night talk show when the host had asked the guest how they felt about something. They’d flashed his eye-roll look.
So, Saturday morning before their game with Arizona State, he’d decided to mend fences. When he called Tracy, she informed him she was okay because the Pac-12
Network was having her and Chip on live and showing the meme segment before his game.
Cassidy had been easy because she just wanted some of his time. All he had to do was invite her to Zak Verwood’s party that night.
For Crystal, he figured he should talk to her face-to-face, so he invited her to his dorm for breakfast. He knew that his cafeteria was one of the best places to eat on campus, and Crystal loved the pick-your-own omelet where they made it to order right in front of you. She was partial to hers having cream cheese and crab meat with English muffins and their house-made marmalade. He decided on chorizo with queso asadero and salsa.
When they sat down to eat, Crystal asked, “You’ll help me hook up with one of the porn stars tonight, won’t you?”
She wasn’t mad at him at all … right?
◊◊◊
As David was getting dressed before the game, he was worried. All week, practice had had a bad vibe. He’d put it down to all their injuries and that they were a heavy favorite against the Arizona State Sun Devils. But today’s locker room didn’t have the usual energy or swagger they’d shown to this point.
That changed when Big Cat stepped up and showed why USC had recruited him. The Sun Devils received the opening kickoff, but their drive died, forcing them to punt.
Big Cat caught it at the eighteen-yard line and had room to run. ASU’s first defender zeroed in on him to try to take him down for no gain.
Big Cat picked a great time to show what he could do.
ABC had picked up the telecast and made it one of their featured games of the week, so his friends and family back home in Baltimore got to see him perform.
He took a little side step, causing the ASU defender to fly by him. He then ran an ‘S’ weave through the next line of defense. The crowd erupted as he broke out into the open. The USC blockers picked up three defenders to shield them from their return man.
To this point, Big Cat had shown patience as he followed his blocks, but when he slipped through their defense, he turned on the burners to run eighty-two yards for the first score.
After a couple of exchanged possessions, ASU got the ball back. They started to exploit the USC defense’s weaknesses. USC was down to only two safeties, and two key defensive linemen were out with injuries. ASU put together an eight-play, seventy-five-yard drive that ended in a forty-two-yard touchdown to tie the score at 7.
The whole time they had the ball, David could almost physically feel the sense of doom come over the USC
sideline. Then Matt went out and got sacked, knocking him out of the game.
It was the moment of truth. Did Coach Merritt want a chance to win this game and toss David’s redshirt label, or would he go with little-used junior Jaden Ponder? The whole team was in shock when Jaden’s number was called.
Along with him, Chuy was sent in to play tailback. ASU
was unsure what to do with the power running of the six-two two-hundred-pound freshman. Chuy began to run the ball between the tackles and pound out three to five yards every time he ran it.
But for some incomprehensible reason, John Johnson was back at left tackle. He jumped offsides and then held his defender on back-to-back plays to kill a promising drive.
ASU got the ball back, moved down the field on another drive, and scored to go up by 7.
USC was stymied when ASU began to bring more players into the box in the area where Chuy was running.
His production dropped to one to two yards per carry.
With USC’s run game stopped and Jaden overthrowing passes, ASU scored twice before the half to go up 24–7.
David called up to the booth to talk to Coach Thomas.
“Tell Jaden to throw it to Bill, and warn Bill that it’ll be overthrown. Run a jet or something like it, so Bill can run under the pass.”
“That might work,” Coach Thomas decided.
On the last drive of the half, Coach Thomas did just that.
Starting at their twenty, Jaden lined them up. On the snap, he dropped back. David groaned when a flag flew at John Johnson’s feet. Bill had two defenders bracketing him when Jaden released the ball. If it had been on target, it would’ve been intercepted. Knowing it would be deep, Bill put on a burst to pull it in for a thirty-yard gain.
The penalty was hands to the face on the defense, which USC declined, and the play stood.
It was now first and ten at the fifty. In the next play, Big Cat was put in at the slot. Before the snap, he went in motion. At the snap, he was behind Jaden, who turned and handed Big Cat the ball.
Jaden did an excellent job of freezing the defense by faking a handoff to Chuy, who plowed into the line.
Meanwhile, the fleet-footed Big Cat sprinted around the end. His defender had gotten caught up in the pileup Chuy caused, so Big Cat was ten yards down the field before ASU
realized Chuy didn’t have the ball.
USC went into the half down 24 –14.
◊◊◊
When David returned to the locker room, Matt was talking to Coach Merritt.
“You need me back in there. Jaden doesn’t have what it takes, and the doctor just said I could play.”
David winced when he saw the look come over Coach Merritt’s face. He’d pissed his coach off on more than one occasion, but not like this.
“Listen, son. There’s something you need to understand: this is a dictatorship, and I’m the dick in charge. I will decide who plays and who doesn’t, and right now, Jaden is starting the second half. I would suggest you get your head right and support your teammates because I would hate to see you riding the bench for the rest of the season,” Coach Merritt answered Matt. “Is that clear?”
“Yes … yes, sir,” Matt stammered.
“Now get out of my sight.”
After Matt left, David strolled by. Coach Merritt turned his glare on him, but David kept a straight face as he went into the central area of the locker room, where he found Matt looking confused and hurt.
“Get your head up and act like a leader,” David said as he walked by.
◊◊◊
True to Coach’s word, Jaden started the second half, but that only lasted one series.
Matt returned with a new determination. It helped that Bear also started the second half over John Johnson. With Bear in the lineup, USC was playing three true freshmen, and at a school like USC, that should never happen.
During the summer, David had told all the freshmen they would probably never see the field this year, that their first year was about stacking days. That meant hitting the weight room to develop their bodies so they could play big-boy football.
But if they did play, they should try not to overdo it. It wasn’t their job to rescue the team. All they had to do was do their job, take care of what they could control, and focus on doing that.
What he saw on the field was that they got that lesson.
The one who hadn’t was Matt. David understood that there were times when the quarterback had to carry the team. If there was ever a time, it would be now because of how poorly the Trojans had played in the first half. Down by two scores, while not impossible to overcome, was a long slog.
Matt needed to calm his team down and begin to build their confidence with a long drive.