Chapter 68

I woke up Sunday morning to the sound of banging on my bedroom door. "Coach, you got to get up," Chip demanded. "You're going to be late for the recruits' breakfast."

"I'm excused," I called back. "Coach Burton is letting me skip the breakfast so I can spend time with Penny before she heads back to Philly."

"That must be nice," Chip responded. "I can't see Coach doing that for me and Amanda."

"You get to see Amanda all the time," I replied. "Penny and I only have a few hours together once a month."

Penny stirred beside me. "Did we wake you?" I asked. "I'm sorry."

"It's OK, Kyle," Penny said as she stretched and opened her eyes. "What time is it?"

"7:30," I answered.

"Goody!" Penny responded. "We have time for some fun before we meet Will and Abby for breakfast."

"Ooooohhh ... my honey is horny," I answered. "I like it." We exchanged a quick kiss.

"Eeewww, morning breath," Penny exclaimed.

"You freshen up downstairs, I'll use the upstairs bathroom," I suggested. "Meet you back here in two minutes."

Penny borrowed my robe. I threw on boxers and a T-shirt so I was decent. Trevor and Chip were ready to leave when Penny and I came out of my room. Penny thanked Steph for her hospitality. The girls hugged and agreed to exchange details later in this week for Penny's next visit. Penny and I freshened up and returned to my bedroom.

Leisurely morning sex can be great. We made love on our sides, spooned together. It was unhurried and loving. We satisfied each other and still had plenty of time to shower and meet Will and Abby at the Diner.

I convinced Will, Abby and Penny to try my favorite breakfast from the menu – the Penn Stater combo. The combo featured a three cheese, bacon and mushroom omelet, home fries and a grilled sticky.

Everyone enjoyed the leisurely meal. Will gave Penny advice on the GRE exam she was doing in two weeks. My brother should know. Abby reported Will scored an other-worldly 781 quantitative and 690 verbal when he took it four years ago. Abby and Will were going to quiz Penny on the drive back to Philly.

My niece Rose had learned to crawl. Will reported she was into absolutely everything now. Abby added that Rose detested staying in her crib. Now that she could get around, she wanted to see everything. I looked forward to January when I could spend more time with Will, Abby and Rose.

Will gave Penny and me a ride back to my apartment so Penny could pick up her overnight bag for the trip back to Philly.

"Good luck on the GRE," I said when everything was loaded. "I can't wait until you come back at the end of the month."

"I can't wait either," Penny agreed. "Of course, one of the reasons I will be happy to be here is that I will be finished with the blasted GRE three weeks from now."

"You'll do well on the exam," I said. "You will get into veterinary school and everything will work out the way you want. I know it."

"You are so supportive," Penny gushed as she gave me a hug. "Give me a call after you hear whether Trevor worked up the nerve to propose over lunch. I want to call Steph if he did."

"I'll let you know how things work out," I promised. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Penny added. We exchanged good bye kisses and another hug before she climbed into the back of Will's car. I waved as they drove away.

--oooOooo--

I got over to the practice fields a little after ten o'clock. Every one of our quarterbacks was out helping workout the offensive players we were recruiting. Interestingly, Coach Burton had Matt Sauder working with potential recruits. Normally a recruit quarterback worked with players from our team. We knew our players so how the recruit performed with our guys gave us a controlled look at his capabilities.

I was surprised to find Christian Hunsecker out there on a Sunday morning. Normally he and Bev would be at church now. I walked over and stood beside him.

"How's Josh doing?" I inquired.

"He's doing well," Christian answered. "[Troy] Davis has knocked a couple balls away. Josh caught another eight. He's running good routes."

"Just like you and I have drilled him to do," I replied.

"Yeah," Christian agreed. "Thanks for all the work you have done with him over the past few summers. He comes home from camp each year a much better receiver than when camp started."

"Your brother is a great student," I replied. "I enjoy working with him and the other guys at camp."

I watched Dave Mitchell work out with Trey Connelly against Ryan McGuire. Ryan gave Dave trouble, especially on the speed routes. I wasn't totally surprised. Ryan runs the 40 in 4.29 seconds. Dave's best time was around 4.39 seconds. Dave did better when he started working on shorter, possession routes.

