Redshirt freshman quarterback Vernon Adams was always expected to make an impact for the Eastern Washington football team.

He did just that with his arm and with his feet, leading the No. 9 FCS Eagles to a 20-3 halftime lead and helping Eastern open Big Sky Conference play with a 32-26 squeaker over Weber State (0-4, 0-1) on Saturday at Ogden, Utah.

Adams led Eastern to scores on four of five drives in the first half as the Eagles took a 20-3 lead. He finished the game 7 of 12 for 75 yards, and ran five times for 62 yards, but missed most of the second half with cramping.

Sophomore running back Jordan Talley scored twice and Jimmy Pavel kicked four field goals for the Eagles, who outgained Weber State 447-422 in total offense. However, the Eagles needed a sack and forced fumble by Jerry Ceja and fumble recovery by Will Katoa at the 50-yard line to clinch the win with 34 seconds remaining.

"It was a total team effort and Weber State is a very good football team that we defeated," Eastern coach Beau Baldwin said. "Any time you find a way to win on the road and get it done, it's huge."

Talley finished with 60 rushing yards and Quincy Forte had a team-leading 65 as EWU had 206 as a team. It was Eastern's best rushing performance since the 2010 season - a year ago, Eastern (2-1, 1-0) ranked 112th out of 120 FCS teams with an average of 79 yards per game.

Junior wide receiver Brandon Kaufman added six catches for 126 yards and a TD. Quarterback Kyle Padron came off the bench to complete 11 of 17 passes for 149 yards and a TD, and led Eastern to three second-half scoring drives.

Junior linebacker Ronnie Hamlin led the Eagles with 11 tackles and senior linebacker Grant Williams added eight. Junior cornerback T.J. Lee also had eight tackles, a pass broken up and had a forced fumble on a sack that he also recovered, which led to Pavel's first field goal of the game.

Padron, a transfer from Southern Methodist, started EWU's first two games of the season, but the continued improvement in practices by Adams earned him the starting nod versus the Wildcats. He led Eastern on a nine-play, 75-yard drive on his first possession, including a tackle-breaking, 14-yard scramble on third down for a first down.

"This has been more of a battle than people think," Baldwin said. "I was proud of both quarterbacks tonight. Vernon was doing some great things in the first half and then he was fighting cramps in the second half. Kyle stepped in and made a lot of huge throws."

Adams followed that with scoring drives of 59, 55 and 43 yards in the first half, helping EWU to a 218-181 advantage in total offense.

"I liked the fact we started fast, got a lead and got up on them," Baldwin said. "That was something we wanted to improve on based on the beginning of last year when we weren't doing that."

No. 25 Nebraska 73, Idaho State 7: At Lincoln, Neb., Rex Burkhead ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns and Nebraska (3-1) made quick work of Idaho State (1-2).

The Cornhuskers led 35-0 after the first quarter and 45-0 at half.

The FCS Bengals have lost 34 straight road games and 46 of their last 52 games overall.

Northern Arizona 41, Montana 31: At Missoula, Zach Bauman rushed for 253 yards and three touchdowns and the Northern Arizona defense came up with five turnovers to lead the Lumberjacks to a win over Montana.

The Lumberjacks (3-1, 1-0 Big Sky) overcame a 17-point first-half deficit to beat the Grizzlies (2-2, 0-1) for the first time in 15 years. It also was NAU coach Jerome Souers' first win in 15 tries against Montana, where he served as an assistant coach until taking over the Northern Arizona job in 1997.

"We wanted it real bad as a squad," Bauman said. "We knew it had been 14 years for coach."

Bauman scored on a 75-yard run on NAU's first play from scrimmage.

But the rest of the half belonged to Montana as the Grizzlies scored 24 straight points on two touchdown runs by Dan Moore, a 31-yard scoring jaunt by Trent McKinney and a 27-yard Chris Lider field goal.

The Lumberjacks cut the Montana lead to 24-14 with 9:15 left in the first half on a 3-yard run by Covaughn DeBoskie-Johnson.

"We started out well, but the turnover bug hit us again," Montana coach Mick Delaney said. "You can't do that against a team like Northern Arizona. They've got probably the best back in the country."

Whitworth 17, Chapman 14: At Spokane, Robert Thullen's 23-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter lifted Division III Whitworth (4-0) past Chapman (1-1).

Ronnie Thomas had 134 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries for the Pirates.

No. 11 Carroll 28, No. 8 Eastern Oregon 7: At Helena, Mont., Dakota Stonehouse threw for 179 yards and three touchdowns, rushed for 138 yards and another touchdown, and NAIA Carroll (3-2, 3-1 Frontier Conference) beat the Mountaineers (2-1, 2-1).