Dog Walked
“Tulane has fielded a varsity football team for 159 years and have only produced three undefeated teams. Could the 2052 edition of the Green Wave join their counterparts in 1900, 1929 and 1998 and finish the campaign with a zero in the loss column? As they take the field for Senior Day, we’ll see if they can get one step closer.”
“I just can’t see Mississippi State or 2052’s LSU beating this team. They have thoroughbreds all over the field, and they’ve shown that they are arguably the team to beat all season. I think their next big test will be in the SEC championship game in a few weeks. If they can navigate that, we’re going to have to start talking about them as national championship contenders.”
“It looks like we’re getting underway here in Yulman Stadium for the final time this season as Neal Cooper signals that he’s prepared to kickoff. The ball is up…”
…
Devin crouched low in his stance, his eyes on the receiver opposite him. A tall, bulky wideout, the receiver looked like he belonged at the end of the line of scrimmage, not split out wide on the right side of the field.
He glanced inside as the quarterback stepped up to the line to survey the defense. He barked out his cadence, pointing out Ray who was creeping into the box to blitz, and calling out adjustments to the offensive linemen.
The ball was snapped. The receiver exploded off the line, his first steps quick and powerful. Devin placed a hand on his shoulder to shove him off balance, but there was no give.
The receiver made a sharp cut to the inside while using his arm to create some separation, but Devin stayed with him, his feet mirroring every movement. The receiver planted his foot and whipped his body around to cut back to the outside.
It’d given the receiver a half a step on Devin. He could see the receiver’s eyes looking into the backfield, hands beginning to extend toward the ball. Closing the distance, Devin lunged, arm outstretched, aiming for the space in front of the receiver’s hands.
He felt the ball smack into his outstretched fingers and caught a glimpse of brown leather as he tumbled to the turf. When he came to a stop, the ball was sitting on the turf next to him.
…
“No gain on the play as Mississippi State tries to run the ball on second down. Alec Lewis on the stop for the Green Wave.”
…
“Just out of reach for Randy Holland, but Christian Vaughn had him locked up. The Bulldogs go three and out on their first drive of the game.”
…
“Big run on first down from Tulane’s Tyrone Frazier. Fifteen yards on the play and the Green Wave are already on the 50.”
…
“Reyes drops back, scanning the field. He fires it out to senior Nigel Conrad who picks up the first down with a gain of 11.”
…
“Tucker Beal makes the reception and powers forward for an extra three or four yards on the play. They’re marking him down at the Mississippi State 30.”
…
Caesar jogged to his place out wide on the right, his eyes scanning the secondary as he settled into his stance. He checked his alignment with the official on the sideline before stealing a glance at the cornerback lined up across from him. The corner cheated to the outside, his hands clenching and unclenching as he watched for the snap.
One of the safeties rotated down into the box as Darren shouted adjustments at the team. He looked in Caesar’s direction and tapped the top of his helmet before settling back next to Tyrone in the shotgun.
The ball was snapped.
Caesar burst off the line, feinting to the inside. The cornerback bit on the movement and jumped forward. Caesar then planted his foot and exploded to the outside, sending the cornerback spinning to the turf as his brain moved faster than his feet.
The ball was already in the air when Caesar glanced over his shoulder. He watched it arc over his shoulder and into his hands. A perfectly placed ball despite his being open.
Not bothering to tuck the ball, he hit the sideline with nothing but open field ahead of him. The lone high safety tried to get an angle on him, but it was all for naught.
Caesar slowed down as he crossed the goal line, flipping the ball over his shoulder and pounding on his chest in celebration.
…
“Jordan Oliver is running for his life back there! He’s trying to turn around to throw the ball away but there are flashes of olive at every turn! And down he goes for a huge loss of 14 yards. Blair Volken and Mario Miles will be credited with the sack.”
…
“Oliver drops back on second do—No! He’s crushed by Kendrick Best for a second straight sack! Tulane’s bringing the heat early on in this one.”
“He won’t be happy with his left tackle Robin Padilla. He completely sold on that play and let Best have a free run at his quarterback’s back. They’re lucky that he managed to hold on to the ball, because Oliver knew nothing about that.”
…
“Listen to that crowd. There’s no way they can hear down on the field! Flag on the field. It looks like every Bulldog lineman went early on that one.”
…
“Mississippi State goes with a run on third and eternity and they’ll be punting it back to the Tulane and I don’t think the fans in this stadium have sat down yet!”
“They know how to party in New Orleans, Doc!”
…
“Reyes escapes the pocket, puts the moves on a defensive back and dives forward for a gain of six on the play.”
…
“Frazier plows up the middle for five. You don’t see him going up the middle too often, but I don’t think Tulane respects the interior of this Bulldog defense.”
…
“Jenkins hauls it in for his second catch of the game and he’s down at the 21.”
…
“Junie Greer on the receiving end of this one for a gain of 12, and the Green Wave are already threatening to go up by two scores.”
…
“Reyes hands it off to Frazier off tackle and he waltz into the endzone to make it 13-0 Tulane here in the early goings of the first quarter!”
“Doc, I can see this game getting out of hand by halftime. These teams just aren’t in the same stratosphere. They might be in the same conference, but the Bulldogs need to wake up before this turns into a cricket score.”
“What do you know about cricket?”
“I know the US beat some of the big boys back in ’24!”
…
“Mississippi State going in the right direction on this drive. Gain of three by Terrence Greene.”
…
“Oliver finds Mike Weber and that’s a first down. Flag on the play. It looks like it’s going against the defense.”
“Omari Alvarez had a fist full of facemask on that tackle.”
“The officials are in agreement. That’s going to tack 15 on to the end of that one. The Bulldogs might enter Tulane’s side of the field here for the first time tonight.”
…
“The Bulldogs come out in the shotgun, seeming to gain a little momentum here as they set up from their own 48 yard line. Jordan Oliver gets the snap and drops back. He heaves it down the sideline and its—Picked off! Christian Vaughn rose the highest and plucked that out of the air! He’s down at Tulane’s 14.”
“Well, there goes all that momentum! There’s a reason teams haven’t tried to test the junior all that often this season.”
…
Caesar motioned across the formation, coming to a stop just to the inside of Arion. The Bulldogs scrambled to adjust their coverage with Caesar being lined up so tight to the line of scrimmage, an unusual position for him.
Darren snapped the ball, Caesar shot off the line, cutting inside on his third step. He settled down in the middle of the field and turned toward the line of scrimmage. Darren rocketed it right into his numbers.
Caesar tucked the ball in close to his body, lowering his shoulder and bracing for the impact of the linebacker running at him. He felt the jolt, a decleater attempt, but he spun off it and managed to keep his balance.
Turning up the field, another defender came sprinting at him from his right. Caesar shifted his weight to his left then juked to his right, sending the defender flying by him and falling to his ass as his cleats failed to find purchase on the turf.
Eyes darting around the field, Caesar broke for the sideline. The safety was coming up fast, angling to cut him off. Caesar chopped his steps to try to make the defender’s angle more shallow. At the last moment, he stopped completely and the safety slid out of bounds.
Going through the gears, he took off again, just missing as a cornerback dove at his feet in a last gasp attempt to bring him down.
Adrenaline pumping, Caesar kept running at full speed as the distance to the endzone closed. He glanced over his shoulder at the line of Mississippi State players made an effort to try to catch him, but it was futile.
The roar of the crowd rushed into his ears as he crossed the goal. In celebration, he threw up LSU’s “L” hand sign then turned it down which all the fans immediately started copying as they chanted “we want LSU” over the Tulane’s fight song.
…
“The ball’s on the ground! A little bit of miscommunication between Jordan Oliver and his center there almost ends in disaster, but Oliver is able to recover it.”
…
“The Bulldogs’ drive is stalling out here. Greene brought down in the backfield for a loss.”
…
“Big stop of third down and the Bulldogs are going to have to punt it back to a Tulane team that’s at the top of their game right now.”
…
“Reyes finds Jenkins for a gain of 20 on the play.”
…
“Frazier takes outside and that’s good enough for six or seven on the play.”
…
“Dallas on the receiving end of a quick pass from Reyes and that’s a first down.”
…
“Reyes hits Jenkins on a quick out for a gain of five. You almost forgot that he could catch passes that didn’t result in first downs or touchdowns.”
…
“Reyes tosses it to Frazier. He makes one move and he’s gone! 30, 20, 10, touchdown Tulane! The junior Tyrone Frazier showing that this Green Wave offense has more than one homerun hitter out there as he makes it 27-0 with his second touchdown of the day.”
“That’s how your crush a team’s spirit. There’s no coming back in this one. Coach Shuman might want to start warming up his backup quarterback.”
…
Devin stood on the field, his eyes fixed on the quarterback. He backed off the line of scrimmage, giving the receiver a bit of a cushion. The quarterback called an audible and the offense shifted into a tight formation. Hayden shouted adjustments to the coverage and Devin shifted to match the new assignments.
He dropped into a zone when the ball was snapped. His eyes darted around the field, watching for receivers entering his coverage area. He watched the quarterback go through his reads, patting the ball each time he drew it back but not throwing it.
A receiver running an in from the opposite side of the field throttled down between Devin and Kendrick. The quarterback shifted his feet in the receiver’s direction and patted the ball twice. Instinctively, Devin broke out of his zone and sprinted toward the receiver.
The ball hit his hands as if the pass was meant for him. He brought the ball in and tucked it under his arms, looking over his shoulder as Kendrick blew the receiver up with a block. Devin’s brain switched to return mode and he began scanning for open space.
He retreated a few yards as the offensive linemen ran at him, letting his teammates get in front of him. He then took off to the right side of the field. He spotted a little bit of daylight between the Bulldogs trying to cut him off. Planting his left foot, he burst back toward the middle of the field and slipped between the players, their arms grasping at him as he passed.
The quarterback was all that stood between Devin and the endzone. He watched as the quarterback made a half-hearted attempt to dive at his feet, coming up much too short to bring Devin down.
