In America, the winner takes all.

Chapter 170: Multiple punts; dancing knife tips, red lightning
The Crimson Tide players quickly lined up at the 25-yard line. As the referee blew the whistle, the center passed the ball. The tight end and wide receiver on the strong side quickly moved forward, forming a high-low option pass with one near and one far. At this time, the fullback ran to the other side, trying to take away a linebacker.

The opponent was also experienced and saw through the Crimson Tide's intentions almost instantly.

At this moment, all the first-line defensive players, including the forwards and linebackers, began to move closer to the strong side. The second-line defense did not lose their position except for marking the outside cornerback.

This is the kind of dynamic defense Bob Ladouceur once displayed against Ethan...

Standing on the sidelines, Ethan didn't think the ball could be successfully passed.

At the same time, the defensive end also began to approach quarterback Freddie Kitchens. What he needed to face was the running back who changed his duties and became a screen cover on the spot.

However, compared with the huge defensive end, running back Sean Alexander seemed to be under a lot of pressure, and was thrown away by the opponent's defensive end in almost a single encounter.

At the same time, Freddie Kitchens was completely looking at the two legal receivers in the Highland position, seemingly hesitating to whom to pass the ball to.

Just when the defensive end was still two bodies away from Freddy, Freddy suddenly passed forward and passed the ball directly to the running back who was acting as a screen.

After holding the ball, running back Sean Alexander turned around and started directly, choosing a strong breakthrough route through the middle.

For the first time, no one on the defensive front who had changed their defensive focus even looked at Sean. They were still paying attention to the two legal receivers on their right side, and no one reacted until the second time.

"Run the ball!" someone from the defensive team said.

The Crimson Tide's true tactical intention was discovered the second time. By the time the second-line defenders came over, Sean had already crossed the 30-yard line.

It was just that Sean showed a moment of hesitation in his second escape, and before he could disguise himself, he was tackled by the defensive lineman who flew over and rolled on the ground twice.

"Oh..." The audience in the stands let out a strong roar.

Ethan's teeth were aching as he watched on the sidelines. With this intensity of defense, Sean would have to withstand hundreds of pounds of force just by making contact.

As an analogy, being hit by a car may be an exaggeration, but it is also unbearable for ordinary people.

No wonder running backs are consumables. They are constantly being hit like this. Even an iron man will be knocked to pieces one day.

Whether it is speed or strength, it has obviously exceeded the scope of high school football.

What should be most praised is the tactical level. As a solution to dynamic defense, the Crimson Tide used corresponding collective coverage this time, and the execution of the offensive team cannot be underestimated.

A common high-low option pass, plus reverse screen, both are fake moves to confuse the opponent. The real intention is to run the ball. This is a perfectly hidden running tactic.

Judging from the reactions of teammates high-fiving each other, it is obvious that this tactical intention has been achieved.At the same time, Ethan also saw head coach Eugene Strings communicating with offensive coordinator Woody McCovey, who wore glasses and had a cold expression. Ethan silently moved closer.

"The next gear is a passing tactic, a short yardage route." The head coach observed the situation on the sidelines.

"Kitchen, we use the No. tactic against the Falcons, attack the ribs, I repeat the route, shotgun, TE slant WR out post RB corner..." Woody McCovey held a plastic card tactical board , while watching, he whispered into the microphone.

Including the head coach, the offensive coordinator, the quarterbacks on the field are all on the same channel.

The head coach is responsible for giving offensive strategies, and the offensive coordinator is responsible for giving specific routes and offensive lineups.

What the quarterback needs to do is communicate his intentions to all his teammates on the offensive team, and others are responsible for executing.

This tactical implementation process must be repeated every time. It can be said that the head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterback need to make on-the-spot decisions every time they attack.

This also reflects another issue, which is the involvement of the head coach and offensive coordinator... In other team sports, the head coach is only responsible for daily training and on-the-spot supervision, as well as substitution strategies. The command power on the sidelines is actually very important. It's limited, so I can only shout words like "play more imaginatively" from the sidelines.

Risky micro-management on the spot may result in more losses than gains. The melon baldness of the past few years is a typical example.

But the head coach of rugby is different. He needs to communicate closely and formulate tactics. Although he is not on the field, his heart is there. The head coach is the "No. 12 man."

In the second gear, the Crimson Tide really used a short-yardage passing tactic and played a short screen pass. The number one wide receiver, Michael Vaughn, stretched his hands forward and successfully got the ball with a cupping gesture, contributing to the Crimson Tide. Seven yards.

On the first play of 8 yards, the pocket was broken. In order not to be intercepted, Kitchen rushed the ball and the ball was passed out of bounds.

On second block for 8 yards, another wide receiver, Kevin Hall, failed to catch the ball.