I talked with Dave, Cody and Matt's parents while we watched the boys demonstrate their skills. Matt's dad was in seventh heaven. He was a Penn State grad. Having his youngest son come here and earn a scholarship was fantastic. He was happy to hear about the program the athletic department had to let parents get season tickets during their son's time on the team. Mr. Sauders hadn't attended a game since he graduated in 1986.

Everyone headed inside the Lasch Building about forty-five minutes after I arrived. Coach Burton broke up the sixteen recruits into three or four person groups. I took Matt, Cody, Dave and Josh in my group. We had forty-five minutes before we were due back at the reception desk so the kids could have their individual meetings with Coach Burton.

Christian came along as I took the kids and their parents on an extensive tour of the Lasch Building. I showed them the workout area, the training rooms, the team meeting rooms and the academic center. I paid particular attention to the academic support that our athletes had available. Penn State prides itself on our graduation rate.

We hung out in the player's lounge when we finished the tour. Matt Sauder went in to see Coach Burton first. The meeting was short. Josh Hunsecker went next. Matt reported Coach Burton talked about Matt's progress this season and reviewed some things he was to practice. They concluded the meeting with a review of Matt's planned courses for the spring semester.

Josh's meeting was quick too. Josh, Christian and their family took off when their meeting was done. Dave Mitchell went in next. Dave was in a bad mood when he came out again. Everyone overheard Dave snap, "Let's just get the hell out of here!"

"We can't leave, Dave," Mr. Mitchell replied. "The Stevens' rode with us. We have to wait until Cody is done with his interview." Dave took a seat away from everyone. His parents tried to mollify their son. He calmed down a little after a couple minutes.

Dave came over and joined Matt and me. "I take it Coach Burton didn't offer you a scholarship?" Matt asked.

"He offered me fucking preferred walk-on status," Dave snapped. "I'm better than that." Dave turned to me. "You agree, don't you, Coach?"

"You don't have elite college speed," I answered. "You have been using the techniques we worked on this summer in your games, haven't you?"

"I don't need to," Dave replied. "The d-backs I see in our games aren't that good. I can usually blow by them and make the play."

"You need to do what you can to help your team win," I agreed. "You also need to demonstrate to college coaches that you possess the skills to play against superior players. Ryan McGuire was faster than you today. You handled that well. Demonstrate the skills I taught you this summer every week so college coaches have video showing what you are capable of."

"Dave, why are you worrying about walk-on versus scholarship?" Matt asked. "You, Cody and me, we've been planning on this day since we were in seventh grade and decided we wanted to follow in Zack Hayes', Coach's, Ed's and Jeremy's footsteps in football. We're here at Penn State like we planned. I'm on the team. Coach Burton wants you on the team. Presumably Cody will be welcomed too. What's wrong with this?"

"They're dissing me," Dave answered. "I'm a good receiver and should be treated like one. I think I deserve a scholarship."

"Remember what I told you before," I replied. " ... even Damian Thompson didn't start out on scholarship. He's a team captain now. Coach Burton isn't disrespecting you. He offered you a spot on this team. That is a sign of high respect for you and your abilities."

Matt and I continued reasoning with Dave, trying to convince him that today wasn't the end of the world for him. We had a ten minute wait until Cody and his parents came back out from their interview. Cody didn't look pleased when he left Coach Burton's office either.

Mr. Stevens asked, "Is everybody ready to go?"

"Give me a minute with Matt, Dave and Coach," Cody asked. Cody came over to where Matt, Dave and I were waiting.

"I take it that things didn't go as well as you hoped?" I asked.

"No, they didn't," Cody agreed. "Coach Burton praised my football smarts. That really is a credit to you, Coach Caffrey, Coach Turner and Coach Baer. He also said I'm small by Big Ten standards for my position and a little slow. The best Coach Burton can do is offer me a tryout as a walk-on next July."

"I'm sorry, man," Matt said. "I thought they were seriously interested in you."

"They were," Cody responded. "Coach Burton said he was expecting I'd hit a growth spurt and put on a couple inches this year. I guess 5'-11" and 170 pounds is it for me. Coach suggested I may want to consider an FCS school. He predicted I would do well at that level of competition."

"What are you going to do?" Dave asked.

