In America, the winner takes all.

Chapter 190 I've Been Possessed (34)

Compared with similar games, this matchup has high ratings in California, especially in the Los Angeles area.

Many residents around BHHS are watching Ethan closely to see how far he can go on the college football field.

At the same time, in Berkeley, California, Columbus, Ohio, and in the dormitory of UCLA, Ethan's friends were also locking the CBS Sports Channel.At this moment, in the United Kingdom on the other side of the ocean, several young models who have just moved here are constantly adjusting the channel. Unfortunately, there is no trace of American football there...

Compared with football, rugby is not highly internationalized. The influence of rugby is limited to a few countries, and American rugby is exclusive to Americans.

·
At this moment, in the locker room of Langley Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, Crimson Tide head coach Eugene is holding a dark brown and black wooden box, which contains a row of brand-new Cuban cigars, showing them to the players one by one. Afterwards, he snapped the wooden box shut.

"I hope everyone has cigars to smoke later." Ethan heard his teammates around him suddenly say.

It sounds like it is some kind of special competition tradition, the details are unknown.

Eugene looked around at everyone: "I know you want to bring the SEC championship title back to Alabama this year. To achieve this goal, the Tennessee Volunteers are the mountain we must climb over."

Since there are so few games, it can be said that every game is crucial.

Ethan looked at the teammates around him, many of whom had serious expressions.

As for Ethan himself, he was recalling the scene of the "missed pass" in his mind.

Not to mention his opponents, even his teammates don't know that he has been practicing this weird passing method in private these days.

This time when the team came on stage, Ethan was significantly further forward. At this time, the stadium was already filled with a sea of ​​orange.

The University of Tennessee cheerleaders lined up in the iconic "T" aisle, and the crowd booed the arrival of the Alabama players.

But when it comes to aggression, it's almost the same as the local Alabama fans.

When the University of Tennessee players came out, Michael Vaughn, the wide receiver next to Ethan, pointed to the opponent's player with No. 86 on his jersey.

"That's Joey Kent, the Tennessee Volunteers' No. wide receiver and Alabama Renegade."

Although the Crimson Tide did not have half a month to prepare for this game like the Tennessee Volunteers, they took advantage of the last week to study their opponents extensively.

Ethan, in particular, now has a deep understanding of both the defense and offense.

In addition to the wide receiver Joey Kent, the Tennessee Volunteers' main running back Jay Graham cannot be ignored. He holds the record for the most runs of more than yards in a single season.

The defensive end should not be underestimated either. The defensive back is Terrance Fair, a first-round pick in 98, and the two defensive ends are Sean Ellis, a first-round pick in 2000, and the other in 98. Jonathan Brown was selected by the Packers, and the linebacker was Al Wilson, a first-round pick in 99.

They were all black and hard, and they were as strong as bison. There were many players with the same physique as Ethan.

Finally, Ethan saw Peyton Manning. Through the gap in the helmet, he could see the dark green eyelocks painted on his face, which are two thick horizontal lines under his eyes.

Eye locks are not only decorative war lines, but also have the function of preventing interference from direct sunlight.

"The seats in the stadium today are packed to the brim, and there are even many fans gathered outside the stadium. Everyone must be curious about who is the strongest quarterback in the new generation. Don't worry, the answer will be in It will be announced in four hours," the host said loudly.

Ethan lost the coin toss without any accident. He had forgotten that this was the first time he had lost the coin toss.

Losing once, twice, or even five or ten times in a row was more or less within the normal range. Now Ethan only felt that there was some weird "bad luck" hanging over him.

As the two teams' special teams took the field, Ethan heard defensive coordinator Mike DuBose gather the defensive players together and repeat something loudly.

Ethan heard the name "Peyton Manning."

In a common opening play, the Volunteers kicked off the game from the 25-yard line.

"Peyton Manning, currently ranked seventh in the country, caught over three hundred passing yards last year against Alabama, the first Crimson Tide to do so under Eugene Sterlings. A quarterback who throws for three hundred yards..."

A close-up of Manning appeared on the television screen.

Mia stared at the TV intently. Before she even had time to finish reading this sentence, she saw that within one second after Peyton Manning held the ball, the pocket was completely lost, and the offensive line in front of Peyton was directly scattered.

Right next to Payton, his teammates were entangled with the Alabama defensive end. The two were only one position away from Payton, but Payton did not panic. Instead, he stood there, observing towards the one o'clock direction, and then quickly He turned his head, looked towards the ten o'clock direction, and shot a powerful long ball...

Ethan, who was sitting on the bench, immediately stood up.

The ball was extremely fast, flying over half of the field in less than two seconds.

Peyton Manning was looking for Joey Kent. At this time, Joey Kent, who was walking in a straight line, had already completed his escape. Fernando Bryant at the corner was a full two yards away from him.

At this time, Joey Kent even completed his turn. The ball hit him squarely in the stomach. Joey made a motion of dragging the ball with both hands... Ethan looked at Joey Kent who was near the sideline. The ball did not bounce back between his hands, but fell naturally from the gap between his stomach and his hands.

Failed to catch the ball.

"Fuck!" Ethan heard a frightened exclamation from his teammates.

If this ball is successfully caught, it will get at least 35 yards.