He glanced back over his shoulder to see both teams sprinting in his direction. With a final burst of speed, Devin crossed the goal line, ball held high.
…
“Tulane, up 35-0, is emptying their bench to start the second half. Senior quarterback Michael Hammond is checking into the game for Darren Reyes.”
…
“Cooper’s field goal is up and it’s good!”
…
“Cooper comes out to attempt another field goal. This one from 51. He boots it right through the uprights and it’s 41-0, Green Wave.”
…
“Oliver takes it himself and Mississippi State is finally on the board here in the fourth quarter.”
…
“Neal Cooper trots out for his third field goal attempt of the second half. The senior has gotten a lot of run here in the third and fourth quarters as Tulane hasn’t been as ruthless as they were in the first half. Kick’s up and it’s good. 44-7 Tulane.”
…
“Hammond takes a knee and that’s going to do it for this one. Tulane 44, Mississippi State 7. The Green Wave improve to 11-0 and have a date with rival LSU next week in Tiger Stadium.”
“I think the fans here are sending a message to their purple and gold neighbors. They’ve been chanting ‘we want LSU’ since the second quarter and it sounds like they’ve added a play on LSU’s ‘STTDB’ chant, swapping out Tiger for Tulane.”
“We’ll let you all at home go look up what those other letters mean. The Battle for the Tiger Rag, or the Victory Rag if you’re of olive and blue persuasion, hasn’t been a heated rivalry for more than 100 years, but this may be the season that changes.”
…
Down on the field, the Green Wave players stood in front of the student section, joining the chants of “we want LSU,” “fuck LSU,” and “suck that Tulane dick bitch.”
The party atmosphere as Tulane stared the barrel of an undefeated regular season – their first in almost 60 years -- seemed like one that wouldn’t be ending any time soon.
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
-
Caesar
Topic author - Chise GOAT
- Posts: 12716
- Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 10:47
-
Caesar
Topic author - Chise GOAT
- Posts: 12716
- Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 10:47
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
For the Rag
Erik sat next to Coach Justice and four of his teammates before a room filled with local sports media as LSU’s head coach prepared to do his weekly live podcast recording from a barbecue joint in Baton Rouge down the road from campus.
Coach Justice stabbed at a strips of brisket, covered in the restaurant’s signature sauce as the SIDs ran through the list of players in attendance to ensure all their names were spelled and pronounced correctly by the reporters.
“Austin Reeves, quarterback, freshman. R-e-e-v-e-s. Micah Gould, running back, junior, G-o-u-l-d. Jayson Mares, cornerback, sophomore. J-a-y-s-o-n M-a-r-e-s. Raphael Shelby, edge, senior. One ‘e’ in Shelby. Erik Jenkins, safety, freshman. E-r-i-k,” one of the SIDs said, holding up a white piece of paper for the TV cameras in the room. After a few seconds, he turned to Coach Justice and nodded. “All yours, Coach.”
The coach set his fork down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Alright. Thanks, James. Let’s get things started by talking about last Saturday. It was a good win against Kentucky. I think we played well in all phases that night. There are some things that we need to clean up, but we’re going to work on those this week in practice. We don’t have any new major injuries. The same guys are going to miss our game this week that missed the game last week. Our official injury report will be out Thursday as usual. If there are any changes, we’ll see about it then. Any questions?”
A woman near the front row raised her hand. “Your team has improved to 5-6 on the season, but with a hot Tulane team standing between you and bowl eligibility, how can you keep your team motivated going into the last week of the season?”
“We’ve been fighting, playing elimination game football all season. The school from down south hasn’t beaten us since the 1980s. No one sitting at this table, and probably no one in this building was alive the last time they beat us. Rivalries aren’t about records, and they’re coming to Tiger Stadium. It’s a little different up here than down in Yulman.”
“Have you had any conversations with the administration about your job should you lose and miss a bowl?” another reporter asked.
“I talk to my boss multiple times a week just like everyone else. I’ll let you know when he schedules a Teams call with HR on it.”
The joke got a little bit of laughter from the reporters.
A younger reporter near the back of the room, sporting a pullover from Baton Rouge’s number two TV station jumped up for the next question. “I have a question for Erik. What are your thoughts about going head-to-head with your brother? Do you have any concerns about potentially stopping him and Tulane from going undefeated?”
“Erik is the definition of what it means to be a Tiger,” Coach Justice said. “When we brought him in, we knew he was going to be special. This season has only confirmed that. I think everyone up here can agree that he’s already a vocal leader on the field and in the locker room.”
“Thanks, Coach, but I was asking Erik.”
Coach Justice nodded to one of the SIDs.
“Next quest—”
“Nah, I’ll answer it if that’s okay,” Erik said, leaning forward. The coach motioned for him to go ahead. “I don’t have any feelings about Caesar Jenkins. My goal is to win football games for LSU. You called him my brother, but my brothers are up here with me and back on campus. They’re the guys who’ve bled and fought with me all season. They’re the guys who experienced the ups and downs with me. When we lost to Vanderbilt, ain’t nobody I shared a last name with was in that locker room shedding tears with us. These are my brothers.”
“So, you haven’t spoken to him? Haven’t shared any sibling trash talk ahead of the game? I’m sure it’s going to make Thanksgiving dinner awkward,” the reporter pressed.
“No. He’s not like me, like most of us. I grew up in Hell, a block away from heaven. There isn’t anyone on that team willing to go as far as I’m willing to go for my team so I can get to the next level. Ain’t no Caesar Jenkins going to get in my way. Now, ask yourself who’d you’d rather have on the field leading your team? A guy who’s willing to die out there to make it or a guy who’s been handed everything he’s gotten in life? I’m willing to go in the deepest of waters. Can y’all say the same about your boy? We could both be carted out that bitch for all I care, as long as we win.”
Coach Justice clapped Erik on the shoulder. “Like I said, definition of a Tiger. Alright, let’s get some other questions.”
“Yo, they ain’t have fuckin’ pork chops up there when I went. How the fuck you got that?” Junie asked as he sat down at a table with Caesar, Darren and Kerby in the lounge in the athletic facilities.
Kerby rubbed his stomach and laughed at his brother. “That’s because you don’t have the relationship that me and Teedie got. She always know how to treat me good when I come through. I’m a growin’ boy and all.”
Caesar elbowed Darren. “What’s up with all these motherfuckers fucking these old ass women? Tyrone, Kerby. All these 18 to 23 year old women running around here and they want the AARP members to get their dicks wet.”
“You don’t turn down any pussy so I don’t know why you acting as if you wouldn’t fuck them, too. They just haven’t thrown it at you yet,” Darren said, laughing.
“Fuck I wouldn’t. My limit is about 40, 45. I have a few unhappy housewives under my belt, but they weren’t collecting retirement. I just want the ones that are willing to fuck their tennis instructors, but don’t want to be that cliché. Then I swoop in and it’s like shooting fish in a barrel,” Caesar said, mimicking shooting with his hands.
“You ever consider therapy? I ain’t sayin’ you need it, but I ain’t ain’t sayin’ you need it because you one fucked up dude. You don’t have to try to fuck every woman in the world,” Junie said, drawing laughter from Kerby and Darren.
Caesar rubbed his chin in faux thought for a moment. “I’d only go to therapy if my therapist was fine. They say you become attracted to them after a while and I don’t want to be attracted to some ugly ass, old woman if that’s the case.”
“How many abortions have you paid for? Flights included.”
“Enough for his ass to be considered a serial killer,” Darren said, laughing.
“I’m Catholic, bro,” Caesar said. “I don’t believe in killing babies. That’s for you heathens to do.”
“He don’t believe in killing babies, because he know that ain’t no babies. Deleting a feetus is a whole different question,” Kerby said before cutting in one of his four pork chops.
Caesar shook his head. “I’m not going to stand for this slander of my name. How many of y’all engage in ministry with led-astray young women every Sunday? That’s right. I have them calling out for God and Jesus and spending hours on their knees praying.”
“Straight to hell. Don’t pass go. Don’t collect $20. They’re going to start calling this man the anti-Christ in a couple years,” Darren said.
“Yep. If they don’t already,” Junie added.
An SID walked into the lounge and looked around. When he spotted the group sitting at the table, he walked over to them.
“Caesar, got some reporters want to talk to you,” he said.
Caesar gestured to the food in front of him. “I’m eating, man.”
“It’s just one or two questions. The shit’s free anyway. Coach has already said he’s good with you talking to them.”
Caesar sighed as he pushed away from the table to stand up. He pointed at Kerby and looked at Darren and Junie. “Make sure his fat ass doesn’t eat my food.”
“Ain’t yours if you not at the table,” Kerby joked.
Following the SID, Caesar walked to the lobby of the athletics building where three reporters, complete with camerapeople, were waiting for him. He glanced back at the SID who only shrugged and gestured for him to stand in front of the cameras.
“Y’all know how to spell his name,” the SID said, holding up his access card in front of Caesar’s face. “Only a couple questions. If y’all have anymore then you can come back tomorrow or Wednesday after practice.”
“Caesar, what are your thoughts on LSU safety Erik Jenkins’ comments about you?” a reporter asked.
Caesar raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t heard any comments about me, but I’m not surprised if someone’s talking about me. I’m the best player in the country. Of course, people are going to take shots at me. It doesn’t matter if you can’t back it up on the field.”
The reporter pulled out his phone and brought up the clip of Erik talking about Caesar for him to listen to. After listening to it, Caesar started to laugh.
“That’s big talk from someone who is on a team that is fighting to play in the Make-A-Wish Bowl. They’re trying to hype themselves up because they’re afraid,” Caesar said, shrugging. “I’ve been around this game long enough, born into it and all, that I know when people are just putting on a front for the cameras.”
“Well, he’s your brother. If you were born into the game of football then he was as well, right? While LSU hasn’t been putting as many wins on the board as Tulane has, Erik has been one of the breakout freshmen this year. He also has a win over you from your high school days. Not to mention Tulane’s pretty spotty record against LSU. Can you say with confidence that you’re going to win Saturday?” a second reporter asked.
