After the game, the company would return and take down the tent and everything under it. They’d added a fence around the outside of the tent so that the adults didn’t have to worry about the five little ones terrorizing other tailgaters.
“Uncle David!” Greg’s three cried out to get his attention.
He gave his niece and nephews a hug.
“David, you need to get inside,” Coach Stackhouse said.
While he’d said hello to his family, the rest of the team had already gone in.
“Sorry, guys. They can’t start the game without me.”
◊◊◊
After warm-ups, David had gone to the training room to get his ankles re-taped. They had a live feed of what was happening on the football field. The USC drum major marched out onto the field with a sword in his hand. From inside the locker room, David could hear the crowd respond as the sword was stabbed into the turf, directing the marching band to come onto the field.
Like Ohio State’s script Ohio and dotting of the I, this tradition was one of the most recognizable in college football.
The USC marching band performed their pregame concert accompanied by the USC Song Girls. He had to leave to meet with the team, so he missed when Traveler made his entrance. He was USC’s majestic pure white horse ridden by a guy in Trojan garb.
Originally, Traveler galloped around the track after touchdowns. Now, with the track removed, he trotted out to glad-hand fans along the edges of the stands.
After a quick meeting with the coaches, David finally had a chance to put his earbuds in, crank up some rock music, and mentally prepare for the game. It was a routine he’d started in high school that allowed him to block out the world for a time. He visualized himself and his teammates having success as he mentally ran through key offensive plays he would run today.
One of his teammates tapped him on the shoulder to let him know it was time.
Coach Merritt had the whole team gathered around.
“Take a knee!”
Once everyone was settled, he began.
“Instead of a traditional motivational speech, I asked Heisman winner and two-time Pro Bowler Charles White to say a few words.”
A man in his sixties came to the front of the room as the team politely clapped. Like him, David assumed that most of them had no idea who the guy was because he’d had to have played before David was even born.
“Wow … uh … What an honor to be here in front of you guys. It’s a great day today. You only get so many of these in your life. Season openers give you a chance to set the tone for the rest of the season. It also gives you a chance to finally hit someone other than your teammates,” Charles said to draw some chuckles.
“I remember my first game over forty years ago and the pride I took when I put on my USC uniform. It was the culmination of starting to play flag football in recess at grade school all the way through high school ball. All the work once I got onto campus, and fall practice, to finally get to strap a helmet on and represent this great university.
“Today, every college football team across America is undefeated. They all have dreams of winning the national championship. But I’m here to tell you that it will be USC
hoisting that trophy at the end of the season, and it starts right now.
“Let’s go out and show the country they have to go through us … that we are the team to beat!” Charles concluded.
David saw the team was ready as they followed Charles into the tunnel. In the stadium, loud rock music blared as they made their way to the entrance. Then the piped-in music stopped, and the USC marching band began to play Fight On! It was one of the most iconic songs in college football.
When David ran onto the field, the noise of the fans cheering washed over him. He saw the fans giving the traditional two-fingered V-for-victory sign. FOX had made this their Game Day destination, meaning they were the featured game today. That was how David came to throw up on national TV.
The sideline reporter wanted to have a quick word with him before the kickoff. Back home, it became a running joke that if he threw up before a game, it meant they would win. He discovered that throwing up got him out of having to do the interview.
David paused a moment to take it all in. The Coliseum was one of the most recognizable stadiums in college football, and it was packed. This was what he’d wanted, to step out onto a bigger stage and see how he measured up.
It was finally time to show the world what David Dawson was capable of.
UNLV won the toss and decided to go against the norm and take the ball to start the game. That turned out to be a mistake because they threw three straight incompletions before having to punt the ball. Their punter had a leg and kicked the ball on a line drive away from USC’s return man.
He was unable to catch it, so he let it roll inside their twenty-yard line.
Coach Thomas gave him the first play, a slant pass over the middle to Tyrell Mulford, their slot receiver.
David called the play and got everyone lined up with him under center.
“Seventy … seventy. Set!”
One of the linemen jumped offside to move them back five yards. Coach Thomas called the same play.
“Set! Check! Check! Hike!”
Willy snapped the ball, and David dropped back. Tyrell got stoned by an outside linebacker and went to the turf.
David went to his second read, his wide receiver Bill Callaway, when he saw rookie left tackle Bear Barber get beaten by UNLV’s defensive end.
David remembered what Coach Thomas had told him yesterday, so he tucked the ball and found a gap to run through. UNLV was in a press man-to-man to give the USC
receivers a hard time, which meant their focus was mainly on the receivers, not the quarterback.
Once David escaped the pocket, he ran right down the center of the field. He almost laughed because it was like the UNLV defense did one of those cartoon ‘uh oh’ looks as they realized he was on the loose and sprinting downfield.
Their safety made one of those dives to take his legs out but bounced off David’s thigh.
That was one of Coach Farrow’s pet peeves, and the kid would have been benched if he’d been on USC’s team.
Their defensive coach preached that if you were making a
tackle, actually tackle the guy, don’t dive and hope it knocks him down.
Eighty-eight yards later, David had scored his first college touchdown.
◊◊◊
On USC’s third possession, they were up 7–3. Coach Thomas was trying to get his playmakers involved, but they seemed to have first-game jitters. Marcus Eshete, the Pac-12’s top returning running back, had seven carries for seven yards. Amari Weeks at wide receiver had been targeted three times and dropped each pass. USC had to punt.
While on the sideline, Coach Thomas told David about a change in the game plan.
Before they went back out, David stopped to talk to Amari.
“Hey, man, don’t worry about those drops. I know you can do this, and so do you. Just relax and shake it off.”
“Thanks, David. You’re right; I can do this. We can do this. Just give me a minute,” Amari said.
David then went to Willie and the offensive line.
“I just talked to Coach Thomas, and we are going heavy run-pass option. Just assume that every play is a run, and let’s knock their dicks in the dirt. Be mindful that when you knock them back, not to go more than five yards downfield.”