterday at San Diego State but they couldn't close the deal, losing 35-21. John has more in this blog post.

• Whitworth: The Pirates' football season came to a close with a 41-27 loss at Pacific Lutheran. ... Their men's soccer team earned an NCAA berth, however.

• Chiefs: The Silvertips came into Saturday's game in Everett atop the WHL U.S. Division standings. That didn't seem to phase the Chiefs, who won 6-4. ... Portland won in overtime at home. ... So did the Americans.

• Preps: The Washington state cross country races were held yesterday in Pasco and Greg Lee was there. He has a trio of stories, one on the 4A/3A races, focusing on another North Central boys title (pictured), another on the 2A/1A and one on the 2B/1B events. Tyler Tjomsland was also there and he has these photographs. ... It was also regional day in volleyball and Chris Derrick has this story on the 3A tournament. We also have a roundup of the day's other volleyball action in the area as well as football action. ... Central Valley earned a state soccer berth.

• Seahawks: The Hawks face the New York Giants today but before they do, they had to set their roster. It's a tough business, that's for sure. No one knows that better than Giant quarterback Eli Manning. ... Marshawn Lynch is a tough customer. ... Being on the fringes of the NFL is a tough life. ... We can pass along what to watch for today. ... Boy, things seem to be getting ugly in San Francisco.

• Sounders: Seattle is waiting another day to face FC Dallas in the second leg of their series, a wait necessitated by the Hawks' home game. The tiebreakers that come into play in these series make them interesting, to say the least. ... The Sounders seem to be at full strength, as does Dallas.

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• Talk about a full day. My fingers hurt just typing about it. Now is time to settle down and enjoy another NFL Sunday. ... By the way, if you are wondering, Drew Bledsoe ran away with our poll as the best WSU quarterback of all time. He is also the best winemaker among the group as well. Until later ...