“How about this? For every pass that second-rate motherfucker defends, I’ll donate $25,000 to a charity in Baton Rouge. I would challenge him to do the same for every touchdown I catch, but we know he doesn’t have $100,000 and I don’t think charities take donations in food stamps and WIC,” Caesar said.
The SID sighed and stepped up alongside Caesar. “Alright, that’s your two questions. We’ll see you after practice.”
He all but dragged Caesar away.
“You’re going to have Coach putting his foot in my ass,” the SID said once they were out of earshot.
Caesar held up his hands. “Hey, y’all asked me to answer those questions. I’ve been here long enough that y’all should know better.”
Devin looked at the cards in his hand and then the five cards laying on the table. He had a two and a king and was trying to bluff his way to finally winning a hand of the impromptu poker game he’d been dragged into with Christian, Hayden and Quenshan.
The queen, ten, two, three and eight on the table weren’t doing him any favors outside of the pair he had.
Fortunately for him, they were only playing for spare meals on their meal plans with the end of the semester around the corner. He would’ve been done a few hundred bucks if there was real money on the line.
Christian and Hayden had already folded, leaving just him and Quenshan in the hand. Quenshan had decided to go all in with 54 meals.
Devin pulled up his account on his phone and saw he had 50 meals left, not counting the ones he’d already lost.
“C’mon, young blood. Scared money, don’t make money,” Quenshan said, plucking at the edges of the two cards in his hand.
“I’m not trying to starve for the rest of the semester,” Devin said.
“When was the last time you used a meal from your meal plan and didn’t just go to the lounge and get food for free?” Hayden asked. “The fact they even give us this shit is wasteful if you ask me. Gotta be a better way for it.”
“It’s so they don’t have to give us as big of a cut of the revenue at the end of the season. They can say they give it to us in in-kind benefits,” Christian said. “Of course, those in-kind benefits are something that expires and can’t be used outside of the campus and a select few fast food spots in the city, so what are we really getting?”
Quenshan waved his hand. “Bro, don’t get Christian started on his Malcolm X shit right now. We gambling.”
“He not no Muslim so it’s more Black Panther shit,” Hayden said, laughing.
“I’m just calling a spade a spade,” Christian said.
“You in or not, bruh,” Quenshan asked Devin.
Devin shrugged. “Yeah, I’m all-in.”
Quenshan leaned back in his chair and shook his head. He threw a jack and a nine on the table. Devin flipped his cards over to show he had a pair.
“Damn, tried to bluff your young ass and it blew up in my face,” Quenshan said, laughing to himself as he stood up from the table and headed for the kitchen. “Call someone else over here so I can get my get back from someone else.”
“I don’t even know what I’m going to do with 100 meals in a few weeks,” Devin said as he gathered the cards up. “You can keep that shit.”
“Text everyone you got classes with and tell them to run it up in the caf,” Hayden said. “You gonna feel like Bumpy Johnson handing out turkeys to the hood when you having to stand at that register for two hours swiping your card.”
“Poor feeding the rich,” Christian said, shaking his head as he took the cards from Devin to shuffle them.
Devin’s phone dinged with a text from Hasan.
’That nigga Caesar gonna get y’all shit pushed in Saturday, but I’m here for it lmfao’
’What you mean?’
Hasan sent him a link for a series of social media posts detailing the back and forth in the media between Erik and Caesar. Devin rubbed his forehead wondering if there had ever been a moment in time when Caesar Jenkins had thought before opening his mouth. The guy was a cancer to everything around him.
’Sounds like y’all got a problem with him, not the rest of us. We still winning.’
’Naaaaah. That’s us. See ya after the game, bruh.’
’Good luck’
Quenshan walked back into the dining room with a bottle of water and a bag of pretzels. He sat down at the table and sighed.
“I shouldn’t be eating this shit knowing I’m broke. Might need to save this for one of them hard times like when I was back in the trenches,” he said. “I might have to start selling feet pics to get through the semester.”
Devin, Hayden and Christian looked at one another before breaking into laughter.
“Dog, you acting like you can’t ask Devin to use your meals to buy you meals,” Hayden said.
Christian waved his hand. “That’s not even the bigger issue. He’s broken his foot at least twice. No one paying to see that mangled ass shit. Do you even still have all your toes or are you on some Deion Sanders shit?”
“Niggas nasty. They got a fetish for everyone out there. Don’t be hating when I’m out here in a Rolls from my feet pics.”
“I’m gonna let you keep the meals so you don’t have to subject the world to that,” Devin said, laughing.
Erik sat next to Coach Justice and four of his teammates before a room filled with local sports media as LSU’s head coach prepared to do his weekly live podcast recording from a barbecue joint in Baton Rouge down the road from campus.
Coach Justice stabbed at a strips of brisket, covered in the restaurant’s signature sauce as the SIDs ran through the list of players in attendance to ensure all their names were spelled and pronounced correctly by the reporters.
“Austin Reeves, quarterback, freshman. R-e-e-v-e-s. Micah Gould, running back, junior, G-o-u-l-d. Jayson Mares, cornerback, sophomore. J-a-y-s-o-n M-a-r-e-s. Raphael Shelby, edge, senior. One ‘e’ in Shelby. Erik Jenkins, safety, freshman. E-r-i-k,” one of the SIDs said, holding up a white piece of paper for the TV cameras in the room. After a few seconds, he turned to Coach Justice and nodded. “All yours, Coach.”
The coach set his fork down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Alright. Thanks, James. Let’s get things started by talking about last Saturday. It was a good win against Kentucky. I think we played well in all phases that night. There are some things that we need to clean up, but we’re going to work on those this week in practice. We don’t have any new major injuries. The same guys are going to miss our game this week that missed the game last week. Our official injury report will be out Thursday as usual. If there are any changes, we’ll see about it then. Any questions?”
A woman near the front row raised her hand. “Your team has improved to 5-6 on the season, but with a hot Tulane team standing between you and bowl eligibility, how can you keep your team motivated going into the last week of the season?”
“We’ve been fighting, playing elimination game football all season. The school from down south hasn’t beaten us since the 1980s. No one sitting at this table, and probably no one in this building was alive the last time they beat us. Rivalries aren’t about records, and they’re coming to Tiger Stadium. It’s a little different up here than down in Yulman.”
“Have you had any conversations with the administration about your job should you lose and miss a bowl?” another reporter asked.
“I talk to my boss multiple times a week just like everyone else. I’ll let you know when he schedules a Teams call with HR on it.”
The joke got a little bit of laughter from the reporters.
A younger reporter near the back of the room, sporting a pullover from Baton Rouge’s number two TV station jumped up for the next question. “I have a question for Erik. What are your thoughts about going head-to-head with your brother? Do you have any concerns about potentially stopping him and Tulane from going undefeated?”
“Erik is the definition of what it means to be a Tiger,” Coach Justice said. “When we brought him in, we knew he was going to be special. This season has only confirmed that. I think everyone up here can agree that he’s already a vocal leader on the field and in the locker room.”
“Thanks, Coach, but I was asking Erik.”
Coach Justice nodded to one of the SIDs.
“Next quest—”
“Nah, I’ll answer it if that’s okay,” Erik said, leaning forward. The coach motioned for him to go ahead. “I don’t have any feelings about Caesar Jenkins. My goal is to win football games for LSU. You called him my brother, but my brothers are up here with me and back on campus. They’re the guys who’ve bled and fought with me all season. They’re the guys who experienced the ups and downs with me. When we lost to Vanderbilt, ain’t nobody I shared a last name with was in that locker room shedding tears with us. These are my brothers.”
“So, you haven’t spoken to him? Haven’t shared any sibling trash talk ahead of the game? I’m sure it’s going to make Thanksgiving dinner awkward,” the reporter pressed.
“No. He’s not like me, like most of us. I grew up in Hell, a block away from heaven. There isn’t anyone on that team willing to go as far as I’m willing to go for my team so I can get to the next level. Ain’t no Caesar Jenkins going to get in my way. Now, ask yourself who’d you’d rather have on the field leading your team? A guy who’s willing to die out there to make it or a guy who’s been handed everything he’s gotten in life? I’m willing to go in the deepest of waters. Can y’all say the same about your boy? We could both be carted out that bitch for all I care, as long as we win.”
Coach Justice clapped Erik on the shoulder. “Like I said, definition of a Tiger. Alright, let’s get some other questions.”
-*****-
“Yo, they ain’t have fuckin’ pork chops up there when I went. How the fuck you got that?” Junie asked as he sat down at a table with Caesar, Darren and Kerby in the lounge in the athletic facilities.
Kerby rubbed his stomach and laughed at his brother. “That’s because you don’t have the relationship that me and Teedie got. She always know how to treat me good when I come through. I’m a growin’ boy and all.”
Caesar elbowed Darren. “What’s up with all these motherfuckers fucking these old ass women? Tyrone, Kerby. All these 18 to 23 year old women running around here and they want the AARP members to get their dicks wet.”
“You don’t turn down any pussy so I don’t know why you acting as if you wouldn’t fuck them, too. They just haven’t thrown it at you yet,” Darren said, laughing.
“Fuck I wouldn’t. My limit is about 40, 45. I have a few unhappy housewives under my belt, but they weren’t collecting retirement. I just want the ones that are willing to fuck their tennis instructors, but don’t want to be that cliché. Then I swoop in and it’s like shooting fish in a barrel,” Caesar said, mimicking shooting with his hands.
“You ever consider therapy? I ain’t sayin’ you need it, but I ain’t ain’t sayin’ you need it because you one fucked up dude. You don’t have to try to fuck every woman in the world,” Junie said, drawing laughter from Kerby and Darren.
Caesar rubbed his chin in faux thought for a moment. “I’d only go to therapy if my therapist was fine. They say you become attracted to them after a while and I don’t want to be attracted to some ugly ass, old woman if that’s the case.”
