Chapter 58

David
Before practice on Monday, David was summoned to Coach Merritt’s office. He found Rachel sitting out front, playing gatekeeper. He noted her curly hair looked like she’d stuck her finger into an electrical socket. She was having what girls call a ‘bad hair day.’

“I see you took some extra time this morning to make yourself pretty for me,” David teased.

Rachel laughed, making her green eyes come alive, which made him smile.

“Is that your amazing ‘fuck me now’ smile? The one I’m sure you practiced in the mirror this morning?” she fired back.

“Is that Dawson out there?” Coach Merritt called from his office.

“Yes. And he’s out here sexually harassing me,” Rachel told her boss.

“Send him in when he’s done,” Coach Merritt said.

“Wow. I better get in there before you turn me in,” David chuckled as he went into his coach’s office.

He found Coach Stackhouse already there.

“Shut the door,” Coach Merritt said.

David closed the door and sat down next to Coach Stackhouse.

“Did you see the depth chart?” Coach Merritt asked.

David had seen it. They’d listed both him and Matt as QB1. At first, David had been miffed that he wasn’t the starter, but after what he’d gone through during the spring and summer, he would count sharing the top spot as a win.

“I did,” David said warily.

“What are your thoughts?” Coach Stackhouse asked.

Asking about his thoughts reminded him of his uncle asking about his feelings, making him cringe.

“Do you want my honest answer, or do you want me to give it to you in team speak?” David asked.

“Tell us what you really think,” Coach Merritt encouraged.

“If you have two number-one quarterbacks, you have none. I think our offense works better with a running quarterback. But I can understand you hedging your bets for now since neither Matt nor I showed you who the clear number one was. All I ask is you tell me what you want me to do to become the starter,” David said.

Coach Stackhouse raised her eyebrows, as if trying to communicate something to Coach Merritt.

“Just say it,” Coach Merritt told her. “David and Matt both deserve us telling them the unvarnished truth.”

“Our discussion with Matt went a bit differently, which highlighted his immaturity,” Coach Stackhouse shared.

“And you’re concerned about turning over the reins to someone so volatile,” David guessed.

“Yes,” Coach Merritt said, which shocked David.

“Then why would we not consider you the clear-cut starter?” Coach Stackhouse asked.

David stopped himself from giving a quick answer because they were being honest with him, and he didn’t want that to stop. It was refreshing not to feel like he was being misled somehow.

“The interception at the end of the scrimmage exposed my biggest weakness. I haven’t had Matt’s number of reps running this offense. In essence, having me as your starter would be like asking a true freshman to lead the team.”

“If I’d been in charge over the summer, I would have been looking for a graduate transfer as a stopgap for a season. It would have given both you and Matt another year to get ready to take over,” Coach Merritt shared.

David took a moment to absorb that. He might have thought the same if he were the head coach.

“I understand your concern, but there’s something you should know. I never played football until my uncle forced me to go out my freshman year of high school. I had to be a fast learner because I was thrust into the starting role by mid-season because of injuries. They had players with more experience and older players who could have taken the lead, but they gave me the job.

“Despite only having played football for two years, I was the first junior ever invited to Elite 11, where I was co-MVP. And I led my team to three state championships.

“I might not have Matt’s experience, but I can tell you this: I was the number one quarterback in my recruiting class because I won. If I’m allowed to be the starter, I’ll find a way to overcome my inexperience. I’ll do whatever it takes to lead this team to victory,” David promised.

“You’ll get a chance to prove that in the first game,” Coach Merritt said. “I want you to understand that I don’t need you to step out of your comfort zone and make something happen like you did Saturday. I want you to simply do your job and protect the football. I would much rather you’d either taken the sack or run the ball when you were flushed.

’You throw one interception ... Argh!’ David thought.

“You have to realize that UNLV will try to put maximum pressure on you. If I were them, I would be blitzing, running line stunts, or trick coverages on every passing down. I would try to get you to do exactly what happened Saturday: turn the ball over,” Coach Stackhouse said.

David knew that was how you lost games. The reason he’d thrown the ball was he hadn’t seen that kind of speed out of Mario in practice. College ball was played faster, and the only way he would learn to handle the difference from high school was to continue to get live reps.

“So, if I’m in doubt or get pressure, I’m to tuck the ball and run?” David asked.

“We don’t want you taking on any linebackers. If you’re flushed, you should avoid direct hits and give yourself up by sliding. We don’t need you hurt,” Coach Merritt said. “I would rather punt than turn the ball over, so don’t take unnecessary risks.”

David didn’t like it, but he knew that he had to play in the confines of Coach Merritt’s wishes, or Matt would be starting. David wasn’t one to ride the bench.

“I can do that,” David said.

“Can you do one more thing?” Coach Stackhouse asked.

“If I can.”

“Do you know any other kickers?” she asked.

“Why? What’s wrong with Alex?”

“His dad has insisted we do a full battery of tests to make sure he can handle the physical side of his kicking chores. We’re sending him to a specialist to fully evaluate him. Our doctors think he’s fine, but after he collapsed this summer, we want to be sure,” Coach Merritt said.

“I don’t blame Umberto for being concerned. But I also don’t think you have anything to worry about with Alex. It’s my understanding that his issue came about from something cumulative. Did you know the average soccer player runs seven miles during a game? We won’t be asking him to do anything like that,” David reasoned.