"Try a big-size aerial attack!" Coach Eugene's expression became unsightly.

If Ethan was a pure abuser in high school, then the competition at the college level, especially the competition between the five major league teams, would be very extreme. If he is not careful, his offense will fail.

The offensive coordinator flipped the playboard to the back, where dozens of specific offensive combinations were densely written.

"The deer formation..." offensive coordinator Woody McCovey called out the line.

The same near-end cover, this time the two running backs chose to stretch the space and use running positions to try to take away the defenders, but the Falcons still did not fall for the trick, or in other words, they had seen through the Crimson Tide's tactical intentions, and no one paid attention to the two. Instead of running back, he went directly to the quarterback.

From Ethan's perspective, he could see that the two wide receivers, one on the left and the other on the right, had started. Freddy Kitchen dropped the football from his hands, and the next moment he saw a black defensive player on the other side jump up abruptly, showing With his amazing jumping ability, this jump gave Ethan the illusion that he was almost as tall as all the team members.

Then the man waved his hands and blocked the football's flight path. Although he did not successfully intercept the ball, he completely destroyed the pass.

Almost at the same moment the football hit the ground, coach Eugene's voice was heard.

"Punt."

The voice couldn't be called very frustrated. Ethan then saw a group of offensive team players leaving the field, followed closely by the special team players starting to get up.

Including the opponents, the personnel on the field were rotated, and there were forty people coming and going.By the way, there are also staff tidying up the lawn and so on.

This gap usually ends within 1 minute.

One minute can be said to be short or long.The audience in front of the TV also watched the live replay, while the live audience could only stare.

Now Ethan knows why cheerleaders are needed. Football games will be interrupted frequently, and other projects must fill the focus. Football games full of blood and sweat and long-legged blond cheerleaders are the perfect combination.

Ethan also turned his head and looked at the cone-shaped stands diagonally behind the end zone. This position was facing the corner of the field and was close to the field, but the view was not very good. It gradually evolved into a band stand.

The marching bands in these universities have two parts, one is responsible for halftime and opening performances, and the other is responsible for live performances and live music.

As for the Scarlet Dance Troupe, they stood in the front rows as usual, holding music flags and ceremonial dance sticks, performing cabaret-style movements uniformly on the stands, cheering on the spot...

Ethan turned his head and saw that the special teams of both sides were on the field again. The opponent's returner received the ball. Before he could start, he was blocked by the special teams that quickly rushed over to form an encirclement at the 20-yard line, and finally fell to the ground.

The audience burst into cheers. The Falcons' return was only 20 yards. The situation was undoubtedly very favorable to the Crimson Tide.

Although the Crimson Tide's previous offense was blocked, they still played two effective offenses.

The Falcons' offensive team was obviously weaker, and it was even difficult to get the ball out.

When the quarterback was continuously rushed, the first offense was scored by a one-yard gain on the fourth possession of the first round. The second offense of the second round relied on the tight end's reception to gain 8 yards. On the third possession Choose the arch code tactic again.

This time it failed.The quarterback was knocked down behind the line.

Not only did it fail to advance, it also fell back a yard.

The fourth gear also chose to punt.

This is the phenomenon after the defensive intensity suddenly increases.

And Ethan finally got his chance to play.

"Ethan O'Connor walked on the court not knowing what he was going to do with the ball for the first time in his college career."

The host showed expectations. In this case, it would be more of a pressure for other young players, but Ethan didn't have too many concerns in this regard.

He stood at the end of the special team, standing with his legs spread apart and his body squatting forward slightly.

And Ethan's back also fell into the eyes of the girls of the Scarlet Dance Troupe.

Of course they have heard of Ethan's name, but Ethan has been keeping a low profile these days and has been staying in the training hall. No one in the dance troupe has interacted with him.

As the football was kicked out of the arc, the landing point was a little far away from Ethan, and the special teams teammate standing at the 40-yard line received the ball.

At the same time, all the opponent's special service team members were activated, and Ethan also rushed forward.

His teammates also understood and passed the ball directly backwards to Ethan.

At this time, from Ethan's perspective, there were more than a dozen opponents facing him, and several teammates in front of him.

"RUN! Ethan, RUN!" the special teams coach shouted from the sidelines.

Ethan held the ball and accelerated with all his strength, but he ran in a direction that no one expected...

"Ethan O'Connor started crossing the field laterally!"

In the defensive line formed by the red uniforms of Alabama's home team, a figure quickly moved laterally from the line. He wore a red helmet and quickly ran diagonally to the sideline, and then began to run along the sideline.

"Run!" As he passed by his own bench, Ethan heard special teams coach Danny Pillman shouting behind him.