“How many abortions have you paid for? Flights included.”
“Enough for his ass to be considered a serial killer,” Darren said, laughing.
“I’m Catholic, bro,” Caesar said. “I don’t believe in killing babies. That’s for you heathens to do.”
“He don’t believe in killing babies, because he know that ain’t no babies. Deleting a feetus is a whole different question,” Kerby said before cutting in one of his four pork chops.
Caesar shook his head. “I’m not going to stand for this slander of my name. How many of y’all engage in ministry with led-astray young women every Sunday? That’s right. I have them calling out for God and Jesus and spending hours on their knees praying.”
“Straight to hell. Don’t pass go. Don’t collect $20. They’re going to start calling this man the anti-Christ in a couple years,” Darren said.
“Yep. If they don’t already,” Junie added.
An SID walked into the lounge and looked around. When he spotted the group sitting at the table, he walked over to them.
“Caesar, got some reporters want to talk to you,” he said.
Caesar gestured to the food in front of him. “I’m eating, man.”
“It’s just one or two questions. The shit’s free anyway. Coach has already said he’s good with you talking to them.”
Caesar sighed as he pushed away from the table to stand up. He pointed at Kerby and looked at Darren and Junie. “Make sure his fat ass doesn’t eat my food.”
“Ain’t yours if you not at the table,” Kerby joked.
Following the SID, Caesar walked to the lobby of the athletics building where three reporters, complete with camerapeople, were waiting for him. He glanced back at the SID who only shrugged and gestured for him to stand in front of the cameras.
“Y’all know how to spell his name,” the SID said, holding up his access card in front of Caesar’s face. “Only a couple questions. If y’all have anymore then you can come back tomorrow or Wednesday after practice.”
“Caesar, what are your thoughts on LSU safety Erik Jenkins’ comments about you?” a reporter asked.
Caesar raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t heard any comments about me, but I’m not surprised if someone’s talking about me. I’m the best player in the country. Of course, people are going to take shots at me. It doesn’t matter if you can’t back it up on the field.”
The reporter pulled out his phone and brought up the clip of Erik talking about Caesar for him to listen to. After listening to it, Caesar started to laugh.
“That’s big talk from someone who is on a team that is fighting to play in the Make-A-Wish Bowl. They’re trying to hype themselves up because they’re afraid,” Caesar said, shrugging. “I’ve been around this game long enough, born into it and all, that I know when people are just putting on a front for the cameras.”
“Well, he’s your brother. If you were born into the game of football then he was as well, right? While LSU hasn’t been putting as many wins on the board as Tulane has, Erik has been one of the breakout freshmen this year. He also has a win over you from your high school days. Not to mention Tulane’s pretty spotty record against LSU. Can you say with confidence that you’re going to win Saturday?” a second reporter asked.
“How about this? For every pass that second-rate motherfucker defends, I’ll donate $25,000 to a charity in Baton Rouge. I would challenge him to do the same for every touchdown I catch, but we know he doesn’t have $100,000 and I don’t think charities take donations in food stamps and WIC,” Caesar said.
The SID sighed and stepped up alongside Caesar. “Alright, that’s your two questions. We’ll see you after practice.”
He all but dragged Caesar away.
“You’re going to have Coach putting his foot in my ass,” the SID said once they were out of earshot.
Caesar held up his hands. “Hey, y’all asked me to answer those questions. I’ve been here long enough that y’all should know better.”
-*****-
Devin looked at the cards in his hand and then the five cards laying on the table. He had a two and a king and was trying to bluff his way to finally winning a hand of the impromptu poker game he’d been dragged into with Christian, Hayden and Quenshan.
The queen, ten, two, three and eight on the table weren’t doing him any favors outside of the pair he had.
Fortunately for him, they were only playing for spare meals on their meal plans with the end of the semester around the corner. He would’ve been done a few hundred bucks if there was real money on the line.
Christian and Hayden had already folded, leaving just him and Quenshan in the hand. Quenshan had decided to go all in with 54 meals.
Devin pulled up his account on his phone and saw he had 50 meals left, not counting the ones he’d already lost.
“C’mon, young blood. Scared money, don’t make money,” Quenshan said, plucking at the edges of the two cards in his hand.
“I’m not trying to starve for the rest of the semester,” Devin said.
“When was the last time you used a meal from your meal plan and didn’t just go to the lounge and get food for free?” Hayden asked. “The fact they even give us this shit is wasteful if you ask me. Gotta be a better way for it.”
“It’s so they don’t have to give us as big of a cut of the revenue at the end of the season. They can say they give it to us in in-kind benefits,” Christian said. “Of course, those in-kind benefits are something that expires and can’t be used outside of the campus and a select few fast food spots in the city, so what are we really getting?”
Quenshan waved his hand. “Bro, don’t get Christian started on his Malcolm X shit right now. We gambling.”
“He not no Muslim so it’s more Black Panther shit,” Hayden said, laughing.
“I’m just calling a spade a spade,” Christian said.
“You in or not, bruh,” Quenshan asked Devin.
Devin shrugged. “Yeah, I’m all-in.”
Quenshan leaned back in his chair and shook his head. He threw a jack and a nine on the table. Devin flipped his cards over to show he had a pair.
“Damn, tried to bluff your young ass and it blew up in my face,” Quenshan said, laughing to himself as he stood up from the table and headed for the kitchen. “Call someone else over here so I can get my get back from someone else.”
“I don’t even know what I’m going to do with 100 meals in a few weeks,” Devin said as he gathered the cards up. “You can keep that shit.”
“Text everyone you got classes with and tell them to run it up in the caf,” Hayden said. “You gonna feel like Bumpy Johnson handing out turkeys to the hood when you having to stand at that register for two hours swiping your card.”
“Poor feeding the rich,” Christian said, shaking his head as he took the cards from Devin to shuffle them.
Devin’s phone dinged with a text from Hasan.
’That nigga Caesar gonna get y’all shit pushed in Saturday, but I’m here for it lmfao’
’What you mean?’
Hasan sent him a link for a series of social media posts detailing the back and forth in the media between Erik and Caesar. Devin rubbed his forehead wondering if there had ever been a moment in time when Caesar Jenkins had thought before opening his mouth. The guy was a cancer to everything around him.
’Sounds like y’all got a problem with him, not the rest of us. We still winning.’
’Naaaaah. That’s us. See ya after the game, bruh.’
’Good luck’
Quenshan walked back into the dining room with a bottle of water and a bag of pretzels. He sat down at the table and sighed.
“I shouldn’t be eating this shit knowing I’m broke. Might need to save this for one of them hard times like when I was back in the trenches,” he said. “I might have to start selling feet pics to get through the semester.”
Devin, Hayden and Christian looked at one another before breaking into laughter.
“Dog, you acting like you can’t ask Devin to use your meals to buy you meals,” Hayden said.
Christian waved his hand. “That’s not even the bigger issue. He’s broken his foot at least twice. No one paying to see that mangled ass shit. Do you even still have all your toes or are you on some Deion Sanders shit?”
“Niggas nasty. They got a fetish for everyone out there. Don’t be hating when I’m out here in a Rolls from my feet pics.”
“I’m gonna let you keep the meals so you don’t have to subject the world to that,” Devin said, laughing.
-
Captain Canada
- Posts: 5638
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Back to back hits 
-
Caesar
Topic author - Chise GOAT
- Posts: 12716
- Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 10:47
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
A Requirement, Not A Request
Devin walked out of the door of his building, surprised at how many people were still milling about on campus with the Thanksgiving holidays in full swing. Having to remain on campus for the week due to the game Saturday was something that had slipped his mind. And something he’d forgotten to mentally prepare himself for.
Fortunately, the players would have a Thanksgiving dinner Thursday to make up for missing time with their loved ones.
That may have been the one silver lining to having to spend the week in New Orleans, Devin thought to himself.
He had a built-in excuse to avoid going home and getting into it with his family about his reluctance to cough up the money for his grandfather’s legal defense.
He pulled out his phone, bringing up his banking app. A little more than $10,000 sat in the account. More than he’d ever had in his bank account, but nowhere near enough to provide for a decent enough attorney to fight charges from the IRS.
Up ahead, a familiar middle-aged man with a crumbled suit that was a few sizes too big sat at a bench, struggling to open his mouth wide enough to bite into the sloppy looking po-boy that he held in his hands. Lettuce, mayonnaise and olives fell out of the bottom of the sandwich as he bit into it, barely missing falling onto his clothes.
He looked up and noticed Devin staring at him in disgust, wiping his hands on a crumble of napkins, he hopped and walked in Devin’s direction.
“Devin, my guy! What a pleasure running into you like this! You remember me, right?” the man asked, sticking his hand out toward Devin. “Lowell Nash if you’ve forgotten. I know you’re a busy kid and names don’t always stick when you’re partying as hard as you athletes do.”
Devin cursed to himself, feeling as though the very thought of his grandfather’s situation and his decision to look at his bank account had conjured the sleazy agent standing before him out of thin air like some kind of combover genie.
“Yeah, you’re that agent my grandpa sent up here to stalk me a few months ago. Looks like you’re still stalking me,” Devin said, leaving the man’s hand hanging in the air. “What do you want? I got practice in a bit.”
Lowell clasped his hands together and then reached into his suit to grab his cell phone. “I won’t take too much of your time. I know that your grandfather is facing some hard times and they’re counting on you to get the family out of a jam.”
“You don’t know shit.”
“You’re right, you’re right. But hear me out.” He flicked through a couple screens on his phone, enlarging text here and there to quickly read what he was looking at. After a few moments, he turned the phone around so Devin could see it. “I put together this proposal for you to check out. $250,000 for ten thirty-second social media ads with Patriot Front Productions. They’ll pay it all up front.”
“Aren’t they fucking neo-Nazis?” Devin asked. He looked around the green space they were standing in. “Is this some kind of prank? You do realize that I’m very clearly Black, right? If you’re going to waste my time, at least make it sound believable.”
