Chapter 26

The University of Colorado Buffaloes were the most overlooked undefeated team in the nation, ranking only nineteenth in the latest polls. They’d played five games, and only two were close. They’d faced a Big Ten opponent in Nebraska in the second week of the season and won 33–28. Then, last week, they’d taken on Arizona State in a conference game. The final score ended up 28–21, making them 2–0 in conference play and 5–0 overall.

USC was their first conference road test. While Utah and USC were still considered the favorites to win the South Division, if Colorado won this game, they would have to be strongly considered a contender.

USC was 3–2 overall and 2–1 in the conference, while Utah was also 3–2 but only 1–2 in the Pac-12. Last week, they’d defeated Stanford, a team USC had lost to. It was early in the season, so the Utes were still in contention even though they were a game and a half back in the standings. The team with the best conference record in the Pac-12 South (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah, UCLA, and USC) would play in the conference championship game.

The Trojans were coming off a bye week, which had given them a good two weeks of practice to prepare for Colorado. While their offense had improved, their defense had taken a significant step forward with the help of the bye week. They’d started to look like last year’s defense, and if that continued, USC could win their division.

Kickoff was scheduled for 10:30 in the morning, and the game was being televised on FS1. David’s parents had decided to bypass tailgating this week because of the early-morning kickoff. They were also leaving all the munchkins at home. David had given the extra tickets for his parents’ box to Sadie and her mom. Lisa was too sick to leave the hospital, so Sadie brought some of her classmates.

David had been told that Lisa wouldn’t be with them much longer, so he hoped the game might get her little sister’s mind off what was to come. So, when the team made their walk from the buses to the stadium, he was happy to see Sadie with her friends. David noted that they were all wearing USC jerseys with his number on them, which was no doubt his mother’s doing. He saw his mom talking with Janis, Sadie’s mom.

The warmth of his smile echoed in his voice as he walked up to Sadie. “You made it!”

“We did. My mom even got the day off from work,” she replied, smiling to herself as she spoke.

Lexi had said that Lisa’s GoFundMe page was now up and running, and he might have made a donation to prime the pump. With the financial stress somewhat relieved, David was glad to see that Janis could cut back on her work hours, giving her time to spend with family.

“I have to get going. Be sure to cheer for me,” David said as he gave his little friend a hug.

As he walked by his parents, his mom gave him an approving look.

Coach Merritt was in rare form for his pregame speech.

“You’ve stacked days to get better and more consistent. We’ve put in the effort, and I can promise you we’ve gotten back our toughness. We will be unrelenting on defense. The offense wins games, but the defense wins championships. We’re not here to stuff the stat sheet. We all came to USC to win National Championships. We need to get back to basics, grind it out, and do our jobs. If each of you does your job, we will win.

“If our team is one-fifth as hungry as our fanbase today, we’ll put Colorado down like Travis did Old Yeller.

“Now go out there and do your job!” Coach Merritt’s voice rang with command.

David wasn’t sure if he should fall down laughing at the Old Yeller comment or run through a wall for Coach Merritt. Who knew his coach could read? More likely, he’d watched the movie. Was that one even in color?

Willy got them organized and took them down to the tunnel. Once the TV crew was ready, they released the players to run out onto the field. They were greeted by a sea of cardinal and gold—75,000-plus fans cheering them on. They all knew how important this game was. If USC won, then they held their destiny in their hands. They would have the head-to-head tiebreaker against Colorado if they both managed to win out, making USC champions of the Pac-12 South.

While the pregame fanfare continued, David grabbed Bill so he could throw him some balls to stay loose.

“You’re not barfing today,” Bill quipped.

When nerves got the better of David, his stomach rebelled. Today, he felt relaxed.

“I thought I’d save that for the one that counts at the end of the year: Notre Dame,” David said with a steely edge.

Of all the games left on the schedule, that was the one he most wanted to win. He’d grown up in the shadow of Notre Dame, which was considered college football royalty. Heck, they had their own TV network to broadcast their games, NBC—which everyone back home called Notre Dame Broadcasting Company.

“Good. I want to beat those bastards this year. My cousins are huge Golden Domers fans and remind me at Christmas when we lose to them,” Bill said with pinched lips.

The USC versus Notre Dame rivalry had been going on since 1926, and the Irish had dominated the Trojans for the past few years.

“We’ll worry about that when the time comes. Let’s focus on the Buffaloes.”

The first quarter went as Coach Merritt had planned it. The spectators must have thought they were watching an old-school Big Ten game as both teams tried to establish the run. Each of Colorado’s first four possessions was three plays and a punt. USC didn’t do much better with their first four turns on offense, racking up three punts and an interception.

Colorado had the ball on their own forty to start their fifth drive. They handed the ball off to their primary running back, who gained nine yards. On second down, they gave him the ball again, but USC’s All-Conference defensive tackle Jamal Booker met him at the line and shut him down for no gain.

On third down, Colorado went off-book. Before the snap, they sent their quarterback in motion to take a wide receiver position. It left one running back deep and another closer to the line, with the tight end also in the backfield in what was called a Wildcat formation. That was where the running back took a direct snap from the center.

The USC defense looked confused as the ball was put into play. The tight end and lead running back were lined up on the right side of the center. The lead running back dove into the guard-tackle hole on the snap. Their running back with the ball made a hard jab step as if to follow his lead blocker. The tight end and right guard pulled left, and the guard helped double-team Percy at the defensive end spot.

