April 13, 2013
The atmosphere inside Memorial Stadium could be described in a single word: "Frenetic." Various students and people from South Carolina gathered in this stadium for one single reason:
THE SPRING GAME
An exhibition game in which the Clemson Tigers players conclude their spring training and the coaches have the opportunity to evaluate the players' progress, experiment with strategies, and define the starting lineup before the fall season.
In the locker room, Wyatt was finishing putting on his Clemson team gear, adjusting his chest protector to then see the jersey that was between his hands with the number "17" in the center in orange, standing out against the white.
At first, Wyatt wanted to use the "10" again, which had accompanied him throughout his entire career, but unfortunately, that number belonged to Tajh, and he, being a team veteran and starting quarterback, would not give up his number just like that.
With one last look, Wyatt put on the jersey and then took the helmet that was by his side and headed straight toward the field along with the rest of the players who shared the locker room with him, under the referee's direction.
Once he stepped through the locker room doors, the roar of the crowd resonated through Wyatt's ears, who couldn't help but lift his head before the entire energetic crowd of Clemson fans who had come to support the team.
It wasn't the first time Wyatt had played in a stadium this large, but there was something about Memorial Stadium that made one stop briefly to admire the view of all the people in the stands.
"Incredible, isn't it?" a voice asked from the other corner of the players' tunnel, this being Tajh, who, along with the rest of the orange team players, was prepared and ready to take the field.
"Yes," was the only word Wyatt could say, still with his gaze forward without even turning to look at Tajh, who simply chuckled under his breath, remembering how during his first time inside the stadium he had been just like Wyatt.
Being an exhibition game, there was no need to be so competitive, so the atmosphere inside the players' tunnel was pleasant, with most players from both teams talking among themselves and joking about what they would do once the game came to an end.
The team was divided into two according to colors, being Orange and White, with most of the starters being on the Orange team while the substitutes and Wyatt represented the White team.
Taking the field, Wyatt's gaze immediately directed toward the most animated section of the stadium, that being the stands where the two Clemson University mascots were found: "The Tiger" and "The Tiger Cub," who were cheering on all the Clemson students along with the cheerleaders and the band that began to play the moment the players entered the field.
The roar of the stands intensified when the captains gathered in the center of the field for the coin toss. Wyatt watched from the white sideline, feeling the humid South Carolina air stick to his skin. Dabo Swinney, with headphones on, was on the sideline of the field looking closely at all the players.
Wyatt clenched his fists. The adrenaline, which until a moment ago was a constant drip, turned into a flood. The white team won the toss and chose to receive. Wyatt walked toward the huddle while the special teams unit finished its job. The afternoon sun hit his helmet, and for a moment, the world moved in slow motion. He saw the faces of his linemen: second and third-year guys who rarely saw action, hungry but nervous.
—Listen —Wyatt ordered as he entered the circle—. I know they are the starters. I know Jarrett and Beasley think they are going to have a feast with us today. But today, in this huddle, there are no substitutes. There are Clemson players. We are going to hit them first and we are going to hit them hard. Gun Trips Left, 342 Slant. On the count of one. Ready?
—Break! —the shout resonated with a force that made some players from the orange team turn to look.
Wyatt approached the line of scrimmage at his own 25-yard line. The stadium seemed to tilt toward him. In front of him, the orange defense —the starting unit that last year had terrified the ACC— moved like a well-oiled unit. Grady Jarrett, the star defensive tackle, was lined up right in front of his substitute center, throwing insults and moving his hands to distract.
—It's your turn, friend! I'm going to eat you alive! —one of the players shouted.
Wyatt ignored him. He scanned the orange team's alignment. The deep safety was slightly leaning toward the right, anticipating a long pass to test the rookie's arm. Wyatt smiled under the face mask. "Bad idea," he thought.
—Blue 80! Blue 80! Set... Hut!
The ball hit his palms with a dry snap. Wyatt took three rhythmic steps back. Immediately, the protection pocket began to collapse. Jarrett beat the center by pure brute force, entering the interior lane. Wyatt felt the heat of the defender approaching. Instead of panicking, he used the footwork he had polished in practices. He took a subtle side step, letting Jarrett's mass pass by due to pure inertia, and as contact was imminent, Wyatt spotted his target.
His slot receiver had cut inward on a perfect slant route. There was a window of barely one meter between two defensive linemen who were jumping to block the pass. Wyatt released the ball. It wasn't a throw; it was a shot. The ball traveled 15 yards with a spiral so tight that the movement of the leather was barely visible, landing right on the receiver's numbers.
—Complete! —the announcer roared. The white team moved the chains on the first play.
Wyatt did not wait for the crowd to finish shouting. He made the no-huddle signal. His teammates ran to their positions. The orange defense was bewildered; they didn't expect a rookie to dictate the pace of the game that way.