The man laughed and put his phone away. “I didn’t think it was that good of a deal either. But look, I can work on some stuff for you if you want. You just have to let the school know that I’m working as your agent.”
Devin stared at the man for a moment before brushing by him. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll keep finding them on my own. It’s been working so far.”
“I could make you rich! And if you’re rich then your grandfather won’t go to jail!” Lowell shouted after Devin. “C’mon, kid! Don’t be stupid! Take the money!”
He ignored the man’s pleas and kept walking. While he still wasn’t inclined to bail anyone out of legal troubles they brought on themselves, a small part of him was only being stubborn because his grandfather had the audacity to send someone try to guilt him into shady NIL deals again.
His phone rang in his pocket. He had half a mind to ignore it, expecting it to be someone in his family, but he checked the caller ID all the same. Seeing Carla’s name on the screen, he answered the call.
“You called?” she asked. He could hear a number of voices in the background, recognizing a couple of them as her parents.
“Yeah, two hours ago. I wanted to see if you wanted to do something after practice. It should be easy to get into anywhere with everyone gone for Thanksgiving.”
“I am, too. I’m in Houma.”
“You didn’t tell me you were going to Houma already. How long have you been home?”
“Since Sunday. I didn’t think I needed to tell you where I was going. It’s not like I ever know where you are.”
“Dorm, weight room, practice, film, class, game. That’s it. Anyway, come back to New Orleans so we can hang out. You know it’s going to be hectic all week for us with LSU Saturday. I’d like to have a bit of a distraction for all the noise, you know?”
“Watch you a movie then. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Before Devin could say anything else, she hung up. Shaking his head, Devin tried to figure out how he was managing to get on everyone’s bad side lately. When he said he needed a distraction, personal drama definitely wasn’t what he was looking for.
Caesar shrugged as he bent down to pick the ball up and toss it back to Darren “I’m just trying to stay loose, Coach. Keeping it casual, you know?”
“I’ll show you keeping it casual when I casually break my foot off in your ass. You’ve been doing this shit all day. Stop it.”
“Got it, coach,” Caesar said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he jogged back to the “line of scrimmage” for the next rep.
Darren shook his head at Caesar as the receiver settled in next to him to hear the next play they were going to run.
“Trips right, 62 Y Cross,” Coach Hartley said.
“Y’all heard him,” Darren said, clapping his hands.
Caesar jogged to the left side of the field, staring down Devin as he lined up opposite of him. Devin shift, shading to the inside. The ball was snapped and Caesar exploded to the outside with Devin putting a hand on him as he turned to run with him.
Fifteen yards up the field, Caesar planted his right foot and cut back to the inside, giving Devin the slightest of shoves to create some separation between the two of them and allow Caesar space to cut behind him.
Running across the field, Caesar looked back into the backfield, beginning to drift up the field. Darren threw the ball to him.
Only for Caesar to try to catch the ball behind his back. He missed the catch and the ball fell harmlessly to the turf.
“Jenkins!” Coach Shuman shouted. “Forget the trick pony shit you’re doing. Do you not know how to run a dig? Why are you drifting up the field? I shouldn’t be telling SEC receivers how to run routes. You’ve been doing this shit since you were 12. Travis, sort that shit out.”
Coach Simmons smacked Caesar on the back of his helmet as he passed. “C’mon, kid. Don’t make shit difficult for everyone when we’re a couple days out from a game. Just catch the damn ball when it’s thrown to you.”
Caesar held his hands up. “You got it, coach.”
“What the fuck are you doin’?” Tyrone asked Caesar when the two of them were close enough that Tyrone didn’t need to raise his voice. “You know who we’re fuckin’ playin’ Saturday, right? They’re not gonna be on some nut shit.”
“They’re fucking 5-6. They lost to Vanderbilt. Be for real, bro. Those motherfuckers suck. Chill out. You know I don’t need to go all out in practice.”
“Get your shit together,” Darren said, shoving Caesar once he got back to the huddle. “Doubles left 90 mesh.”
Shaking his head, Caesar walked to the right side of the field for the next rep. Christian lined up opposite of him for this play. The junior pointed to Omari and backed off the line of scrimmage until he was a good ten yards back.
Caesar flexed his hands and glanced toward the middle of the field. The ball was snapped and he took a jog step to the outside before taking off up the sideline. Christian shadowed him for a few steps then passed him off to Hayden.
Stabbing his foot into the turf, he cut toward the middle of the field for the post. He was well behind the defense and threw his hand up for the ball.
Darren pump faked in his direction then dumped it off to Kendall running a shallow crosser. As Kendall turned up field to finish the play, Caesar had already started jogging back to the line of scrimmage, ignoring the defensive backs near him.
Coach Shuman ripped off his visor and threw it at the turf. “Jenkins! Get the fuck off my field! I’m tired of seeing your face right now.”
Caesar threw his arms out. “It’s practice. You want me to block players 40 yards down the field when you’re going to blow it dead after he took five steps? C’mon, Coach.”
“Go home, Jenkins,” the head coach said. “You’re letting your ego get the best of you, and we’re going to pay for it if you play like that Saturday. You’ve given them enough bulletin board material this week already. They don’t need to see you out here giving no effort.”
Caesar sighed and took his helmet off, walking off the field.
Coach Shuman grabbed his jersey and stopped him. “I’m saying this to you, but I want all of you to hear what I’m saying,” he said, turning to the rest of the team. “I’m not asking you to remain focused. I’m demanding it. There are no half measures at this point in the season. No one’s going to remember you for almost going undefeated.”
He looked back at Caesar, releasing his jersey and stabbing him in the chest with a finger as he spoke. “I can tell you right now that LSU is up in Baton Rouge busting their ass because their coach is going to get fired if they lose. The stakes are higher for them than they are for us. If you come out here and do this shit tomorrow, Jenkins, you can just go ahead and buy yourself a student section ticket because you won’t be suiting up Saturday. Got it?”
“Got it,” Caesar said.
“And put your fucking helmet back on. You don’t take your helmet off out here unless you’re knocked out.”
Pulling his helmet back on his head, Caesar headed for the locker rooms.
“Let’s get back to work,” Shuman said to the rest of the team, blowing his whistle.
Devin walked out of the door of his building, surprised at how many people were still milling about on campus with the Thanksgiving holidays in full swing. Having to remain on campus for the week due to the game Saturday was something that had slipped his mind. And something he’d forgotten to mentally prepare himself for.
Fortunately, the players would have a Thanksgiving dinner Thursday to make up for missing time with their loved ones.
That may have been the one silver lining to having to spend the week in New Orleans, Devin thought to himself.
He had a built-in excuse to avoid going home and getting into it with his family about his reluctance to cough up the money for his grandfather’s legal defense.
He pulled out his phone, bringing up his banking app. A little more than $10,000 sat in the account. More than he’d ever had in his bank account, but nowhere near enough to provide for a decent enough attorney to fight charges from the IRS.
Up ahead, a familiar middle-aged man with a crumbled suit that was a few sizes too big sat at a bench, struggling to open his mouth wide enough to bite into the sloppy looking po-boy that he held in his hands. Lettuce, mayonnaise and olives fell out of the bottom of the sandwich as he bit into it, barely missing falling onto his clothes.
He looked up and noticed Devin staring at him in disgust, wiping his hands on a crumble of napkins, he hopped and walked in Devin’s direction.
“Devin, my guy! What a pleasure running into you like this! You remember me, right?” the man asked, sticking his hand out toward Devin. “Lowell Nash if you’ve forgotten. I know you’re a busy kid and names don’t always stick when you’re partying as hard as you athletes do.”
Devin cursed to himself, feeling as though the very thought of his grandfather’s situation and his decision to look at his bank account had conjured the sleazy agent standing before him out of thin air like some kind of combover genie.
“Yeah, you’re that agent my grandpa sent up here to stalk me a few months ago. Looks like you’re still stalking me,” Devin said, leaving the man’s hand hanging in the air. “What do you want? I got practice in a bit.”
Lowell clasped his hands together and then reached into his suit to grab his cell phone. “I won’t take too much of your time. I know that your grandfather is facing some hard times and they’re counting on you to get the family out of a jam.”
“You don’t know shit.”
“You’re right, you’re right. But hear me out.” He flicked through a couple screens on his phone, enlarging text here and there to quickly read what he was looking at. After a few moments, he turned the phone around so Devin could see it. “I put together this proposal for you to check out. $250,000 for ten thirty-second social media ads with Patriot Front Productions. They’ll pay it all up front.”
“Aren’t they fucking neo-Nazis?” Devin asked. He looked around the green space they were standing in. “Is this some kind of prank? You do realize that I’m very clearly Black, right? If you’re going to waste my time, at least make it sound believable.”
The man laughed and put his phone away. “I didn’t think it was that good of a deal either. But look, I can work on some stuff for you if you want. You just have to let the school know that I’m working as your agent.”
Devin stared at the man for a moment before brushing by him. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll keep finding them on my own. It’s been working so far.”
“I could make you rich! And if you’re rich then your grandfather won’t go to jail!” Lowell shouted after Devin. “C’mon, kid! Don’t be stupid! Take the money!”
He ignored the man’s pleas and kept walking. While he still wasn’t inclined to bail anyone out of legal troubles they brought on themselves, a small part of him was only being stubborn because his grandfather had the audacity to send someone try to guilt him into shady NIL deals again.
His phone rang in his pocket. He had half a mind to ignore it, expecting it to be someone in his family, but he checked the caller ID all the same. Seeing Carla’s name on the screen, he answered the call.
“You called?” she asked. He could hear a number of voices in the background, recognizing a couple of them as her parents.
“Yeah, two hours ago. I wanted to see if you wanted to do something after practice. It should be easy to get into anywhere with everyone gone for Thanksgiving.”
“I am, too. I’m in Houma.”
“You didn’t tell me you were going to Houma already. How long have you been home?”