He’d been in their backfield more than they wanted, so they made sure to take him out of the play. The tight end scraped off the back of their blocks and led the ball carrier downfield. He engaged Todd, at outside linebacker, just long enough for his runner to get to the open field. In the blink of an eye, the running back was fifteen yards downfield.

David groaned when he saw no one was going to catch him. Colorado had struck first for a 7–0 lead.

Then, on USC’s fifth possession, Coach Merritt allowed Coach Thomas to open up his playbook.

The Trojans had good field position after an excellent kickoff return. David led his team out and got them lined up. He was under center as he looked over the defensive alignment he was facing. Colorado’s front seven had been flying to the ball all game. Their body language told him they expected him to hand the ball off once again.

David called the count, and Willy snapped the ball. David turned right and held the ball out for Marcus, only to pull it back and make a seven-step drop. As he set up, his first read was to Amari at wide receiver. The Colorado defender was scrambling to catch up because he’d assumed run.

David took a bit off the ball because Amari tended to drop passes if they had too much on them. The lanky receiver gathered it in and stumbled to a twenty-nine-yard gain. The ball was now on the Buffaloes’ thirty.

David hustled his men to the ball and called a quick snap count. He dropped back and saw Amari racing down the sideline with three steps on his defender. David lofted the ball toward the end zone to take his shot, and Amari caught it to tie up the game.

Colorado continued to go three-and-out in the second quarter, but USC wasn’t doing much better.

With four minutes left in the half, USC went back on offense. On the first play, Marcus was stuffed in the backfield for a four-yard loss. David could see the frustration building in his teammates, so he huddled them up. He checked the sideline and saw the play signaled.

“Take a deep breath and relax. Bill and I have this,” David said and called the play.

Bill had played the decoy all game because Colorado knew he was David’s favorite target. They’d been playing games where two and sometimes three defenders would box Bill in. On this play, Bill was going vertical.

As David dropped back, he laughed aloud when Bill showed his man his hip like he was doing a down-and-out. Then he did a stutter step and exploded past the defender. David used to joke in high school that his teammate Ty Wilson would make astounding moves to mystify defenders. It was like when you smashed all the buttons on your Xbox controller. Bill had just done his own version of that.

What surprised them both was that his defender wasn’t fooled; he was running step-for-step with Bill. It had confused the defender’s help, though, leaving Bill one-on-one for the first time all game. David knew that if he lofted it up and threw a fifty-fifty ball, Bill would likely come down with it. But this time, he underthrew the ball because he saw the defender was intent on watching Bill and hadn’t looked back. Bill suddenly put on the brakes, causing the other guy to fly by him. He caught the ball and avoided his defender to score on a sixty-nine-yard pass, giving USC their first lead at 14–7.

With two minutes to go in the half, USC had the ball again. As they trotted out onto the field, David turned to Bill.

“Be ready. I’m coming to you again.”

Bill grinned like an idiot, relishing the challenge of besting their rivals.

Bill ran a down-and-out on the first play to gain fifteen yards and get the Trojans to midfield. On the next play, he found a hole in their zone that David rifled a pass into despite what was essentially double coverage. They were now on the ten-yard line.

David walked down the field and looked to the sideline, where he got the next play.

“Line up! Line up!” he barked.

“Z 98! Z 98! Hike!” David called out.

Bill ran a slant and had his defender hanging on him, but David threw it anyway. Bill caught it and fell into the end zone.

The crowd erupted. It was the loudest David had ever heard it in Memorial Coliseum. He ran downfield, and he and Bill leaped at each other to do a chest bump.

“You’re the man!” David yelled as they headed to the sideline.

Coach Thomas handed David the stats for the first half. The Buffaloes’ offense had just 30 total yards before their touchdown play went 49 yards untouched for the game’s first points early in the second quarter. USC had zero net yards rushing.

It looked like Colorado’s Achilles’ heel was their secondary. Otherwise, both defenses had played well.

“What do you think the issue is with the running game?” David asked.

“Well, there are a couple of problems. The running backs aren’t running as ‘smart’ as they did last year. It also seems that Marcus is going down much easier. That could be due to his early-season injury. Once he gets beyond the line of scrimmage, he stumbles after minimal contact; if Marcus kept his feet, he’d be scoring a touchdown.

“For the offensive line, it’s fundamentals like footwork. And the receivers aren’t blocking downfield as they should. Both of these we can fix with coaching. And then there’s the issue of me not allowing you to run—and the defense knows that,” Coach Thomas said, surprisingly forthcoming.

“What do you want me to do in the second half?” David asked.

“We’re up 21–7. I don’t need any heroics. All we need you to do is be a game manager and close this thing out,” Coach Thomas said.

David’s only response was to raise his eyebrows a fraction. From Coach Thomas’s point of view, he could see that they just needed to eat up the clock and let their defense keep Colorado in check for the win. It might not be the kind of ball David preferred to play, but if he wanted to get in for the Notre Dame game, he would do as asked.

When the second half started, Colorado got the ball first, and six plays later had to punt. USC did a bit better, but they also punted. For once, Knackers’ replacement kicked one out of bounds at the ten-yard line.

USC’s defense pushed them back two yards on the first play. Colorado tried a short pass to the tight end crossing over the middle on third and twelve. The ball was tipped, and Todd was able to pick it off and run it back for the score.

With the game all but out of reach at 28–7, Colorado lost some of their spirit until the fourth quarter started. David watched as the Buffaloes put together a twenty-play drive that lasted nearly eight minutes. The sad part was USC had two defensive linemen go down with injuries.