“Well, we’ll have to see what the doc has to say. Thanks for stopping in, David. Go get ready for a good practice today,” Coach Merritt said, dismissing him.

“And keep the sexual harassment to a minimum,” Coach Stackhouse quipped.

By the time Cassidy was done with them, David’s muscles were screaming, and his lungs were on fire. After conditioning, he sat down with Coach Thomas to watch practice film for an hour. The coach seemed impressed with David’s approach to reviewing film. Once David was mercifully done for the day, all he could think about was going back to his room to take a nap.

Before he made it to his room, he received a message. Craig wasn’t feeling as tired as he was and was entertaining a jock bunny. David was torn about what to do. Did he go find some players to hang out with, or was his bed at the townhouse calling him? Being a leader won out.

He found Willy and the other linemen in the lounge shooting the shit, so he joined them.

“Any word on Hansen?” David asked.

Their third-string left tackle had to be helped off the field during practice.

“He’s getting it checked tomorrow, and we’re hoping it’s just a knee sprain,” Willy shared.

David smiled when Alex walked in.

“How was your doctor’s appointment?”

“How did you know about that?” Alex asked.

“What happened?” Willy asked.

Alex shared his collapse in a match over the summer, and the team—and his dad—wanting to confirm he could play. As he was finishing up, John Johnson—probably the dumbest person to ever get into USC—and Matt walked in. John said something to Matt, who retaliated by giving the big tackle a playful shove. John dropped his sports drink, spilling its contents all over the floor.

“Rookie, go get something to clean that up with,” Matt said to Alex.

Alex rolled his eyes and flipped Matt the bird.

“Clean it up yourself. I’ll have to clean up all your messes when you can’t get it in,” Alex said, referring to having to come in when the offense failed, making him kick a field goal.

“I always get it in,” Matt said with a nasty smirk, taking it to the gutter.

David was about to deck Matt for being an ass when Willy stepped in.

“Based on what I’ve seen, Dawson is better at that than you are.”

David cringed because he knew Matt was still a bit raw over Crystal dumping him over the summer.

“Dude, you get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with that one,” David said to surprise the room. “Matt does just fine with the ladies.”

Matt gave him some side-eye and then puffed up.

“I was thinking about tagging a jock bunny. Does anyone know if any are in the dorm?”

“Go to my room,” David said with a smile. “Craig should be finishing up with his.”

’Two birds with one stone,’ David thought, satisfied he’d dodged pissing Matt off.

“Thanks,” Matt said and then turned to John. “Clean up your own mess, and we shouldn’t be hazing the freshmen.”

“But...” John started.

“You heard him. Matt’s one of our leaders. If he says no hazing the freshmen, then it stops,” Willy said.

In David’s mind, hazing was a stupid tradition designed to show the new guys that the ones already there were the top dawgs. If everyone was supposed to be equal, how could that be fair?

David followed Matt to his room while sending Craig a message to warn him they were on their way.

DSquared: ’Matt calls next’

When they reached the door, Craig opened it in just his underwear. A blond was pulling her shirt over her head, giving them a glimpse of her breasts. Once her shirt was on, she lit up at seeing the top two USC quarterbacks.

“Did the two of you want to go play?” she asked.

David internally flinched because her breath smelled like cum.

“I don’t feel like sharing,” Matt said. “Do you want me to send her back when I’m done?”

David shook his head ‘no.’

“I’m going to take a nap before dinner and then watch film afterward, so I won’t have time.”

He could see that Matt understood that David was focused on winning the starting job, but in the end, getting laid won out over recovering from the day’s practice.

“Your loss,” Matt said, offering the jock bunny his arm.

After they left, David commented, “I now understand why you aren’t supposed to kiss them.”

It took Craig a moment to puzzle out what David was talking about, then he blanched. David chuckled when his roommate, obviously squicked out, grabbed his toothbrush and mouthwash and went to the bathroom to wash his mouth out.

Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s practices mirrored Monday’s. David and Matt were almost even in their head-to-head battle for the starting role. Matt shone in the short passing game. He showed poise in the pocket and never seemed to get rattled. Matt threw an accurate ball with touch. He was a pure pocket passer who was very good at his read progressions, making him extremely hard to defend against.

David hadn’t shown his entire skill set because quarterbacks wore red jerseys and weren’t allowed contact. At six-four and 240 pounds, he was bigger and stronger than Matt, as well as faster. Those advantages would only become apparent when David used his legs to run. What made David confident he would eventually be named the starter was that just dropping back and passing, he was going head-to-head with Matt and holding his own.

The other area in which David felt he held a significant edge was leadership. Matt might have known most of his teammates longer, but David’s natural people skills had his fellow players listening to him. He knew Coach Stackhouse had Coach Merritt’s ear, and she’d mentioned to Matt several times that he had to be more vocal on the field.

On Thursday, practice changed because Coach Merritt wanted to get a jump on preparing for UNLV. That meant the starters began to get more snaps. Of David’s fellow freshmen, Bear, Big Cat, and Chuy looked to get playing time early.

Bear, aka Jerry Barber, played left tackle since John, their starter, was suspended for the first game. Yesterday, the second-string tackle injured his shoulder and would be out for two weeks. The third-string player’s presumed sprain had turned out to be something more serious, and he’d been lost for the season with knee surgery. So it was next man up, and that man was Bear.