American winner takes all

Chapter 191 Begins at the one-yard line (44)

Ethan stood on the sidelines, arms folded, watching the Volunteers' third drive.

In the first two gears, Peyton Manning tried to pass large numbers one after another. Once, Joey Kent even came to the front of the formation. If it weren't for Fernando Bryant's extreme push at the last moment, I'm afraid Alas Bama has fallen behind.

Before the start of the third gear, the Volunteers' offensive team gathered together to discuss for a long time, and seemed to be preparing for some kind of tactics.

The Crimson Tide's defensive team was facing a formidable enemy and did not dare to relax at all.

The game officially started. Peyton Manning did not pass the ball forward, but handed it to running back Jay Graham behind him.

The same full-back screen as the Crimson Tide opened the way, Jay Graham crossed the front line with one step, his body had begun to tilt, preparing to move to the right, bypassing the blocking Alabama defender.

At exactly this moment, a huge figure in white clothes flew over sideways. The Alabama player was even hugged around the waist by his opponent, but at this moment he turned into a locomotive and blocked Jay Graham. , knocking him to the ground directly.

Jay Graham landed on his back and even slid back a yard before coming to a complete stop.

The defender who was pressed to the ground stood up, with the distinctive No. 82 on his chest. It was Dwayne Rudd who had competed with Ethan at the beginning.

Dwayne smacked his chest and quickly left the chaotic area, visibly so excited that he walked briskly across the field.

Later, in the slow-motion footage on the big screen at the scene, Ethan saw that at the moment of the kickoff, Dwayne, who was on the line, collided with the Tennessee tight end, but Dwayne did not fight with the opponent. Instead, he kept in mind the task of preventing runs and dragged the opponent to move laterally. The opponent was also quite big and was taken away by Dwayne.

It was his firm transfer at the beginning that allowed Dwayne to appear in the right place at the right time.If you react a little slower or your physical fitness is a little worse, you will be directly broken by the opponent's running back, and you will have to rely on the second-line players to defend.

People will only see the offensive players driving forward in high spirits, but ignore that for the defensive players, every key block determines the direction of the game.

"This is Dwayne, and this is why he is one of the 11 finalists for the Bucs Award. He has completely inherited the great tradition of Alabama linebackers..." The frontline commentator praised Dwayne without hesitation. word.

At the same time, the Tennessee Volunteers started punting again.

"I'm going to rip Peyton Manning's head off." Ethan heard Dwayne's voice next to him as he walked to the sideline.

"Nice block!" Ethan high-fived him.

Dwayne's block boosted morale so much that the players seemed very relaxed. At least from the first quarter, it seemed that Alabama's defense had completed restricting Peyton Manning.

"The rest is up to you, Spuerman!" Dwayne stood side by side with Ethan.

Almost immediately, the Volunteers punter kicked the ball out.

The arc that the rugby ball flew out was obviously wider than the previous few times. Judging from the flight path of the rugby ball, this should be a return of the ball that went out of bounds.

Alabama's special teams also began routinely blocking Tennessee's rushing players.

Everything seemed so normal.

But the next second Ethan felt something was wrong. Judging from the ball's landing point, the ball was in a state of "about to come out but not out".

At the same time, Tennessee's special teams team was obviously prepared. Several people broke up the defense and chased the ball.

The Alabama players on the field were obviously a little relaxed. Everyone thought this was a return, and they didn't even block it too much.

This resulted in at least four Tennessee players rushing over.

The player at the front looked up to observe where the ball would land, grabbed the football before it hit the ground, threw it back, and rescued the ball back into bounds. The second Tennessee player followed shortly after but failed to catch the ball. , but the action of raising the hand also plays the role of cushioning the ball.

The third Tennessee player who arrived later caught the ball firmly.

The position he was standing at this time was... the one-yard line.

"Oh, what a high-wire act, Ronnie No. [-], a converted running back who is now a backup linebacker, caught the ball in bounds!"

In the broadcast footage ahead, Ronnie, who has made great contributions to the team, has begun to hug the players.

In the return, if the punting team gets the ball, the position they stand is the opponent's kickoff position.

In other words, Alabama's new offense starts at the 1-yard line.

If Eason had been tackled while standing in the zone, Tennessee would have scored a safety.

In this case, any short pass is very dangerous. If the ball crosses the service line and is intercepted by the opponent, it is equivalent to giving the opponent a touchdown in vain.

When the ball is kicked off at our own one-yard line, the only option is to pass the ball long.

Ethan knew this, Eugene knew it, and Tennessee head coach Philip Fulmer knew it even better. Wearing an orange jacket, he issued new instructions to the defensive players over the radio.

