BYU then played number 20 Boise State and gave them a 35–24 beating. It was then off to play number 10 UCLA where they played a great game but came up short, losing 23–24. Tanner had a shot at winning the game but was intercepted.
Both teams were 2–1, and this would be a good test for both. BYU remained in a position to make a run at the National Championship. If BYU could win this game, they would have an impressive resume. They won at Nebraska, beat one of the best of the Group of Five teams in Boise State, and lost by one at UCLA. If they could beat Michigan on the road, who knew? The only game on their remaining schedule they had to worry about was at Missouri. BYU at 11–1 would force the selection committee into a hard decision as to whether they deserved to be in the final four.
After a poor first game, Michigan had blown out Oregon State and UNLV. Their defense had only allowed 14 points in those two games. They only had three games left on their schedule to worry about: Northwestern, Michigan State, and Ohio State. I thought they would probably go 1–2 in those games and end up at 9–3 if they took care of business today. That was in no way assured because BYU was ranked number 22.
I was excited to see what would happen today. I also wanted to see the Michigan campus. This was one of a handful of schools that had a real tradition of winning. They had fallen on hard times recently, but that just meant I would be a football god if I were to help turn the program around. I thought they might now have the coach to do it.
Wolf was excited about Michigan because they were one of the few college programs that really knew how to use a tight end, his natural position. The only school that was better in that regard was Stanford, which just happened to be where Coach Haber had come from.
◊◊◊
Michigan had a well-laid-out plan for their athletic facilities. Everything was within walking distance in an area called the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus. For football, they had an outdoor practice field and two indoor facilities. We were directed to meet at the Junge Family Champions Center, which was attached to the Crisler Center where Michigan played basketball. Across the parking lot was Michigan Stadium. The plan was for all the recruits and their families to meet up and then do a quick tour of the campus.
When we walked into the Junge Family Champions Center, Wes Hunt was there. He was my Co-MVP at Elite 11 this summer. Wes was from Phoenix and had won the LA Regional to qualify. He had two of his teammates with him, and I smiled when one of them was Dan Berger. Dan had helped me win the seven-on-seven tournament and pissed Wes off in the process. Dan was his go-to guy, and I think Wes had planned to use Dan as his secret weapon. That hadn’t worked out, because I drafted Dan out from under him.
Wes was busy flirting with a girl in a Michigan polo shirt who seemed to be there in some official capacity. As I walked up, it was easy to see why he’d flirt with her. She was cute, so I decided to give Wes a little competition. I winked at Dan when he saw me walk towards them. I caught the girl’s eye, and gave her my million-dollar smile. Jim mumbled, “Here we go again,” and I could feel him roll his eyes at me.
“Wes, it’s so good to see you,” I said, catching him off guard. “I see that nasty cold sore has healed up nicely.”
That got the girl to do a double take as I turned to her.
“I need you to come with me,” I told her, taking her hand and leading her over to my guys.
I turned and gave the girl a dirty look.
“Now that was rude. You didn’t introduce yourself,” I said to try and get her name.
Pretty girls aren’t used to a guy not falling all over themselves for them. That was why acting like a jerk would get their attention most times. Other times this strategy can go south on you in a hurry.
“Violet,” she said hesitantly.
“Guys, this is Violet. She’ll be taking care of us today,” I announced.
That was when Wes and his teammates showed up. Wes and Dan knew me and my sense of humor. Wes and I had competed against each other over everything for a full week this summer, so it wasn’t a stretch that we would compete over a girl. Wes had another teammate with him who looked like he either played offensive or defensive tackle. The guy also looked pissed. I don’t think he approved of my poaching Wes’s conquest. Of course, seeing him give me a challenging look just made me smile.
“I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” I said, staring the tough guy in the eyes.
He gave me an evil smirk, which made me think he was going to try and crush my offered hand. I sighed and grabbed his hand so I controlled his thumb. When he tried to clamp down, I pushed my grip forward so I could bend his thumb back. I smirked when he jerked his hand out of mine. Wes knew what his teammate had attempted.
“Cut it out, Oliver. This is my good friend David Dawson,” Wes said, and then turned to me. “This is Oliver Williams. He protects my backside, so you play nice.”
We shook hands again without any ill intent. I then hugged both Wes and Dan to greet them. I introduced all three to all my teammates, Alan, and Brandon. I was happy to see Violet stayed at my side, and her eyes kept going back and forth between Wes and me. This might get interesting before the day ended. When Wes’s parents saw me, they treated me like I was their long-lost son. I’d gotten to know them at Elite 11, and they were nice people.
Violet touched my arm and said she would be right back.
“Do you know her?” Dan asked.
“No. I just saw Wes flirting with her, so I figured she had to be the cutest girl in the room,” I said.
“You’re so bad! What happened to that girl you were with this summer?” Mrs. Hunt asked.
I cringed internally but put the best spin on it I could.
“She goes to another high school, and we’re still friends.”
“You two made such a cute couple. I keep telling Wes he needs to find a nice girl and settle down. Maybe you two should go to college together, and you could help him,” Mrs. Hunt said.
Wes paled a little, but I let that one go. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one who had a mom who mortified her son.
Violet had been checking her list of recruits, and it seemed we were all here. She was one of five tour guides. She mixed up our groups so that we got a chance to meet different people. I was happy to see that Violet put Wes and me together. We were joined by a mountain of a man from Detroit named Max Wilcox. Max played defensive tackle and was only a junior. The other player joining us was Jay Edwards, a junior linebacker from Dearborn, Michigan.
Michigan had a gorgeous campus. There were several buildings with old stone exteriors that resembled castles. Their law school reminded me of an old European cathedral. The student union building even had ivy growing on the walls. Then they had more modern-looking buildings that looked to be made of metal and glass. Even with the different periods, it all seemed to fit together. Violet told us they had 19 schools or colleges with 260 degree programs. There were over 43,000 students that attended on four campuses, which were the North, Central, Medical, and South campuses. While the Central and South campuses ran together, the North was on the other side of the Huron River.
Violet was an excellent tour guide and got into detail about the history and what there was to do. She looked at her watch and realized we were late getting back. We were supposed to be at the football stadium meeting with the coaches.
“Why don’t we run back?” I suggested.
The parents weren’t interested, and Violet agreed to walk back with them. Wes bolted and jumped out in front. He laughed when he saw me use a bench to launch myself into the lead. I took the four of us on a parkour run and used different objects in the quad to make it fun. We were all laughing, and everyone tried to do what I did. We came to a chain link fence, and I jumped on top of it and stood for a moment, then bounced down. Max was last, and he jumped up, but his feet slid off, and suddenly this 330-pound man-child dropped three feet, flat on his back.