That did the trick. Next thing I knew, they were horsing around like usual. Coach Hope and Moose were both shaking their heads at Wolf and me.
WHEN WE RAN OUT ON the field to start the game, I suddenly felt nervous. The place was packed, and there were several recruiters I recognized. I made a point to wave at the Kentucky contingent. They just smiled at me. I promptly went behind the bench and threw up.
Moose saw me and came over concerned.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, happens sometimes before a big game.”
He just handed me a cup of Gatorade so I could wash my mouth out. I smiled at him.
“I’m ready.”
Bill and Lou were captains today because they were seniors. They went out and did the coin toss. Cory Grant and Isaac Fellows from Washington joined them at the center of the field. Washington won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. We took the ball.
Coach Stevens had the kickoff return team join him.
“Center return. Ed, you try and catch it, and follow David.”
We trotted out to return the kick. The Washington fans were being vocal, chanting ‘Droid.’ I just waved at them and then tuned them out. The Washington kicker took his time setting up. When he was ready, the referee wound his arm to indicate the clock should start when the play started and blew his whistle. Their kicker hit a booming high floater that Ed tracked. I got about five yards in front of him and made sure he caught it.
I then spun around to see Washington flying down the field. There was a crack of pads as our wedge met their wedge-busters. A guy came streaking through a hole and started to track Ed. I took three steps and exploded through him. Ed darted around us and tried to use the hole their guys used, but it collapsed. We were first and ten at the 22 yard line.
It felt good to get my first hit in. It calmed me so I could focus. I got to where the huddle would be as my offensive team joined me. Jake and Bert were our running backs. Bill, Jeff and Wolf were our wideouts and tight end. Jake had the first play.
“Pop right,” he told me.
Pop right was a quick-hitting play where I lined up under center and handed off to the fullback who was lined up in the I-formation. It was meant for short yardage, but I saw the logic behind the call. If Washington was smart, they would try and blitz me to keep me off-balance. If we guessed right, Bert could break one with their aggressiveness.
“Bert, time to shine! Pop right on one, BREAK!”
As we lined up, I looked for my keys. The safeties were in a two-deep zone to prevent the long ball. The middle linebacker was creeping up into the hole where Bert was headed. I needed to change the play from right to left. I called the audible.
“BLUE, BLUE!”
I then stepped under center.
“Down, Set ... Hut!” I called out.
I took the snap and turned to put the ball in Bert’s gut. He took it and Tim, who was playing center, let the linebacker go. I wish he’d at least slowed him down. He buried me and my head slammed on the turf. I heard the crowd get loud and I hoped it meant Bert was doing something good. I heard the whistles indicating the end of the play. Their linebacker got off me and I took a moment to collect myself. I got up slowly, and he had a grin on his face.
“I’m your worst nightmare. I’ll be putting you on your butt all game.”
Bert had picked up fifteen yards. I jogged to the huddle, acting more hurt than I was. I wanted Washington to think they’d rattled me. When I got to the huddle, Tim was worried.
“Sorry, man. I should have bumped him.”
“You think?” I asked deadpan.
Everyone laughed at us. I looked over and got the play. I was surprised when they signaled in one of our goal-line plays. What was Coach thinking?
“Power I, Dive Right, on Two!”
This moved Wolf into the backfield so he was next to Bert, with Jake lined up behind them. I looked at Washington’s defense and saw they had five defensive backs. They would have trouble against our power running game. I guessed Coach knew what he was doing.
As we lined up, their middle linebacker was creeping into where the play was going. With Wolf and Bert leading the run, I figured he needed a little payback.
“Down, Set ... Hut HUT!”
Wolf was first through the hole and nailed the much smaller linebacker. Wolf was six-five and weighed 235 pounds. I heard the satisfying crack of pads as I handed the ball to Jake. Jake was swarmed after an eight yard gain. We were now second and two on the 45 yard line. I didn’t say a word as I trotted by the prone linebacker. I reached down and helped Wolf up.
Ed came in to replace Jake. Ed was our speed tailback, and Jake our power runner. He gave me the play.
“Option Left.”
I called the play in the huddle. Now we were lined up with me under center and a twins backfield.
“Down, Set ... Hut!”
I put the ball in Bert’s gut and saw the middle linebacker was going to close the hole, so I pulled the ball out and made my next read. The defensive end was in no-mans-land. I could either pitch the ball or take it myself. Coach Hope didn’t like us pitching if we didn’t have to. He said it increased the chances of a fumble, so I planted my outside foot and stepped upfield.
The outside linebacker had me dead to rights. He was closing hard, so I stopped on a dime and let him fly past me. This was where my speed training really helped. I quickly got back to full speed and scanned downfield. I was going to get tackled. I decided to slide to avoid the hit. That was something else Coach Hope had been hammering into me.
Washington had other ideas. Their safety and cornerback both led with their helmets. There were yellow flags everywhere. I jumped up and slammed the ball down.
“What is this shit!” I yelled.
The umpire’s hat flew, and I cringed when I realized I had just messed up. I was pissed when they placed the ball back where we started. The referee made the call.
“Spearing on the defense. Unsportsmanlike conduct on the offense. Repeat second down.”
I was even more pissed when Coach Hope called back-to-back dives that netted us zero yards because that meant we had to punt. Our punter did a good job and pinned them inside their 5 yard line. I was ready to go. I wanted to make up for my mistake on offense.
During the punt, Moose took me aside.
“Get your emotions under control,” Moose coached me. “This is how Coach Hope plays the game. It’s about field position, and being patient. Washington is going to make a mistake. We just need to take advantage of them when they do.”
Coach Hope had us in a five-two-four setup. We had a nose tackle, two defensive tackles, and two defensive ends making the front five. Jim and Wolf were playing tackle to give us size on the line. Tim and I were the linebackers. Then we had two cornerbacks and a strong and weak safety. Our strong safety was brought up to the strong side of the offense to help with run support. This put eight men in the box, so we were strong against the run.
Washington was lined up in the I-formation. It looked like they wanted to get a little breathing room. On the snap of the ball, their guard doubled down on the nose tackle on my side. The other guard had pulled and was going to double on Wolf. They were running a trap, which meant their big fullback was going to be blocking me. I decided to ruin the play. I hit the guard and pushed him into the fullback, creating a big pile right where the play was supposed to go. Tim read the play also, and scraped off my backside and was waiting for Ty as he took the handoff. Ty, to his credit, was able to get back to the line of scrimmage.
That set the tone for the first half. Once we all settled down, it turned into a defensive battle. The defensive line was dominating for each team, causing the offenses to stumble. When we went into halftime, everyone seemed to be down. I was about to go out of my mind because they hadn’t let me throw a single pass. They were wasting my talent.