Along the way, we passed the Alabama female team members wearing home red cheerleading uniforms. Ethan whizzed past, causing a burst of cheers and screams, and the breeze brought up made his skirts rise slightly!

Ethan chose a very reckless route. Such a lateral transfer directly gave up the cover of his teammates.

Correspondingly, he can also use his speed to get out of the gap and break into the half court directly.

This is a very rare yardage for a punt return.

But Ethan has to do much more than that!

In front of him are several figures of brown and yellow players, which are the uniforms of the Falcons.One person rushed over from the front, and the other three started to double-team Ethan from the inside.

Their purpose is very simple.

Now Ethan is on the edge of the field, and there are only two routes: forward and inward.

As long as these two routes are blocked, God will not be able to reach the formation.

At the same time, Ethan was also observing quickly. In addition to the four opponents closest to him, there were also a large number of opponents outflanking these people.

Even if he cuts inside, he still needs to face double-teaming by multiple people.

In a very short period of time, Ethan made a choice, without any intention of changing direction, but rushed forward directly in a straight line.

Relying on his speed, Ethan gradually surpassed the players who were outflanking him from the inside. At this time, there was only one opponent in front of him.

The two collided head-on!
"Oh!!!" The spectators present today exclaimed.

Then thunderous cheers broke out.

The opponent who collided with Ethan lost his support and flew directly out of bounds, while Ethan's footsteps only stagnated slightly.

The next moment, Ethan, whose speed paused for a second, was about to be overtaken by the opponent behind him. At the same time, there were two more opponents in front of him.

Five people formed a circle and surrounded Ethan tightly.

At this time, Ethan only has space on the right side, which is out of bounds.

Ethan moved, holding the ball with both hands. He seemed to be rushing forward, but at the last moment he moved from the extremely small sideline space. His whole body was already outside the boundary, and only his feet were standing on the inside of the sideline.

The three opponents opened their arms at the same time, almost touching the corners of Ethan's clothes, but Ethan dodged them.

Ethan's body almost completely collapsed in this state, and as he turned around, his waist core suddenly exerted force, and he controlled his body shape, and finally walked out from the outside of the encirclement.

"I can't believe my eyes!"

“Ethan O’Connor used the touchline as a ballet stage, it was like dancing on the tip of a knife!”

Even the opponent was shocked by Ethan's somewhat bizarre movements, and the third layer of encirclement did not even form an effective barrier to Ethan.

And just when Ethan stepped into the zone, the football slipped from his hand, and he was ready to welcome the cheers of the audience, the linesman's whistle also sounded.

"There is no doubt that this is one of the top ten shots of the year, but the linesman has doubts about whether Ethan went out of bounds. Currently, the referee, including the referee and assistant referee, are watching the live replay. Please wait for a moment..." The host respond.

Everyone was subconsciously looking at the big screen on the third floor of the stands.

At this time, the big screen was constantly replaying Ethan's incredible breakthrough scene from different angles...

In slow motion, many details are clearly presented.

Start, twist, turn around, lean over, complete the turn, twist the body, start again, crisp, easy and freehand, not like being in a rugby field with fierce body collisions, but like Alaba dancing to the violin in a country club Horse local dancer.

On the side of the Crimson Tide bench, including more than a dozen coaches and staff, as well as the remaining 30 teammates on the roster, everyone was looking up at the big screen, their mouths subconsciously opened wide, and their expressions looked unbelievable. The one who had the biggest reaction was It was special teams coach Danny Pillman, who was holding his head in his hands and clenching his teeth.

On the other side of the stand in the corner of the end zone, the members of the stand band and the thirty young girls from the Scarlet Dance Troupe also had dumbfounded expressions.

The scene conductor and director who was supposed to be standing on the ladder could not help but turn his head and look at the big screen.

"This is incredible." Several people standing in the front row looked at each other, and the blond one among them whispered.

"His waist is really good." Another girl with slightly darker hair responded with a smile, as if she had discovered something different.

In addition to wearing the same uniforms, the members of the Scarlet Dance Troupe also wear the same heavy makeup, with large blushes, flaming red lips, and the same hairstyles of long, middle-parted hair and big waves. At first glance, their faces even look a bit... similar.

After half a minute of replay, the live footage was shown to the referee.

He pointed toward the Crimson Tide half.

"Crimson Tide touchdown."

Audiences who have suppressed and accumulated energy can finally release it to their fullest!Even the cheerleaders on the sidelines jumped for joy, and Ethan's teammates even rushed forward and swarmed to hug Ethan.

The members of the Falcon team stood with their hands on their hips and lowered their heads subconsciously, looking quite helpless. Ethan's move made them feel somewhat helpless.

A direct touchdown on the return carries extra points. Ethan watched the kicker walk up and begin to return to the sidelines.