—Set... Hut!
Quick handoff to the runner through the center. The white team's line, inspired by the confidence of its quarterback, managed to open a small gap. Gain of 4 yards. Second and six. Wyatt lined up again quickly. The orange defenders barely had time to receive the signals from their coordinator. Wyatt noticed that the left cornerback was playing a "cushion" coverage, giving too much space to the wide receiver.
—Check, check! Red 15! —Wyatt shouted, changing the play at the line.
He threw a quick bubble pass to the sideline. The receiver caught the ball and, thanks to the timely block from his teammate, gained another 8 yards. Another first down. The ball was now on the 48-yard line of their own field. The first quarter had barely been going for three minutes and Wyatt had already moved the ball almost 30 yards against the best defense in the conference.
Dabo Swinney, on the sideline, had his arms crossed and an illegible expression, but his eyes followed Wyatt's every move. Chad Morris, the offensive coordinator, was writing frantically in his notebook.
On the next play, the orange defense decided that enough was enough. They sent a six-man blitz. Wyatt saw the movement before it happened. The outside linebacker lunged from the edge. Wyatt knew that if he stayed in the pocket, they would bury him. Instead, he made a pump fake to the center that froze the safety for a fraction of a second and then took off toward the right side.
His legs moved with great speed. Surpassing the line of scrimmage, dodging a tackle from below by a cornerback with a hip movement, covering 12 yards before sliding elegantly just before the safety hit him.
He stood up immediately, signaling the first down with an outstretched arm. "Death Valley" erupted in a roar. Wyatt's name began to circulate through the stands like a wildfire.
They reached the orange team's 20-yard line. The pressure was suffocating. Jarrett and Beasley were furious, shouting at each other for allowing a group of substitutes to push them back. Wyatt approached the huddle for the first time in three plays to give his linemen a breather.
As he lined up, Wyatt felt the gaze of the tigers' starting defensive end who had his eyes fixed on him as if he were his target.
—Set... Hut-Hut!
The blitz was total. The orange defense lunged with everything it had. The protection pocket closed like a steel trap. Wyatt took a step back, feeling the tight end brush his shoulder. At the last second, Wyatt released the ball toward the corner of the endzone. It was a high pass, looking for his receiver to take advantage of his height against the shorter cornerback.
The ball seemed to hang in the air, silhouetted against the blue Clemson sky. The receiver jumped, stretched his arms, and caught the pigskin just before his feet touched the grass within the boundaries.
TOUCHDOWN!
The white team had scored against the starting defense in its first offensive series. Wyatt jogged toward the sideline, where his teammates surrounded him, hitting his helmet and shouting. He only smiled slightly, looking for Dabo's gaze.
—Good job, Sterling —Dabo told him once Wyatt sat back down, letting the defensive team enter the field.
Quickly, the white defensive team tried everything it could to prevent the orange offense from scoring, managing to stop them with them only getting 3 extra points after a field goal.
7-3 current score.
Wyatt returned to the field with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter. The stadium was no longer an intimidating place; it was his laboratory. However, the orange defense had adjusted. On the first play of the second series.
But on this occasion, the orange team's defense seemed to be better prepared, causing Wyatt's pocket to collapse and ending with him being sacked by one of the tacklers, falling firmly to the ground under the weight of the person on top of him.
"Ugh," Wyatt couldn't help but groan at the collision as the lineman stood up and returned to his position as if nothing had happened.
Being helped by his center, Wyatt stood up while recovering from the collision. "Sorry, next time I'll hold longer," the center told him as an apology for having allowed his quarterback to be sacked, but Wyatt brushed it off, giving him pats on the back.
On the second opportunity, the white team had to complete a 14-yard series, something that seemed very difficult, which is why Wyatt attempted a deep pass to one of the receivers to whom he had previously passed the ball, but this time the cornerback was faster and managed to prevent the receiver from catching the ball, resulting in an incomplete pass.
At that moment, Wyatt began to feel what the true level in the NCAA was really like and what the starting players of a powerhouse like Clemson were like.
Without letting himself be intimidated, on third down Wyatt was more conservative, trusting the ball to the runner who, thanks to his defensive line making a gap, managed to advance 8 yards to thus enter the 4th down with only 6 yards remaining to run.
Without taking risks, the orange team immediately gave way to the special teams along with the kicker to attempt at least a field goal so as not to leave empty-handed.
Unfortunately, the distance was too much and the kicker's kick ended up swerving and hitting one of the goalposts, causing the team to go away empty-handed without having scored any points at all.
Wyatt, the moment he sat down, immediately concentrated on the situation on the field, knowing that everything he saw would serve him in the following series, besides the fact that this is only an exhibition game and he had already made up his mind that his team would not be able to stand up to the starters from last season.
Authors thought's
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