We're not in love. Our past is a dumpster fire. The best we are is friends with benefits... without the friends' part.
Jake Harrison, USC's star quarterback, goes through girls faster than jock straps. If that's not disgusting enough, he's my best f...
After a quiet night's sleep, as quiet as Drake's soft snores and his phone's constant update pings were, the team assembled downstairs for breakfast. Like before any game, most of the sounds in the hotel banquet hall were the clinks that erupted from utensils scraped on plates.
Once packed up and checked out, our buses drove us through the small, postcard-like town of Pullman towards campus. The sky looked bigger even with all the giant evergreen trees that grew here behind all the red brick buildings on campus. The air, colder with a crisp bite, nipped at my cheeks and the tip of my nose when we exited off the bus.
The Cougars welcomed us into Martin Stadium with a sold-out, thirty-five thousand-plus-sized crowd. Since WSU currently sat second in the PAC-12's North Division, right behind their cross-state rival the UW Huskies, this game was equally important to both teams.
In the cold, damn near arctic air that swirled around the stadium, WSU came out and hit us hard. They executed their plays with laser-like precision and their defense hung on my receivers like shadows.
Up for the challenge, bruised nipples and all, Evan played like he ran from an active volcano. His feet threaded him all over the damn field like a man possessed, two steps ahead of my throws. Whatever resurgence he played with, whatever fire had been lit under his ass, it was infectious. Zach, Griff, even Jackson caught their grooves, hit the marks in their routes, and made my job easier than I'd thought. With the swirling winds, we limited our plays to shorter passing plays but their post-catch yardage gains made every reception productive.
Our defense had a rough night as they tried to stop WSU's run-and-shoot offense, where receivers made adjustments based on the defensive setups they saw and changed their routes on the fly. I personally found it confusing and more haphazard than designated plays but the Cougars executed it flawlessly. Most of the time I was on the sidelines, I stood, mesmerized like a spectator at their random but effective offensive system.
Their quarterback, Jace Christian, just a third-year player in his first full season but I name I'd seen on a few quarterback ranking lists, made our normally solid defense shakier than they were comfortable with. The crowd cheered loudly whenever he challenged our defensive linebackers and cornerbacks, since they opted for man-on-man coverage tonight instead of their usual zone defense.
He's one to watch next year, that's for sure.
With as much control as I had, I pushed out one offensive play after another. My boys came through and scored liberally for us through the entire game. Despite a close, hard-fought game, we left Martin field scratched, bruised, exhausted, and steam swirled off our sweat-soaked heads and necks.
But we also lifted our chins high, and the Trojans' egos soared even higher, with a 45-38 win.
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