"Great job!" The kicker high-fived Ethan.

Ethan walked out of the formation area and walked around half of the stadium. As he walked, Ethan saw many spectators cheering for him.

They were shouting their names.

Ethan only needed one return attack to conquer many local Alabama fans.

Back in the substitute area, all the teammates who made the roster high-fived Ethan.

"Your performance just now was great. Oh, the soles of your feet are buttered, and your waist is like a spring." Michael Vaughn, a black teammate at the wide receiver, imitated Ethan's movements vividly.

"Well done, young man." Special teams coach Danny Pillman took off Ethan's helmet and patted Ethan's face.

"But don't forget your trial, there are still 210 yards left."

·
"He took off his helmet, he is really handsome." There were whispers among the cheerleaders, and some even took the initiative to say hello to Ethan.

But Ethan still focused more on the court.

With this return touchdown, the Crimson Tide began to take the initiative, and their teammates felt more at ease, but the offense was still hindered. At the end of the first quarter, head coach Eugene could only choose to punt again.

You must know that the Falcons are only a team ranked outside the top 1 in the country. Although they are still a D-A team, they are still far behind the top teams.

But the offense of the Crimson Tide, which ranked 21st last year, was continuously hampered.

"It's a higher level of football, and it's more difficult than high school football," special teams coach Danny Pillman shrugged.

Facing the Crimson Tide's defensive team, the Falcons' offensive team was also overwhelmed and chose to punt again before entering the Crimson Tide's half.

"It's another chance to show off your power, again the key word, run!" Danny Pillman patted Ethan on the back.

Ethan put on his helmet and ran into the field with small steps.

Compared with high school football, college football is much more professional in terms of equipment.The shoulder and chest armor are integrated into one piece, which is portable enough and adds defensive properties. It is also tailor-made according to the body shape of the team members, making it more close-fitting.In the locker room, each person has multiple sets of brand-new equipment that they can choose at will. There are also more than a dozen pairs of sneakers in different colors. Of course, these are all private gifts from the manufacturers.Even everyone's helmets are specially made. Compared with his high school days, Ethan feels that the most obvious change is that two holes are opened in the ears so that he can truly hear the sounds on the field.

This time the ball kicked by the opponent's kicker landed at the right spot, and Ethan got the ball very comfortably. This was earlier than when he got the ball just now, and it also gave Ethan more choices.

He recalled the coach's words and cleared his mind completely. Only the court was left in his sight. Ethan started, without any change of direction this time, and rushed straight ahead.

The first defender was nimbly dodged by him in a sudden change, and then faced with two defenders flying towards him from different directions at the same time, Ethan immediately froze.

This critical pause immediately disrupted the opponent's prediction, and eventually the two defenders collided directly.

Ethan effortlessly bypassed the two of them. At this time, there were many enemies in front of him. They rushed towards him with all their strength despite the obstruction of their teammates.

Four on the left and four on the right, almost all routes forward are blocked...

Fortunately, this time there was a teammate to cover.

Then the situation becomes extremely simple!
Ethan's two long legs were completely stretched out, as if taking a physical test. Before his opponent had time to form a circle, he only relied on pure speed to move forward.

Eugene Sterlings, who was still sitting on the chair, suddenly stood up and looked at Ethan who was running wildly on the field.

Curley Holman, the equally experienced secondary coach, was also wide-eyed.

In the eyes of the audience, Ethan was indeed very fast, almost eating his opponents alive.

In the eyes of experienced coaches, there is a difference between fast and fast.

Ethan was obviously the fastest one. When running at full speed, it was even difficult to distinguish his figure with the naked eye. He could only see a red afterimage rushing past his eyes.

According to the normal speed, Ethan should have been stopped at halftime, but with his speed, Ethan rushed to the opponent's thirty-yard line before encountering the defense. It was difficult for the opponent to keep up with Ethan's speed.

Now there are only thirty yards away from the opponent's zone, and you can even directly choose to kick the ball to score. The situation has become very favorable for the offensive team.

The cornerstone of the offensive team is actually the returner.

The Crimson Tide's offensive team, who played again this time, was greatly confident. In the end, relying on Freddy Kitchen's pass touchdown, the Crimson Tide further widened the score gap.

As for the Falcons, the current score is still -0.

"Keep this state until the end of the third quarter, and we will win this game." Coach Eugene specifically called Ethan aside and said specifically.

As for why he said that...it's naturally because Ethan is such a "very useful" player. It can be said that it directly broke the deadlock.

This is the most intuitive manifestation of personal ability, the ability to turn the situation around and make the possible impossible.

Ethan nodded: "I will maintain my condition until the end of this game, including the next game, and the next game! Until we win the national championship."

(End of this chapter)