"Listen harder to the offers I've been getting from FCS schools," Cody answered. "I have half a dozen that have been offering me places on their team. I'm going to take a close look at Villanova. I'm interested in majoring in engineering and I hear they have an excellent program."

"That's is a good idea, Cody," I agreed. "You know Kenny Weaver is on their team, don't you?"

"I do," Cody said. "I've got to give Kenny a call and have a talk with him."

"Good luck, guys," I said. "I'm sorry things didn't work out as well as you hoped."

"It's not your fault, Coach," Dave responded. "Thanks for all the help you've given us over the years."

"Yeah, thanks, Coach," Cody added.

The contingent from my hometown headed out. I stayed at the Lasch Building, talking with the other offensive recruits while we waited for all the interviews to finish.

Devin Kerr was on top of the world when his interview ended. He was offered and accepted a scholarship to play football at Penn State. I asked Taylor and Devin to extend my best wishes to Chase and the Phillies in the playoffs this season. I was going to be rooting for them.

Jake Meyer and Marcus Thomas were offered full scholarships too. Jake accepted his immediately. Marcus had two more official visits to go before he made a decision.

--oooOooo--

I grabbed a lunch sandwich, chips and a newspaper at the Mix before heading back to my apartment. Our team's victory over Michigan was featured in a teaser over the masthead on the front page of the Inquirer. Jeff Morgan had an excellent write up of our victory on page 1 of the sports section. I flipped to page 2 to see how the other top teams fared yesterday.

#1 Texas beat Colorado easily 38-17. I already knew Ed and the Gators beat LSU last night. #3 Oklahoma was idle. #4 Alabama demolished Vanderbilt 56-3. After us, #6 USC beat Washington 31-27. #7 Ohio State beat Indiana handily. #8 Boise State was upset at Utah. The boys in blue were finding life a little harder since they left the WAC.

Of course #9 Michigan went down, thanks to us. #10 LSU was going to drop in the polls, thanks to Ed and his buddies. Notre Dame beat Central Michigan 35-24. Jeremy had ten tackles and two sacks. Nebraska destroyed Baylor yesterday 49-10. That could help them move up in the polls from their #12 spot.

Rutgers lost to Connecticut 31-23. Hal Long made three field goals on four tries and made both extra point tries. Jake Kring and his Syracuse Orangemen squeaked out a victory over Coach Schroeder's Miami of Ohio yesterday. Drew McCormick's WV Mountaineers beat South Florida 27-21. Drew had fifteen carries for 74 yards and a TD. It wasn't one of Drew's better days.

I looked over at the next page to see how the local Philadelphia teams did. Andy's Blue Hens lost a close game to James Madison University yesterday in spite of Andy's seven catches for 102 yards and two TDs. Jay Nicholson led his team in a come from behind, last two minutes drive to beat Delaware 31-28.

Chip returned from lunch at the dining hall accompanied by his friend Austin Dilworth and ex-roommate Matt Frye. The settled in to watch the Steelers game on TV while I enjoyed my Sunday paper. Damian and Billy returned from brunch downtown a few minutes later. They joined the crew watching the Steelers play. Both Billy, from Upper St. Clair outside Pittsburgh, and Damian were huge Steelers fans.

Trevor and Steph returned from lunch about twenty minutes later. Both of my friends were glowing when they returned.

"Hey, everybody," Trevor announced. Chip turned the game down so we could hear. "Steph and I are engaged!"

A cacophony of questions and congratulations erupted from the group. Steph proudly showed off the very nice diamond ring Trevor had given her. It looked like Trevor had spent a bundle on it. He set a standard I knew I would be held to when Penny saw Steph's ring and it was my turn to do the proposing.

After things calmed down a little, I called Penny on her cell phone. "Hey honey, Trevor went through with it," I announced when she answered the phone. "Of course, Steph said yes. They're engaged."

"That's wonderful," Penny gushed. "Is Steph there at the apartment? Can I talk with her?"

"Hey Steph, do you want to talk to Penny?" I called across the conversation occurring in the living room.

"Of course," Steph gushed. She was delighted to share the good news with Penny. I handed over the phone. The girls talked excitedly for about five minutes before finishing the call.

While the girls were talking, Trevor commented, "Thanks for giving me a little push last night. I know I'm doing the right thing."

