Chapter 62

David
In the locker room before the game, Matt Long had been swarmed with reporters—as had the other quarterbacks, to a lesser extent. David had been surprised when a man with a Pac-12 Network polo shirt found him in the corner where his locker was and asked for an interview.

Pac-12: I’m with David Dawson, who was the number-one recruit two years ago. David took the fall semester off to star in movies, so he took a gray shirt, and this is his first chance in college to show what he has. David is playing both defense and offense for the Trojans. David, I want to get your take on who you think will replace Ridge Townsend.
David: As things stand, it looks like Matt Long will be next year’s starter. Matt got the chance to learn the offense last fall as he backed up Ridge, and he stepped in on day one of spring ball and showed why he was recruited as the heir apparent.
Pac-12: While prepping for the game, they let us watch the film of your spring practices. I’m surprised you think that Matt has this locked up. From what I saw, you two are neck-and-neck.
David: I was filling in because Matt sustained an injury and had to sit out. As soon as he was back, the coaches moved me back to defense. Of course, if something were to happen to Matt, I would be willing to step in. Right now, the coaches feel my biggest impact will be on the defensive side of the ball.
Pac-12: USC’s defense looks to be the strength of the team with three All-Conference players returning in outside linebacker Clay Wright, safety Mario Robinson, and defensive tackle Jamal Booker. USC recorded 46 sacks last season, which tied it for first in FBS with Clemson. The Trojans also got 16 interceptions; that was good enough for sixth nationwide. What are your feelings about how well the defense will do this year?
David: If we play to our potential, the defense will keep us in every game. I’m looking forward to good things this year.
After they left, Percy appeared.

“You’re so full of shit. Tell me you aren’t going to tear it up when you get your chance to play quarterback today.”

David just shook his head.

Days like this were why David and his family had moved to California. The weather was gorgeous for the noon start to the spring game. David checked out the stands and was disappointed by the turnout. He used to play in front of more people in high school than were currently in the seats.

David found himself on the bench for the first two series. The coaches wanted to give their starters some extended playing time before substituting in.

David’s attention was focused on the offense. He noticed that when they went to a three-man-down front on defense, the offense ran the ball with success. Marcus Eshete, their featured running back, looked like a Heisman hopeful. What was happening was that in this formation, the defense brought in a linebacker that, in theory, gave them more speed. In reality, it meant that an offensive lineman was free to block a much smaller defender in the form of a linebacker.

On pass plays, Matt showed he was a gifted signal-caller and was becoming an elite quarterback at the college level. He had poise in the pocket and never seemed to get rattled. He threw with touch and accuracy.

David could see that the area in which Matt had made the most improvement was his read progressions, which made him extremely hard to defend against. With Bill as one of his receivers, he looked good. But then, Bill made everyone look good with his exceptional hands. David felt that his old high school teammate had worked his way into the starting rotation at wide receiver.

In the third series, David and Percy were called to substitute for two of the starters. Percy was at defensive end, and David stepped into the middle linebacker position.

When the offense came to the line, Matt spotted David, and their eyes locked. Then Matt looked over the defense to make his reads. It was first and ten, so the playbook was open. Matt called an audible to a play-action slant pass that was designed to be thrown to Percy’s side of the field to the slot receiver.

David shot up and touched Percy on the left hip to let him know it was coming his way. Then he darted back to the middle of the formation as Matt called out the cadence for the snap.

“Set! Hike!”

Matt faked the handoff to Marcus, who dove into the center of the line. David caught a flash of movement away from the play and spotted John Johnson, the left offensive tackle, letting his defensive end go and running straight towards David. David’s focus was momentarily split between John barreling down on him and Matt throwing the ball to his left.

David decided on safety first and turned to explode into the onrushing tackle. There was a tremendous crack of pads as they came together. At that exact moment, the sparse crowd erupted. Both John and David ended up on the ground, which gave David a chance to see what the cheering was about. Percy was running into the end zone, having intercepted Matt’s pass.

David hopped up and ran downfield to congratulate his friend. He glanced back, and the tight end had to help John get up. David was a load if he decided to hit you.

When they set up for the next play, Matt made the same audible. David chuckled to himself because Matt wasn’t a very good actor. He could tell that Matt was baiting him. This time, David ran up to Percy and tapped him square on the backside to warn him that it was probably a run.

“Set! Hut, hut, HUT, Hike!”

On the hard count, one of the defensive tackles jumped offsides—chalk one up to Matt as it was now first and five after the penalty.

This time, when they lined up, Matt didn’t have any theatrics. He just ran the play and snapped the ball on the first sound.

“Set!”

From the line action, David figured out that they were running a trap play up the middle. The guard had let the tackle go because John had pulled, and the play was designed for him to block the unblocked defensive tackle. The idea was for him to kick out, and the guard would block David. It set up a situation where the offense outnumbered the defense on a section of the field, making it hard to tackle the running back until he cleared the line of scrimmage.

The key to stopping the play was the free defensive tackle. The tackle had to recognize that he hadn’t been blocked and have his head on a swivel. If John got a clean block, Marcus could easily break free. If the defensive tackle held his ground and met John in the hole, it would cause a pileup, and Marcus would have nowhere to run.

David engaged the guard and used his hands to keep him at bay while he watched the play develop. Then the unexpected happened. John ignored the defensive tackle, turned upfield, and zeroed in on David. David was wrestling with the guard and realized how vulnerable he was, so he just went to the ground.