"Ethan O'Connor came on. As a first-year freshman, he has integrated into the team perfectly. His predecessor Freddy scored 110 touchdowns last year, but also had 37 interceptions. This is not an ideal data. I think Alabama also saw this, so it chose to introduce Ethan O'Connor..." "Ethan O'Connor is currently averaging [-] yards passing per game, [-] yards Running the ball, that's not a high number, I think compared to Peyton Manning, it's still a little bit behind."

"But don't forget that in the first few games of this season, Ethan did not play much playing time as a quarterback. If calculated based on playing time, Ethan O'Connor's yards per minute were sufficient Twice as good as Peyton Manning, so being ranked No. 9 nationally doesn’t do a good job of explaining Ethan’s ability.”

"The most important thing is that Ethan not only has the passing skills of a quarterback, but his running is also very deadly. He also has the rare ability to resist interference. NFL scouts in front of the TV, maybe from this moment you will It’s time to pay attention to this young man…”

In the TV broadcast, Ethan was already in place. Just as the two coaches envisioned, after receiving the ball, Ethan directly chose a long pass with a large number of yards, looking for the right wide receiver Michael Vaughn.

There was no hesitation or any fake moves, it was just a straightforward long pass, which tested the basic skills of Ethan and the wide receiver.

Compared to Peyton Manning's powerful and heavy throw, Ethan didn't even have much arm swinging action, but the speed of the football being released was not slower than that of Peyton Manning. The football drew a slightly curved graceful line in the air. arc.

As the team's top wide receiver, Michael Vaughn showed excellent explosive power. In the two seconds or so that the football was flying in the air, he sprinted with all his strength and ran 26 yards.

But he's quick enough, and the cornerbacks guarding him are quicker.

To be precise, the corner started running at the same time the center kicked off the ball. With a slight distance advantage and a speed that was not weaker than Michael Vaughan, he was obviously one step closer to the ball.

Seeing that the football was about to fall, Michael Wall exerted force on his legs and jumped up, almost pressing the corner in front of him, and he leaped up.

At that moment, the football fell without any bias. Although Michael Vaughn received the first hit, he did not completely catch the ball. In addition, he was in a difficult action and lacked body control. In the end, he failed to catch the ball.

Ethan, who was standing far away, could only shake his head slightly when he saw this scene.

Although the idea is good, the coordination of the body is still a little bit behind.

If you let yourself catch the ball, you may choose to take off with your back. This will not only allow you to observe more where the ball falls, but also control the ball more conveniently after catching the ball.

In the second pass, Ethan still found Michael Vaughn. This time, the placement point changed slightly, and he played closer to the inside. Michael Vaughn's route also changed to a certain extent compared to before, but it was still difficult to escape the opponent's interference. Even though his hand was raised, he still didn't get the ball.

This is Alabama's current dilemma. They have the fourth-best defense in the country, but the offense can no longer find a reliable enough firepower except Sean Alexander.

Last year, he was completely dragged forward by the defensive team.

Since some teammates are unreliable, they can only rely on themselves.

Before the start of the third gear, Ethan and his teammates gathered together and had more time to discuss than before.

"This is Alabama's last offense at the one-yard line. If the pass is still not successful this time, Alabama will have no choice but to punt again..." the frontline commentator said.

But this time Ethan got the ball, but he didn't take action immediately, but looked to the left.

At the same time, the corner that was previously marking Michael Vaughn had started to run forward, but Michael Vaughn, who was in the slot, did not start.

This move alone was enough to distance the two of them.

Michael Vaughan chose the in route at the second time and cut directly inside.

At the same time, the running back has started to break through from the left, the tight end on the right has also started to start, and the full back has started to cover around Ethan.

At the same time, the second-line defense that was lagging behind also began to outflank the right side of its own perspective, and the entire defensive focus began to tilt toward Alabama's left side.

As for the striker around Ethan, it had already been "twisted" into a weird shape, and it could be said that Ethan's side was quite chaotic.

And just behind Ethan, out of his sight, the Tennessee linebacker was approaching.

At this time, Ethan suddenly turned his head and looked to the right, and immediately took action decisively.

At the moment of shooting, you can see a downward movement of Ethan's wrist. If a normal pass is a "throw", then this movement is more like a "push".

Only when you're close enough can you notice that Ethan is holding the ball much further back, only grasping the end of the football.

A series of subtle differences work together to make the football not spin sideways when released, but spin front and back...

Like a spinning top spinning at high speed, several teammates and opponents saw a circular afterimage in the air.

Of course, it is impossible for Ethan's ball to turn around now, but the path of its descent is so steep that it looks a bit weird.

At the same time, the wide receiver Michael blocked the middle linebacker. Although with his size, he might only be able to block the opponent for a moment, but it only needed this moment.

At this time, there was no one around the tight end to mark him. He rushed forward while looking back, and finally caught the ball firmly in his hands...

　Go to bed, see you tonight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)