"No problem, buddy," I replied. "That's what friends are for."

"Do you need a little push to get moving with Penny?" Trevor countered. "It feels pretty good once you make the commitment."

"No, I'm OK," I answered. "I need to talk things over with my parents when I see them next. I'll probably go shopping for a ring over Thanksgiving or Christmas. When I pop the question depends on our team's holiday travel plans. I may have to wait until I'm living with Penny to actually propose. I want to make sure I have a proper romantic setting for the big question."

"That sounds like a plan," Trevor agreed. "You do have it hard, falling for a girl going to school in Philadelphia."

"Penny is getting what she wants in school," I answered. "I am getting to play and learn football at the level I want. We managed to find our way back together again. I have no complaints. I'm a very lucky guy."

--oooOooo--

Sunday when dinner at the Training Table was over, Coach Burton called for quiet. "Each year Penn State nominates one senior for the National Football Foundation's Scholar/Athlete Award program," Coach explained. "The athlete must be a first teamer, maintain a minimum 3.2 GPA and demonstrate leadership on and off the field and provide community service. This year the academic support staff has chosen Kyle 'Coach' Martin to represent our university. Wish Coach the best, everyone. We will hear if he makes the final sixteen at the end of the month."

I received congratulations and atta'boys from my teammates as we exited the dining hall and headed for the Lasch Building. We met to review the highlights and lowlights of our game against Michigan. Tomorrow we would start in earnest on our preparations to play Iowa. Our trip out to Iowa City was expected to be tough. The Hawkeyes featured their usual strong defense. They were 5-1, having lost only to Ohio State last weekend. We were confident that we could handle them. We had already gone to Lincoln and beaten a higher ranked Cornhuskers team.

There were lots of shifts in the polls that came out that evening, at least after the top seven. Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Alabama, Penn State, USC and Ohio State kept their spots. Nebraska rose to #8, thanks to their big win over Baylor. Notre Dame popped up to #9, replacing Boise State. Virginia Tech rounded out the top ten.

Anders Voight stopped by to talk just before practice started on Monday afternoon. "You'll never guess who I bumped into today."

"OK, since I can't guess it, tell me, who did you bump into?" I replied.

"Derek Whitaker," Anders answered. Derek was the split end on our team when I was a freshman. His injury in the Rose Bowl against USC had given me a chance to play meaningful, full time football.

"Derek is auditing a couple courses this semester," Ander explained. "He is going to do his masters in criminal justice. He made up his mind too late to register for fall semester. He will start classes officially with spring semester."

"That's cool," I replied. "Maybe I will bump into him sometime."

Surprisingly, I did the very next day. I was leaving Art History at the Forum around 2:15 when he hailed me.

"Hey Kyle, how's it going?" Derek called out as I walked across the plaza in front of the building.

"Hey Derek, it's good to see you," I replied after I redirected my course to intercept him. "It's been a long time."

"Yeah, it had been," Derek agreed. "It's been two and a half years."

We talked for a couple minutes, catching up on each other's lives. Derek confirmed much of what Anders had told me the previous day.

"You've certainly been holding down the split end position well," Derek observed. "You were made to play it."

"Thanks, I do what I can," I replied modestly. Derek glanced at his watch.

"I got to get moving," Derek said. "My Criminal Justice System course starts in a few minutes and I have to get down to Willard."

"I'm glad we bumped into each other," I replied. "It's good to see you again. Stop by my apartment some Saturday night. The team parties are held there. I'm in #12 in the Nittany Apartments."

"I'll do that," Derek agreed. "Of course, not this Saturday night. Good luck taking down Iowa."

"Thanks, man," I agreed. "Maybe I'll see you the next Saturday."

--oooOooo--

Trevor, Damian and I talked after practice on Tuesday. We had noticed a complacency developing as the guys went about their work. We talked about it and decided to have a brief team leader meeting after dinner that evening. The other leaders were aboard. We would make sure everyone turned up the intensity for Wednesday's and Thursday's practices. That was all the prep we had before flying out to Iowa Friday morning.

The next two days' practices went much better. I was confident by the end of Thursday's practice that our team was ready to play the Hawkeyes. We finished practice with our traditional "On to Phoenix" cheer.

