Then he turned to Bear.
“Quit worrying about their speed. Do what you did against Percy in the practice game that earned you a steak dinner. I want to see you pancake that pain in my ass on the next play and every play going forward,” David encouraged.
“Offense!” Coach Merritt called.
So far, the offense would gain two or three yards on first down and either get stopped on second down or lose yardage. David would then run an RPO play on third down and seemed to have to keep it to gain the first down.
◊◊◊
“The only thing that seems to be working for USC right now is David Dawson running the ball,” broadcast ‘color man’ Tom Rubin said.
“It’s first and goal on the seven-yard line. What would you do on this play?” Jerry Hammill, the play-by-play announcer, asked.
“I’d run the tight end to the back of the end zone and let him use his height to score.”
“Dawson is in the shotgun and hands the ball to Eshete up the middle. His hard running gains three yards, making it second and goal at the four-yard line.”
“That’s the best run by Eshete so far this game. The difference is that he hit the line with purpose instead of trying to find the perfect running lane. He has to realize that there won’t be any today and play physically,” Tom said.
“Dawson is under center. He fakes the handoff and has their tight end, Nolan Hammer, wide open in the back of the end zone …” You could hear the groan of the crowd as Hammer dropped the pass.
“That one’s on Hammer. You have to catch those balls.
That one was eye level and with pinpoint accuracy. It looked like he had alligator arms. He has to know that ball is coming to him,” Tom said.
“What should they do now?”
“If I’m UNLV, I put a spy on Dawson. He’s been the only one to hurt them so far today.”
“USC is lined up in a shotgun. It looks like they’re going to throw the ball on third down. UNLV only has three down
linemen and has brought in an extra defensive back. It seems like they’ve gone all-in to prevent the pass.
“Eshete goes in motion to empty the backfield, and the ball’s snapped. Dawson has no one to throw to because UNLV has all his receivers well covered. Dawson rolls right, still looking, and now he’s running for the corner.
Touchdown, USC!” Jerry roared.
The crowd thundered their approval.
“You can have the perfect defensive calls, you can flush him from the pocket, but you’re not going to stop David Dawson. UNLV just doesn’t have an answer for that, and I would bet no one else will, either. Dawson is a special talent; he’s like a unicorn. What makes him so hard to handle is he’s a big kid at six-four and 235 pounds. And he’s probably the fastest man on the field. It’s evident in the moves he makes and his bursts of speed. As you’ve seen, UNLV can’t tackle him one-on-one,” Tom gushed.
“What should UNLV do to counteract Dawson?”
“They have to manufacture turnovers, which will happen if these USC receivers keep dropping passes.”
◊◊◊
By the end of the first quarter, USC was up 14–10.
Coming out of the commercial break, USC had the ball again.
“I might be going way back, but David Dawson reminds me of Vince Young. After the first quarter, he has 118 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He is going to push to get some serious playing time. Can you believe that he was originally a walk-on defensive player?” Tom asked.
“It’s hard to imagine, but you’re right, he spent most of his time in practice on defense. Matt Long was named USC’s starting quarterback in the spring but had to sit out this game because he violated team rules. He could be watching David Dawson claim his job today,” Jerry said,
then called the first play. “USC is in the ‘I’ formation, and it looks like it’s a run up the middle … wait … David Dawson has the ball as he rolls out on a naked bootleg. He has Bill Callaway open on the sideline who makes a good twelve-yard gain.”
“David Dawson has a good arm. In high school, he won just about every award possible and was considered the number one recruit when he graduated. The question has been that he took time off to film movies. Would that time off hurt his game? That pass tells me he’ll be just fine.”
“In the ‘I’; Marcus Eshete the tailback. And David Dawson is out on the edge, displaying what you were just talking about. There he goes. With a slick move for about eight, almost nine effortless yards.”
“Man. He makes you hold your breath, doesn’t he?” Tom asked.
“You heard what I said to interim head coach Jason Merritt yesterday. How do you recruit quarterbacks when you have Matt Long and David Dawson on your roster?”
“A quarterback that size who can run like a deer. I mean, that should be illegal.”
“Second and a yard. Eshete carries the ball up the middle for a first down. Now, what about these numbers for David Dawson? At Lincoln High School in central Illinois, he was a three-time state champion and set a national record for the most passing yards in a football game. And was named the Gatorade Player of the year his junior year.
Plus, he was the co-MVP at Elite 11 that year, the first junior ever invited,” Jerry said.
“You imagine that kid in the huddle as a quarterback in high school. He’s a man amongst boys. I mean, everyone who played against David in high school said yeah, yeah, I played against that dude. He’s a legend. I mean, look at him. He walks up to that offensive line and stands tall over it. The kid is a beast.”
“First and ten, and it was supposed to be a quarterback draw up the middle. But Dawson shows his elusiveness by cutting it outside and is run out of bounds with a stiff arm to a smaller defensive back. There’s a flag down, which is probably going against him,” Jerry said.
“Boy, is he smooth, isn’t he? He made the six-yard gain look effortless. Jason Merritt is beside himself because he can’t believe they’re calling his quarterback for a stiff arm, but that’s exactly what the referees are going to do.”
“Jason is saying that his guy is six-four, and he’s hitting their cornerback in the facemask because he’s only five-seven.”
“Boy, but what an athlete,” Tom said as they rolled the replay. “No! That is not a penalty. David Dawson can’t believe it. That’s ticky-tacky.”
“That’s just a bad call. First and twenty-five, and USC, now in an obvious passing down, is in the shotgun. UNLV
sneaks up a defensive back to blitz. On the snap, Dawson sees the blitz coming and curls around the right end. There he goes into the secondary, and it looks like he might get a first down. He doesn’t quit as he takes on two defenders to get the first down.” Jerry has to shout to be heard over the USC fanbase.
“Do you think seventy-eight thousand fans love it? Just a little,” Tom observed. “Is he special or what? He is instant offense. Man, is Dawson quick,” Tom said and then added when they showed the replay, “Look at that change in direction. That isn’t some little jitterbug back; he’s a big, powerful boy. Then watch the end when he sticks his nose in there and blasts through those two defenders to pick up another three yards.”
“First and ten on the eighteen. Dawson has the ball in his hands again as he heads left. This time, UNLV rushes to stop him, and there’s a toss to Marcus Eshete, who is run out on the two-yard line.”
“Look out! USC is rushing to the line to prevent UNLV