“Since Sunday. I didn’t think I needed to tell you where I was going. It’s not like I ever know where you are.”
“Dorm, weight room, practice, film, class, game. That’s it. Anyway, come back to New Orleans so we can hang out. You know it’s going to be hectic all week for us with LSU Saturday. I’d like to have a bit of a distraction for all the noise, you know?”
“Watch you a movie then. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Before Devin could say anything else, she hung up. Shaking his head, Devin tried to figure out how he was managing to get on everyone’s bad side lately. When he said he needed a distraction, personal drama definitely wasn’t what he was looking for.
-*****-
“What the fuck was that, Jenkins?!” Coach Shuman shouted from the sidelines after Caesar attempted a one-handed circus catch over Christian. Caesar shrugged as he bent down to pick the ball up and toss it back to Darren “I’m just trying to stay loose, Coach. Keeping it casual, you know?”
“I’ll show you keeping it casual when I casually break my foot off in your ass. You’ve been doing this shit all day. Stop it.”
“Got it, coach,” Caesar said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he jogged back to the “line of scrimmage” for the next rep.
Darren shook his head at Caesar as the receiver settled in next to him to hear the next play they were going to run.
“Trips right, 62 Y Cross,” Coach Hartley said.
“Y’all heard him,” Darren said, clapping his hands.
Caesar jogged to the left side of the field, staring down Devin as he lined up opposite of him. Devin shift, shading to the inside. The ball was snapped and Caesar exploded to the outside with Devin putting a hand on him as he turned to run with him.
Fifteen yards up the field, Caesar planted his right foot and cut back to the inside, giving Devin the slightest of shoves to create some separation between the two of them and allow Caesar space to cut behind him.
Running across the field, Caesar looked back into the backfield, beginning to drift up the field. Darren threw the ball to him.
Only for Caesar to try to catch the ball behind his back. He missed the catch and the ball fell harmlessly to the turf.
“Jenkins!” Coach Shuman shouted. “Forget the trick pony shit you’re doing. Do you not know how to run a dig? Why are you drifting up the field? I shouldn’t be telling SEC receivers how to run routes. You’ve been doing this shit since you were 12. Travis, sort that shit out.”
Coach Simmons smacked Caesar on the back of his helmet as he passed. “C’mon, kid. Don’t make shit difficult for everyone when we’re a couple days out from a game. Just catch the damn ball when it’s thrown to you.”
Caesar held his hands up. “You got it, coach.”
“What the fuck are you doin’?” Tyrone asked Caesar when the two of them were close enough that Tyrone didn’t need to raise his voice. “You know who we’re fuckin’ playin’ Saturday, right? They’re not gonna be on some nut shit.”
“They’re fucking 5-6. They lost to Vanderbilt. Be for real, bro. Those motherfuckers suck. Chill out. You know I don’t need to go all out in practice.”
“Get your shit together,” Darren said, shoving Caesar once he got back to the huddle. “Doubles left 90 mesh.”
Shaking his head, Caesar walked to the right side of the field for the next rep. Christian lined up opposite of him for this play. The junior pointed to Omari and backed off the line of scrimmage until he was a good ten yards back.
Caesar flexed his hands and glanced toward the middle of the field. The ball was snapped and he took a jog step to the outside before taking off up the sideline. Christian shadowed him for a few steps then passed him off to Hayden.
Stabbing his foot into the turf, he cut toward the middle of the field for the post. He was well behind the defense and threw his hand up for the ball.
Darren pump faked in his direction then dumped it off to Kendall running a shallow crosser. As Kendall turned up field to finish the play, Caesar had already started jogging back to the line of scrimmage, ignoring the defensive backs near him.
Coach Shuman ripped off his visor and threw it at the turf. “Jenkins! Get the fuck off my field! I’m tired of seeing your face right now.”
Caesar threw his arms out. “It’s practice. You want me to block players 40 yards down the field when you’re going to blow it dead after he took five steps? C’mon, Coach.”
“Go home, Jenkins,” the head coach said. “You’re letting your ego get the best of you, and we’re going to pay for it if you play like that Saturday. You’ve given them enough bulletin board material this week already. They don’t need to see you out here giving no effort.”
Caesar sighed and took his helmet off, walking off the field.
Coach Shuman grabbed his jersey and stopped him. “I’m saying this to you, but I want all of you to hear what I’m saying,” he said, turning to the rest of the team. “I’m not asking you to remain focused. I’m demanding it. There are no half measures at this point in the season. No one’s going to remember you for almost going undefeated.”
He looked back at Caesar, releasing his jersey and stabbing him in the chest with a finger as he spoke. “I can tell you right now that LSU is up in Baton Rouge busting their ass because their coach is going to get fired if they lose. The stakes are higher for them than they are for us. If you come out here and do this shit tomorrow, Jenkins, you can just go ahead and buy yourself a student section ticket because you won’t be suiting up Saturday. Got it?”
“Got it,” Caesar said.
“And put your fucking helmet back on. You don’t take your helmet off out here unless you’re knocked out.”
Pulling his helmet back on his head, Caesar headed for the locker rooms.
“Let’s get back to work,” Shuman said to the rest of the team, blowing his whistle.
-
Captain Canada
- Posts: 5638
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Devin needs to leave Carla and Caesar needs to get himself a map 
-
Caesar
Topic author - Chise GOAT
- Posts: 12716
- Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 10:47
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Where You Make It
“All that’s missing is some damn turkey necks and pig feet,” Jowayne said in his thick South Carolina accent, smacking Devin on his back as if Devin was sure to agree with the linebacker’s sentiment.
After his time working at Rouse’s, though, Devin had seen enough pig lips, ears, feet and knuckles to consider himself good on that for the rest of his life — not that he would’ve ever eaten such things before.
Devin took in the sight before him as he shuffled through the buffet line of every Thanksgiving dish you could think of, and some that weren’t so typical if you were outside of Louisiana. He’d expected a light meal when he was informed that the team had Thanksgiving lunch together. He was greeted with a spread that had to cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
All financed by the athletic foundation and the boosters. He was even shocked to see the gray-haired lawyers, doctors, and other people with highly respected jobs doing the serving.
It was the type of event that was mentioned as being a part of high-level college football, but that one couldn’t prepare themselves for until they were actually there.
He grabbed a plate, going through the line as it was piled with turkey, rice dressing, yams, greens, and the like.
It was a far cry from what he’d been used to growing up with such a small family.
“Think you got enough? They let you get seconds or thirds, you know.”
Devin looked over his shoulder to see Sol standing behind him at the end of the line. Unlike most of her coworkers who were scattered throughout the room, serving one thing or another to the players, her hands were absent of gloves.
“I actually thought about finding some to-go boxes so I didn’t have to worry about what I’m going to eat for the next two months,” he said as he stepped out of the line.
She pointed to a stack of to-go plates in the corner. “You’re the first one to think of that. They’re way ahead of you. I’m surprised you didn’t go home for Thanksgiving. You grew up close enough to get back before tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think my family is doing anything so I stayed. What about you? Why are you still on campus?”
“Plane tickets are expensive. Also, no one else in the world celebrates this.”
“I think Canadians do.”
She raised her eyebrow before laughing. “Look at you being well-read and knowing about holidays in other countries. I’ll have to tell you about our big ones back in Brazil so you can impress someone with those.”
“Yeah, I’m down for a trip to Brazil.”
“I know,” she said, winking at him before excusing herself.
Devin found a spot to sit down between Christian and Blair at one of the long tables that had been pushed together in the student center for it to be converted into a mess hall for the team. K.J, Mario and Rahim were across from him.
Rahim nodded in Devin’s direction and elbowed K.J. “Y’all see ya boy over there trying to get with that fine ass foreign chick?”
“He got taste then,” Mario said as he held a turkey leg in one hand while stabbing at a healthy serving of yams with a fork in his other.
“Sol?” Christian asked Devin. “She might be too experienced for you, lil’ bro. Just stick to the freshmen and sophomores.”
Blair laughed. “I remember when I first got here. I asked her out and she said some shit that had me re-evaluating my whole life. It’s definitely a lot easier to try to pick up a couple of freshman or sophomore sorority girls.”
Devin did some mental math in his head from Blair’s statement. Although, he wasn’t entirely sure when the linebacker first got to Tulane. The senior was under no illusions that his football career would continue after the season and spent much of time away from the field prepping for that next stage in life, meaning Devin rarely interacted with him.
“I thought all those people who worked in athletics like that were students? Other than the ones with offices and shit,” Devin said.
“She is. I think she’s a junior or a senior. Either way, that’s not your speed just yet. You still getting your feet wet with college women,” Christian said. “That’s the big leagues. You have to work your way up to someone like that.”
“I don’t think she that fine to be real with y’all,” K.J. said, shrugging.
The others all stopped eating and stared at him for a moment.
“Boy, if you don’t shut yo lying ass up,” Mario said, shoving him. “That girl is the kind of chick that we gotta take that sexual harassment training every year for because motherfuckers can’t contain themselves around a baddie.”
Rahim shook his head. “You must be fucking supermodels if you don’t think she fine.”
“I got some quality bodies under my belt. Y’all just don’t know. That’s why I got a higher taste than y’all,” K.J. said.
“I’m going to roll the dice and say that you haven’t fucked a single girl since you stepped foot on the campus if you’re saying shit like that,” Blair said, earning a round of laughter from the others at the table.
“You know it’s bad when a white boy can see you lying,” Mario said.
Devin opted to stay out of the conversation, more than a little happy that it had moved on from his interactions with Sol.
As he sat, listening to his teammates banter back and forth, sharing in laughs with them, he felt a sense of peace that he hadn’t felt in weeks, arguably months, as he tried to come to terms with his new life as a college football player.
In that moment, he just felt like anyone else, sharing a Thanksgiving meal with his friends and looking forward to the marathon of football that would be on TV later in the day.
In that moment, he could ignore that at the end of that marathon of football, lasting for the next four days, he’d be playing in one of the biggest games of his young career.
