Adjusting the helmet over his head, Wyatt entered alongside the rest of the Tigers' offensive unit, while the Syracuse team also sent their defensive unit onto the field, who held fierce looks on their faces, knowing they had to prevent the Tigers team from reaching the end zone at all costs.
Forming the huddle with Wyatt at the center of it all, he began to give his instructions to the players. "Alright guys, first let's test their defense, so let's try a run toward the outside zone," Wyatt began to explain before his gaze fell upon Zac Brooks and C.J. Davidson, the two running backs they had available on the field at that moment.
Both had arrived on the team last year, with Zac being the most prominent of the two, being a 4-star recruit and ranking among the top 20 running backs in the past recruiting class.
In his debut season, he rushed for 26 carries with 119 rushing yards, solid numbers which he seemed capable of doubling this season now that he had completely adapted to the NCAA level and had better physical preparation.
Looking at both quickly, he made a decision. "Zac, we'll run a Swing play, so once you receive the ball, I want you to bounce outside as fast as you can to the sideline," Wyatt explained to him thoroughly.
"Count on it, Bro," Zac said while nodding his head.
"Alright boys, let's do this," Wyatt finished saying while clapping, and the huddle broke to start the play.
With referee Pat Garvey putting the ball in position, both teams began to take their places, ready for the game to resume quickly.
On this occasion, the Tigers team adopted an I-formation, with both running backs, Zac and C.J., lining up behind Wyatt, who was also in position, ready to receive the ball from the center.
"Set Hut!!" Wyatt suddenly shouted, receiving the ball in his hands while the offensive line quickly clashed against the Syracuse defense.
Without wasting any time, Wyatt dropped back to hand the ball off to Zac, who secured the ball against his chest and began running directly toward the line of scrimmage, almost as if looking to burst right through it.
But at the last second before he arrived, Zac braked hard while tilting his body to the right, beginning to run diagonally, looking to cut through the Syracuse defense along the sideline of the field.
Seeing that, the defense immediately wanted to lean in that direction, but the offensive line did not allow them to, completely holding off the defensive line so they could allow Zac to gain the necessary yards.
The cornerback also tried to get close to the running back who was in possession of the ball at that moment, but found himself held off by the receiver, who in this case was responsible for blocking him to prevent him from getting close.
Following behind Zac was the team's tight end, Seckinger, who upon seeing how the opposing team's linebacker was approaching dangerously close to his position, immediately got ahead of Zac and began to wrestle with the linebacker, bringing him down in the process.
With the path ahead relatively clear, Zac began to accelerate, looking to gain the greatest amount of yards possible until finally being brought down by the opposing team's safety, who was prepared for that moment.
Upon seeing how the running back had been brought down, sighs of relief began to be heard throughout the stadium, these coming from the Syracuse fans who feared that on the Tigers team's very first play, they would end up scoring a touchdown.
"And there you have it, Clemson responds with an 18-yard run by sophomore running back Zac Brooks," said the voice of Chris, who had been attentive to the entire path and execution of the play in question.
"And boy, did Clemson come prepared for this game; after all, the way Zac cut diagonally and how both the receiver and the tight end of the Tigers team cleared the way for him clearly indicates that this was a scripted play," Sean added while he, along with the rest of the people in the arena, watched the replay on the stadium's jumbotron.
"Come on guys, don't give up," said one of the Syracuse team fans who was present in the stadium that day, his voice being drowned out by the noise of the crowd.
"Don't let them beat you, you can still bring them down," said another more die-hard fan, who wore a faded team jersey.
"Defense! Defense!" suddenly a few people started chanting, until out of nowhere the entire Wireless Dome began to repeat the same word, hoping to make their team react.
Down on the field, Coach Scott Shafer had seen the entire play and had gathered next to his new defensive coordinator to discuss some aspects of the game, with the camera pointing in his direction.
With the clipboard over his mouth, Scott finished discussing with the defensive coordinator before nodding and starting to give instructions to the middle linebacker to relay them to the rest of the players on the field.
"Switching to Cover 3, Cover 3," was heard through the microphone while one of Syracuse's safeties was seen leaving the field and another cornerback entered, so the defense shifted to having only a single deep safety.
"They want to limit our ground game," was the thought that arose in Wyatt's mind as he watched the adjustments being carried out by Syracuse.
"Let's switch to a shotgun formation now. Sammy, Adam, run deep to both flanks; I want you to spread the attention of the safety and cornerbacks," Wyatt said quickly to his teammates before they lined up in position again, ready for second down.
"And now the Tigers team has a 1st and 10 again, just 31 yards away from the end zone," Sean said while Wyatt immediately called for the ball.
"Set Hut!" Wyatt shouted again for play to resume, but this time he dropped back further than usual while holding the ball at helmet level, looking for a clean passing lane.