Peyton Manning is indeed fierce. He started off with a fake move. It looked like he was preparing to attack from the right, but in fact, his killer move was from the left.

"Fortunately, the ball failed." Another teammate said.

25 yards on second down.

The second offense was almost the same situation. The Volunteers' offensive line was quickly dispersed. This time Payton chose to turn around, run along the left side, ran about four steps, and fired and passed the ball while running.The speed of the ball was even worse than last time. This time, Joey Kent failed to predict the flight trajectory of the football. The football hit the ground diagonally and rolled down the field.

Before the third offensive attack, head coach Eugene sent in additional second-line defenders.

At the beginning of the third gear, the Volunteers' offensive line was crushed again. Payton only had one second to pass the ball. With Alabama players rushing towards him on both sides, he calmly fired in the middle. .

But the ball hit the arm of the outflanking tight end...

"Alabama's defensive coordinator said in his pregame conference that one of the keys to this game was being able to pressure Peyton Manning and limit the Volunteers' blitzes! And now it looks like they did that."

“There’s no question that Alabama’s front line has a great tradition!”

In front of the TV, the commentator analyzed the tactics of the Alabama defensive team.

Rushing the quarterback is a gift given to Peyton Manning by the Alabama defense.In the past week, the defensive team continued to practice this tactic.

On the fourth offense, the Volunteers chose to punt.

Eason was also sent on the field, trailing behind, while the Tennessee Volunteers punter chose a steeper punt route and a shorter one.

Ethan was standing in a position where he couldn't get the ball at all, and almost as soon as his teammate received the ball, the Tennessee Volunteers defensive team hit him.

This return only gained three yards.

"Alabama has the highest kickoff return average in the country this year, and that's thanks to the amazing Ethan..."

Kickoff at the 37-yard line.

After getting the ball, Ethan did not respond with a long pass, but passed it directly to Sean Alexander behind him.

Sean immediately circled around and outflanked the No. 1 linebacker. After dodging the No. 39 linebacker, he turned around and tried to escape. However, he was directly knocked down by the two outflanking defenders. He fell to the -yard line.

In the second gear, Ethan once again handed the ball to Sean Alexander. This time he tried to break through the middle. The fullback was in front and immediately withstood the linebacker. Sean followed and got into the gap opened by the fullback... During the melee, Sean was knocked down.

"Tennessee's defensive speed is a problem that Alabama must face today!" Gary Danielson's voice came from the TV.

He was a quarterback for the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns before choosing to retire in 88.

The ball kicked off at 42 yards. After holding the ball, Ethan chose to observe on the spot. The pocket in front of him was completely deformed at this time. The offensive line changed from the original horizontal direction to almost an inverted V shape. The offensive line teammates fought on their own. He fought tooth and nail to stop his opponent.

Ethan also maintained his composure and passed the ball out at the moment when the forward line completely collapsed.

Even though wide receiver Marcel West does not have the ability to get rid of this ball like Joey Kent, he has been interfered with before catching the ball.

The Alabama Crimson Tide also elected to punt.

Tennessee's return was almost seven or eight yards, and the ball carrier was brought down at the thirty-yard line.

"The Tennessee Volunteers will conduct the second round of offense below, let us take a break!"

Then the TV screen switched to commercials, Adidas sneakers, Xerox color printers, Michelin tires, Prego tomato sauce...

"Why are there always so many advertisements in football games?" Mia put her hands on the back of her head and couldn't help complaining.

She calculated that for every minute of watching the game, she would have to watch the same amount of advertising time, and there might even be more advertising time.I didn't think it was anything when I watched it live before, but now I'm getting more and more anxious.

"Maybe this is why rugby games are so popular on TV stations?" Catherine on the side also laughed.

You will understand the meaning of this sentence only after watching a football game. Compared with other sports, football games are always easily interrupted. Every offensive and defensive transition will enter an advertisement. There are more punts and the number of advertisements on the TV greatly increase.There's nothing joking about advertising a game.

"If someone can create a kind of endless rugby, maybe this sport will be more popular." Mia whispered.

The Volunteers' second-round offense began to make targeted adjustments in the face of the fast-breaking Alabama.

In the first gear, Manning handed the ball directly to the running back, and the opponent's middle breakthrough advanced 3 yards.

In the second gear, Manning fired again while moving. Fortunately, Alabama's left corner was Fernando Bryant. This later main corner of the Patriots dynasty caused considerable interference to Joey Kent, and the pass was again fail.

In the third gear, the Tennessee Volunteers also used a special quarterback-less tactic. Peyton Manning stood at the receiver's position and the running back stood behind the center. However, this wildcat formation did not achieve the expected purpose.

Tennessee once again missed a first down opportunity.

Ethan, who was standing on the sidelines, did not dare to be careless. Judging from the result, the current score was still zero to zero, but from the situation point of view, both sides were mentally tense.

If anyone relaxes even a little bit, the game will immediately tilt towards the opponent...

·
In front of the TV, Mia couldn't help but yawn when she saw the Tennessee Volunteers punting again.

"When will Ethan come on stage again?" Mia muttered, but the next second she saw an incredible scene.

"Alabama has been tricked!" Catherine frowned.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally by the Tennessee Volunteers, a special punt tactic put Alabama into a great passive situation...

　I found the original video of this game (because I have to watch the video repeatedly, so I write it slowly)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)