Caesar sat, his arms folded on the table under his chin, listening to Darren, Tyrone, Junie, Kendall and Elijah debate which items were cooked by Black cooks versus white cooks from the options being served to the team for their Thanksgiving lunch.
None of it mattered to him. It, like all holidays, was overblown and he would’ve preferred to be somewhere else if there was somewhere else to be. Instead, he’d gone through the motions of showing up for the lunch. For optics purposes, he’d told himself.
“I know my boy can tell the difference between them,” Tyrone said, gesturing in Caesar’s direction.
“Nah. Shit all tastes the same to me,” he said.
“That’s because they had a private chef. You can’t ask him. This is subpar food,” Darren said, laughing to himself.
After their brief tiff during practice two days prior, Caesar had buried the hatchet with Darren and Tyrone. They were still fighting to be bumped up on teams’ draft boards and needed a big win over LSU to prove themselves to general managers either the upcoming draft or the following one.
A push to get drafted was something Caesar understood. He’d apologized to them, and they’d all moved on.
Leaning back in his chair, Caesar pulled out his phone to aimlessly scroll through his social media accounts, largely tuning out the conversations around him.
The deluge of pictures from people’s Thanksgiving celebrations only proved to worsen his mood as holidays were prone to do. The ones from his cousins on his mother’s side of the family pissed him off the most.
Pushing away from the table abruptly, he stood up and picked up his mostly untouched plate of food.
“Where you goin’, bruh?” Tyrone asked.
“Back to my room,” he answered, throwing the plate away and heading for the door.
…
Caesar rested his head against the top of the backseats of the car, his hands knotted in fabric. The sounds of heavy breathing and ruffling clothes filled the small space as Gia rocked back and forth on top of him.
He grabbed her waist to stop her, exhaling heavily. She awkwardly climbed off him, trying to find space in the car’s backseat when Caesar’s 6’5” frame took up the majority of it. Eventually, she opted for getting out and moving to the passenger seat.
Smoothing her dress down, she flipped down the visor and checked her makeup. “Don’t expect me to be at your beck and call everytime you want to fuck.”
“Look around, Gia,” he said, gesturing to the cul-de-sac they sat in. He then pointed to one house in particular. A two story house with more than a handful of cars in the driveway and yard. “You got up from saying grace in your parents’ house to get fucked in a car on the street. In broad daylight. I’ll keep expecting just that. Thanks.”
“Why didn’t you go home for Thanksgiving?” she asked, changing the subject without responding to his quip.
“For what? No one’s there. It’d just be a waste of time and money.”
He could see the wheels turning in her head for a moment as she debated her next words.
“You could’ve told me. I would’ve invited you to whatever that shit is in there,” she said, pointing to her house. “My brothers have their girlfriends here this year so I don’t think anyone would’ve minded. Hell, my mom might’ve been ecstatic.”
“I’m good.”
She opened her mouth and closed it again before turning in the seat so less of her body was facing the back.
“You coming to the game Saturday?” Caesar asked, finally deciding to pull his pants up. “At least tailgating? I’m sure they are a lot of people fighting for those tickets even though LSU is trash, and everyone knows we’re going to beat the shit out of them.”
“Yeah, we’re going. Haven’t figured out how we’re going to get in the game yet, but I guess that’s a play it by ear type of thing.”
“Who’s we?”
“Me, Janell, Shari, Becky, Daisy, the usual people. Why?”
“Kaley’s not going? I thought y’all decided to let that shit go.”
“That shit? You mean this shit?” she said, gesturing between the two of them.
“Whatever you want to call it.”
“We did. She said she’s going to study for finals or something. Then she was saying that it’s too expensive. I don’t know. Seemed weird, but I don’t ask too many questions. Why do you care?”
He shrugged. “I thought that was the little squad. She goes to every game with y’all. I was just wondering why the sudden change.”
“You seem real interested in what your ex is doing,” she said, putting a lot of emphasis on the word ex.
“Don’t get jealous. That shit ain’t cute. I was just making small talk. If you’d rather, we can go for a round two, so we don’t have to do any talking.”
She shook her head and opened the door. “I’m going to go back inside before my parents come here looking for me and start asking questions about what I’m doing.”
“Just tell them you’re making some money.”
“You don’t give me money. That’s why I prefer when other men just randomly show up at my house expecting sex.”
Caesar got out of the car as well so he could get into the driver’s seat. “Well, you just have to ask and I’m more than willing to give you a couple bucks. You give good enough head to deserve that.”
“Happy Thanksgiving, Caesar,” she threw over her shoulder as she started to make her way up the driveway back to her house.
Grabbing his sunglasses from the center console, Caesar started the car to head back to campus. The day couldn’t end soon enough.
“All that’s missing is some damn turkey necks and pig feet,” Jowayne said in his thick South Carolina accent, smacking Devin on his back as if Devin was sure to agree with the linebacker’s sentiment.
After his time working at Rouse’s, though, Devin had seen enough pig lips, ears, feet and knuckles to consider himself good on that for the rest of his life — not that he would’ve ever eaten such things before.
Devin took in the sight before him as he shuffled through the buffet line of every Thanksgiving dish you could think of, and some that weren’t so typical if you were outside of Louisiana. He’d expected a light meal when he was informed that the team had Thanksgiving lunch together. He was greeted with a spread that had to cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
All financed by the athletic foundation and the boosters. He was even shocked to see the gray-haired lawyers, doctors, and other people with highly respected jobs doing the serving.
It was the type of event that was mentioned as being a part of high-level college football, but that one couldn’t prepare themselves for until they were actually there.
He grabbed a plate, going through the line as it was piled with turkey, rice dressing, yams, greens, and the like.
It was a far cry from what he’d been used to growing up with such a small family.
“Think you got enough? They let you get seconds or thirds, you know.”
Devin looked over his shoulder to see Sol standing behind him at the end of the line. Unlike most of her coworkers who were scattered throughout the room, serving one thing or another to the players, her hands were absent of gloves.
“I actually thought about finding some to-go boxes so I didn’t have to worry about what I’m going to eat for the next two months,” he said as he stepped out of the line.
She pointed to a stack of to-go plates in the corner. “You’re the first one to think of that. They’re way ahead of you. I’m surprised you didn’t go home for Thanksgiving. You grew up close enough to get back before tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think my family is doing anything so I stayed. What about you? Why are you still on campus?”
“Plane tickets are expensive. Also, no one else in the world celebrates this.”
“I think Canadians do.”
She raised her eyebrow before laughing. “Look at you being well-read and knowing about holidays in other countries. I’ll have to tell you about our big ones back in Brazil so you can impress someone with those.”
“Yeah, I’m down for a trip to Brazil.”
“I know,” she said, winking at him before excusing herself.
Devin found a spot to sit down between Christian and Blair at one of the long tables that had been pushed together in the student center for it to be converted into a mess hall for the team. K.J, Mario and Rahim were across from him.
Rahim nodded in Devin’s direction and elbowed K.J. “Y’all see ya boy over there trying to get with that fine ass foreign chick?”
“He got taste then,” Mario said as he held a turkey leg in one hand while stabbing at a healthy serving of yams with a fork in his other.
“Sol?” Christian asked Devin. “She might be too experienced for you, lil’ bro. Just stick to the freshmen and sophomores.”
Blair laughed. “I remember when I first got here. I asked her out and she said some shit that had me re-evaluating my whole life. It’s definitely a lot easier to try to pick up a couple of freshman or sophomore sorority girls.”
Devin did some mental math in his head from Blair’s statement. Although, he wasn’t entirely sure when the linebacker first got to Tulane. The senior was under no illusions that his football career would continue after the season and spent much of time away from the field prepping for that next stage in life, meaning Devin rarely interacted with him.
“I thought all those people who worked in athletics like that were students? Other than the ones with offices and shit,” Devin said.
“She is. I think she’s a junior or a senior. Either way, that’s not your speed just yet. You still getting your feet wet with college women,” Christian said. “That’s the big leagues. You have to work your way up to someone like that.”
“I don’t think she that fine to be real with y’all,” K.J. said, shrugging.
The others all stopped eating and stared at him for a moment.
“Boy, if you don’t shut yo lying ass up,” Mario said, shoving him. “That girl is the kind of chick that we gotta take that sexual harassment training every year for because motherfuckers can’t contain themselves around a baddie.”
Rahim shook his head. “You must be fucking supermodels if you don’t think she fine.”
“I got some quality bodies under my belt. Y’all just don’t know. That’s why I got a higher taste than y’all,” K.J. said.
“I’m going to roll the dice and say that you haven’t fucked a single girl since you stepped foot on the campus if you’re saying shit like that,” Blair said, earning a round of laughter from the others at the table.
“You know it’s bad when a white boy can see you lying,” Mario said.
Devin opted to stay out of the conversation, more than a little happy that it had moved on from his interactions with Sol.
As he sat, listening to his teammates banter back and forth, sharing in laughs with them, he felt a sense of peace that he hadn’t felt in weeks, arguably months, as he tried to come to terms with his new life as a college football player.
In that moment, he just felt like anyone else, sharing a Thanksgiving meal with his friends and looking forward to the marathon of football that would be on TV later in the day.
In that moment, he could ignore that at the end of that marathon of football, lasting for the next four days, he’d be playing in one of the biggest games of his young career.
-*****-
Caesar sat, his arms folded on the table under his chin, listening to Darren, Tyrone, Junie, Kendall and Elijah debate which items were cooked by Black cooks versus white cooks from the options being served to the team for their Thanksgiving lunch.
None of it mattered to him. It, like all holidays, was overblown and he would’ve preferred to be somewhere else if there was somewhere else to be. Instead, he’d gone through the motions of showing up for the lunch. For optics purposes, he’d told himself.
“I know my boy can tell the difference between them,” Tyrone said, gesturing in Caesar’s direction.
“Nah. Shit all tastes the same to me,” he said.