State College was hit with a hell of a thunderstorm Thursday night. The storm passed by the time most of the team assembled at the Lasch Building around 8:30 am on Friday morning. It was a cold morning, the temperature barely above fifty.

The three hour flight to Iowa was routine. We had lunch aboard the plane before touching down in Cedar Rapids. Everyone pulled on sweatshirts or jackets when we left the plane, expecting to find cold weather similar to what we had left back in Pennsylvania. We got hit by a heat wave when we stepped out of the terminal to board our buses. The temperature was over eighty degrees. Our bus driver reported the temperature could hit the 86 degree record high for the day. Everyone shed their jackets and sweatshirts.

The scenery looked familiar on the half hour drive from Cedar Rapids down to Iowa City. We passed Kinnick Stadium as we drove into town to our hotel. We stayed at the Sheraton, across the river from campus, the same as two years ago.

We had position meetings to review our game plan after we got settled in our rooms. The coaches dismissed us around four o'clock. A large group of the team ended up at the indoor pool, cooling off and relaxing until dinner time.

A thunderstorm blew through Iowa City during dinner time, quickly ending the hot weather we had experienced that afternoon. The temperature dropped rapidly as it got dark and the cold front behind the storm moved in. We did more preparation after dinner before the coaches dismissed us for the evening.

My friends and I convened our traditional poker game in Shawn's and G. J.'s room. We spent the remainder of the evening talking, playing cards and enjoying each other's company.

I checked on-line for my high school team's results before Trevor and I went to bed. My Wolverines had beaten the normally tough Cornwall team 55-20. Matt and his crew were on a roll. They had two weeks until the showdown with Josh Hunsecker's Central team. The winner almost certainly would take the Lancaster-Lebanon League, Section 2 title.

--oooOooo--

Since ESPN was televising our game at 2:30 local time, the coaches gave us extra time to sleep in the morning. The team breakfast was scheduled for 9:30 am. I checked out the weather on TV when I got up around a quarter to nine. The temperature had dropped all night. It was 51 degrees outside. Game time temperatures weren't expected to top sixty degrees. That was more like the weather I expected in the middle of October in Iowa.

We packed our things, loaded our buses and headed for the stadium after breakfast. Damian, Trevor and I warned the younger guys on the team about the visitor's locker room in Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes had painted it pink, to psych out the opposition. At Shawn Byrd's suggestion, our team decided to embrace the pink.

Every single player and coach showed up at the stadium wearing pink breast cancer awareness shirts. We got a few snide comments from the early arriving Hawkeye fans. We also got compliments from some of the lady fans for our attire.

The team leaders reminded our younger teammates how Iowa had dominated the series in the first decade of this century. It was a handed down memory, but none of us particularly cared for the Hawkeyes. Us seniors had always beaten this team and had no plans to change that streak.

We wore our pink outside for warm-ups, to the laughter of the fans in the rapidly filling stadium. The guys maintained their cool during the teasing. We leaders reminded everyone that the proper place to take out their frustrations was on the field by beating their Hawkeyes.

Coach Burton asked me to give the pre-game address to our team. I reminded everyone of the vision each person had accepted this year. I ticked off an impressive list of the goals we had accomplished so far. The game that day represented the midpoint of our season. Our team had demonstrated its talents and capabilities over the first six weeks. We needed to sustain the effort and dedication to carry our way through to Phoenix.

Trevor took the front, circled up the team and led them in our "On to Phoenix" chant before we took the field. Iowa called a "black out" for the game. Virtually every fan in the stadium was clothed in black to support their Hawkeyes. The effect was similar to our whiteouts, but darker. The Iowans knew how to support their team.

I stood on the sidelines as the opening ceremony went on. I stared down at the piece of duct tape in my helmet marked "82." I had placed it in my helmet at the start of this season. It was starting to fray. I said a silent prayer in Greg Harrison's memory. "I'll never forget you," I mouthed silently before taking the field.

Trevor, Damian and I met the Hawkeye captains at midfield with the head referee. We were the visitors and it was my turn to be the spokesman so I got to call the coin toss. I called tails. It was. Even though we had a fifteen to twenty mile an hour wind blowing from the north through the stadium, Coach Burton wanted the ball first. Our game plan called for us to get up on the score board early and force the Hawkeyes to chase us all day.