With Clemson's offensive line holding off the Syracuse defense for the moment, Wyatt took a moment to carefully scan the field, seeing how indeed the safety had leaned toward the side where Sammy was running to receive the deep pass, while on the other side, Adam found himself with a relatively clean route.
Gathering strength, Wyatt immediately cocked his arm back and then unleashed a powerful throw that completely cut through the line of scrimmage, continuing deep.
Seeing the ball soar deep, the heads of several players—both those on the field and those on their respective benches—had their gazes fixed on the ball.
The Syracuse team's safety immediately locked onto the direction the ball was heading, and a look of panic could be seen under his helmet.
"Oh no," was the thought that ran through the safety's head as he immediately began to sprint toward the opposite corner, where the Tigers team's second receiver was located, who had been discounted due to the greater threat that Sammy represented.
But despite his best efforts and running as fast as he could, he could do nothing but watch helplessly as Adam calmly hauled in the ball, to then simply take a few more steps, ending up in the end zone.
"And touchdown!!" was heard through the sound system around the stadium once Adam's feet touched the end zone.
Spiking the ball against the ground, Adam began to do his celebration dance right in the middle of the end zone under the shouts and boos from the Syracuse fans, who could not tolerate their team falling behind just a few minutes after the game had started.
"Booo!!" were the sounds of the jeers heard especially in the corner where Adam was, who kept celebrating as if the fans' noise didn't matter to him in the slightest.
Sammy, who was the closest person to Adam, immediately approached his teammate and began to join the celebration while the rest of the Tigers' offense arrived and celebrated the score.
"That's what I'm talking about," Wyatt said while slapping Adam's helmet, who still had a smile under his visor.
"And with a 30-yard pass, Wyatt secures the first points of this game, leaving the Syracuse defense paralyzed," Sean said into the microphone while the celebration down on the field was still underway.
"I'll say, a pass of that distance caught the Syracuse defense completely off guard, as they had increased the number of defensive backs looking to prevent rushing situations," Chris added while watching the replay of Wyatt's pass.
"The moment Sterling was seen dropping back, it looked like he would attempt a long-distance pass, but we never expected a 30-yard bomb that ended just a yard into the end zone," Sean explained in front of the studio cameras for thousands of fans who had the program tuned in.
"We shouldn't take credit away from Adam Humphries; he is a good receiver, but Wyatt's precision with that pass was what allowed the Tigers to score the touchdown," was Chris's final comment as he watched the celebration slowly come to an end.
Under the insistence of referee Pat Garvey, the Clemson offensive team left the field with their spirits still high, while letting the special teams unit enter for the extra point kick.
"All yours, Chandler," Wyatt said just as he passed next to Chandler Catanzaro, the team's kicker, who simply gave a thumbs-up to signal that he had it and entered along with the rest of the special unit.
With total composure, Chandler managed to send the ball right through the uprights, ending up securing the extra point, putting the scoreboard in Clemson's favor in the opening minutes since the game had started.
7-0 Clemson in the lead.
"Good job, everyone," Dabo said to all the players of the offensive unit while the defensive unit took the field after the kickoff, and the Syracuse offensive team also returned to the field, looking to score points.
On Syracuse's second offensive drive, this time the team under the command of quarterback Terrell Hunt did not attempt any more deep passes, relying completely on the ground game and trusting in the abilities of their running backs.
Seeing that, Coach Dabo made the relevant substitutions on defense, causing the advances by Syracuse to become increasingly difficult and keeping the clock ticking down.
At 28 yards away from the end zone, the Syracuse team found themselves in a critical situation, entering a 3rd and 6, which became a clutch down.
"Set hut!" Terrell shouted while receiving the ball, but on this occasion Terrell pulled the ball up while the tight end stood right at the height of the line of scrimmage and turned, expecting to receive the ball in his hands.
What Terrell was looking for was a flat route, trusting in the tight end's strength to power through the cornerback who was behind him.
But perhaps due to the quickness with which he unleashed his pass, it sailed slightly off-target, causing it to slip through the tight end's hands and end up hitting the ground.
With a look of panic, the tight end immediately dropped on top of it, knowing that the situation would get worse if the cornerback behind him managed to strip it away.
With the referee's whistle, the down was ruled over, and Terrell gave way to the special teams unit to at least secure a field goal and not go away empty-handed.
But Terrell, just like the rest of the offensive unit, could only watch as the kicker kicked the ball and it ended up drifting wide, shaving the outside of one of the uprights.
Knowing that the situation was critical, Terrell simply pulled the helmet off his head while burying his face in his arms, trying to calm the nerves that were beginning to surge inside his head.
On the other hand, the Clemson offensive unit made their entry back onto the field with their gazes completely focused, looking to secure a new score.
Authors thought
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