Tanner Riggs set up at the goal line for the kickoff. Iowa's kick, with a little aid from the wind, put the ball deep into the end zone. Tanner accepted a touchback. Our offense took the ball at our 20 yard line.

I was surprised when the Hawkeye cornerback lined up right on the line of scrimmage in front of me. I looked down the line and saw the other d-backs doing the same thing to Brian and Christian. Iowa had to be trying press coverage against our team. Chip saw the coverage too. He audibled from our planned run to a deep pass play.

I sidestepped at the snap as the cornerback lunged at me to give me a chuck. He brushed past me, missing badly as I started my sprint downfield. As expected the free safety was there to help deep. Chip liked my odds one on one and launched a ball deep on my outside shoulder. I sprinted under it, spun as the safety tried to tackle me and broke free. I sprinted into the end zone for a touchdown. Jared came in and made the PAT. Score: Penn State-7, Iowa-0

We were laughing and celebrating on the sideline as Jared kicked off to Iowa. "Did you see what I did to that nickel back?" Brian asked.

"I was a little busy scoring to notice," I responded, laughing.

"I clobbered him," Brian chortled. "I knocked him on his ass. He isn't going to be too enthusiastic next time he goes against me in press coverage."

"That's the way you do it, Brian," I said, giving him a congratulatory slap on the back. "Good job."

"Why would these guys think they can cover us with press coverage?" Brian asked. "I thought we showed the world what we could do against that last January."

"We did well against Tennessee," I agreed. "Probably Iowa figured since the last team to beat us used press coverage and Tennessee held our passing game to low yards passing, that they would have their best chance of winning this way. I'm sure they figure their line will get more pressure on Chip than Tennessee's did."

"Pressure?" Chip interjected into our conversation. "Did Iowa pressure me on that play? I didn't notice."

"Iowa knows how soft coverage worked for Michigan last week," I speculated. "I guess this is their best guess on how to slow down our passing game."

"It isn't going to work," Brian said decisively. "They're going down if they keep this up."

We glanced back at the field to see our kick cover team take down the Hawkeye returner at their 24 yard line. The Hawkeyes were a decent team. They managed to pick up twenty-seven yards before our defense forced them to punt the ball back to us.

Brian lined up at our 10 yard line. The Hawkeye punter boomed the ball down the field. Brian backed up three or four yards before he bailed out and ran for the sideline to avoid touching the ball. Three Hawkeye players chased after the ball as it hit at the four yard line and bounded towards the goal line. One of the players managed to bat the ball into the field of play where another downed it at our 2 yard line.

The referee blew the whistle and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Illegal touching by #29 of the kicking team. His foot was inside the end zone at the time of the touch. The ball will be spotted at the twenty yard line."

We exchanged high fives as we trotted onto the field. Iowa backed off from the line of scrimmage so Chip stayed in our base offense. Damian carried the ball forward for six yards on first down. On the next play Iowa double covered Brian and me. Chip fired the ball out to Christian for a seven yard gain. Chip handed the ball off to Damian again. My roomie bulled ahead for five yards.

Bob went over the middle on a curl route on the next play. The Iowa left defensive end got loose, hurrying Chip's throw slightly. He got the ball off before the end took him down. One of Iowa's tackles swatted the ball as it flew over the line, tipping it away from Bob. Their strong safety, who had been pursuing Bob, snagged the misdirected ball.

The safety dodged Bob's tackle attempt and tried to run around the end of his line. I had run a hitch route and wasn't too deep down field. I took off in pursuit. I was pissed about the interception. The best way to fix this gaffe was to take the ball away.

When I hit the safety, I aimed for the ball instead of the man. I knew Damian and Elijah Berks were closing behind me and Bob was nearby too. I hit his right side directly on the ball, punching at it as I hit. Thank God the ball popped loose and bounced to the ground.

Half a dozen players dived for it. Bob was closest and landed almost on top of the ball, a split second before I landed on him. A couple linebackers, a defensive end and a cornerback dived into the pile. I shoved the ball under Bob as he grasped for it. It isn't pretty at the bottom of the pile of bodies as everyone scrambles, punches and shoves to get to the ball.