“That’s because they had a private chef. You can’t ask him. This is subpar food,” Darren said, laughing to himself.
After their brief tiff during practice two days prior, Caesar had buried the hatchet with Darren and Tyrone. They were still fighting to be bumped up on teams’ draft boards and needed a big win over LSU to prove themselves to general managers either the upcoming draft or the following one.
A push to get drafted was something Caesar understood. He’d apologized to them, and they’d all moved on.
Leaning back in his chair, Caesar pulled out his phone to aimlessly scroll through his social media accounts, largely tuning out the conversations around him.
The deluge of pictures from people’s Thanksgiving celebrations only proved to worsen his mood as holidays were prone to do. The ones from his cousins on his mother’s side of the family pissed him off the most.
Pushing away from the table abruptly, he stood up and picked up his mostly untouched plate of food.
“Where you goin’, bruh?” Tyrone asked.
“Back to my room,” he answered, throwing the plate away and heading for the door.
…
Caesar rested his head against the top of the backseats of the car, his hands knotted in fabric. The sounds of heavy breathing and ruffling clothes filled the small space as Gia rocked back and forth on top of him.
He grabbed her waist to stop her, exhaling heavily. She awkwardly climbed off him, trying to find space in the car’s backseat when Caesar’s 6’5” frame took up the majority of it. Eventually, she opted for getting out and moving to the passenger seat.
Smoothing her dress down, she flipped down the visor and checked her makeup. “Don’t expect me to be at your beck and call everytime you want to fuck.”
“Look around, Gia,” he said, gesturing to the cul-de-sac they sat in. He then pointed to one house in particular. A two story house with more than a handful of cars in the driveway and yard. “You got up from saying grace in your parents’ house to get fucked in a car on the street. In broad daylight. I’ll keep expecting just that. Thanks.”
“Why didn’t you go home for Thanksgiving?” she asked, changing the subject without responding to his quip.
“For what? No one’s there. It’d just be a waste of time and money.”
He could see the wheels turning in her head for a moment as she debated her next words.
“You could’ve told me. I would’ve invited you to whatever that shit is in there,” she said, pointing to her house. “My brothers have their girlfriends here this year so I don’t think anyone would’ve minded. Hell, my mom might’ve been ecstatic.”
“I’m good.”
She opened her mouth and closed it again before turning in the seat so less of her body was facing the back.
“You coming to the game Saturday?” Caesar asked, finally deciding to pull his pants up. “At least tailgating? I’m sure they are a lot of people fighting for those tickets even though LSU is trash, and everyone knows we’re going to beat the shit out of them.”
“Yeah, we’re going. Haven’t figured out how we’re going to get in the game yet, but I guess that’s a play it by ear type of thing.”
“Who’s we?”
“Me, Janell, Shari, Becky, Daisy, the usual people. Why?”
“Kaley’s not going? I thought y’all decided to let that shit go.”
“That shit? You mean this shit?” she said, gesturing between the two of them.
“Whatever you want to call it.”
“We did. She said she’s going to study for finals or something. Then she was saying that it’s too expensive. I don’t know. Seemed weird, but I don’t ask too many questions. Why do you care?”
He shrugged. “I thought that was the little squad. She goes to every game with y’all. I was just wondering why the sudden change.”
“You seem real interested in what your ex is doing,” she said, putting a lot of emphasis on the word ex.
“Don’t get jealous. That shit ain’t cute. I was just making small talk. If you’d rather, we can go for a round two, so we don’t have to do any talking.”
She shook her head and opened the door. “I’m going to go back inside before my parents come here looking for me and start asking questions about what I’m doing.”
“Just tell them you’re making some money.”
“You don’t give me money. That’s why I prefer when other men just randomly show up at my house expecting sex.”
Caesar got out of the car as well so he could get into the driver’s seat. “Well, you just have to ask and I’m more than willing to give you a couple bucks. You give good enough head to deserve that.”
“Happy Thanksgiving, Caesar,” she threw over her shoulder as she started to make her way up the driveway back to her house.
Grabbing his sunglasses from the center console, Caesar started the car to head back to campus. The day couldn’t end soon enough.
-
Captain Canada
- Posts: 5638
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
There needs to be a study on Caesar and this level of narcissism 
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Caesar
Topic author - Chise GOAT
- Posts: 12716
- Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 10:47
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
House Divided
The air was thick with anticipation at Tiger Stadium as the sun began to dip behind the stadium, bathing the mighty Mississippi River in hues of orange, pink and yellow, the bright lights of one of college football’s true cathedrals beginning to bath the field.
The atmosphere was buzzing already, feeding off the energy of the hundreds of thousands of people stretching out across LSU’s campus who had been tailgating and drinking since the morning hours. It was the most pivotal game in the rivalry between the Green Wave and Tigers so far, one that would define an era.
As the players took to the field for their pre-game warm-ups, Caesar was ever confident as usual as he ran through his routine.
As the two teams moved closer to the center of the field during their drills, Caesar made a one-handed catch over his shoulder that took him near the LSU players. The jawing started almost immediately as Tulane’s mercurial receiver scuffed his feet across the Tigers’ logo in the middle of the field.
Players from both sides surged toward one another, verbal jabs quickly escalating to shoving as the coaching staffs fought to keep their teams from coming to blows with the referees wading into the crush to try to aid in separating the fired-up young men.
It was all the coaches could do to keep emotions in check as the players close enough to each other started to reach out and grab fistfuls of jerseys and shirts, readying to launch haymakers at one another. Eventually, however, order was somewhat restored, and a space opened up in the melee, limiting the altercation to just insults and shouting.
The energy was electric in the stadium, a current that would ripple out to the fans hearing news of the scuffle.
The players returned to their sides of the field to finish their warm-ups, but the match had been struck and gas had been poured on the fire.
There was no containing it now.
…
“It’s Saturday night in Death Valley, and the fireworks have already started in this one. We’re moments away from the teams taking the field in the Battle for the Rag. The third-ranked and undefeated Tulane Green Wave have ventured north to Baton Rouge to take on the 5-6 Tigers of Louisiana State University. What’s on the line in this one, Mark?”
“Pride is at the top of the list. Throw the records out. LSU hasn’t lost to Tulane since the 1980s. This group of players doesn’t want to be the first team in living memory to do that. Beyond that, the Green Wave are seeking their first undefeated regular season since 1998, while the Tigers are trying to keep a bowl streak that stretches back to their self-imposed ban in 2020 alive. But there’s no love lost between these two teams and we’re in for a physical game.”
“That’s right. They had to be separated during pre-game warm-ups and both teams were warned to keep it clean on the field. It’s been a week of build-up, a lot of back and forth in the media and on social media. Now, all the talking is done. It’s time to settle it on the field.”
…
As the teams took the field for the kickoff, Tiger Stadium rocked with a deafening roar. The student section, a sea of waving arms and youthful exuberance, chanted and sang, their voices rising in a crescendo that reverberated throughout the stands.
The volume only increased as LSU’s kicker placed the ball down on the tee. The atmosphere reached a fever pitch, the noise so intense it seemed to be shaking the very foundations of the stadium.
The referee blew his whistle, the ball was kicked and the game began. The roar of the crowd surged like a tidal wave, crashing over the field as Donovan fielded it for Tulane and took off down the field.
…
“Darren Reyes takes the field for his third start against LSU. Last season was his best showing in a 27-21 defeat to the Tigers in which he threw three touchdowns. The junior is in the shotgun with fellow junior Tyrone Frazier to his left. The one to watch, freshman receiver Caesar Jenkins, is split out to the left.
“Do you think he’s going to make good on his bet to donate $25,000 for every pass breakup against him?”
“It would be a noble gesture. Reyes gets the snap and hands it off to Frazier who only gains a handful to make it second and six.”
…
“Tulane keeps it conservative here on second down with what looks like the same exact play to make it third and three or four.”
…
“Reyes takes it himself to pick up the first down. Three straight runs to start things here for the Green Wave.”
…
“Reyes drops back for the first time tonight and he gets it out quickly to Arion Stanson on the crossing route. Stanson picks up six on the play.”
…
“Back on the ground for Tulane as Sonny Thibodeaux checks in to take the handoff. That may be a sign of things to come. The third-year spell back usually doesn’t see carries this early in games for the Green Wave.”
…
Slow and steady, the Green Wave worked their way down the field, the usual big play potential of the offense stymied by a staunch Tiger defense that wasn’t willing to give up anything beyond the first down markers.
Nonetheless, they’d worked their way down to LSU’s 31, but were now facing third and eight.
Caesar lined up on the right side of the field, his eyes focused on the cornerback opposite of him. At the snap, he burst off the line, his feet pounding the turf with rapid precision, dating past the defender. With a sharp cut, he streaked across the middle of the field, the cornerback trailing him by a few steps.
Darren avoided a sack with a drop of shoulder, stepping up in the pocket and letting the ball fly in Caesar’s direction.
It spiraled through the air as Caesar’s hands rose to catch the ball in stride. He saw a flash of white as the ball reached him, instinctively shifting and lowering his shoulder. The thudding impact jarred him, breath exploding from his lungs as the ball was knocked loose from his grasp.
He and the defender crashed to the turf, the crowd erupting in a cacophony of cheers and groans. He felt the defender push off him. As he got to a knee, he found Erik standing over him, clapping in his face, swarmed by his teammates with congratulations.
“That’s only one, bitch!” Caesar shouted at him as he got to his feet.
…
“We’ve been waiting all week for the first coming together of brothers Caesar and Erik Jenkins and the first battle goes the way of the Tigers’ safety as he lays out Caesar Jenkins to break that pass up and force Tulane to settle for the field goal.”
“Shoutout to the referees for letting them play, because there was some trash talk going back and forth after that one.”
“Just a little brotherly love, Mark.”
…
“Neal Cooper’s attempt is up, and it’s good. Tulane strikes first with a field goal to take an early lead here in Baton Rouge.”
…
“Austin Reeves jogs out on the field for LSU’s first drive. The freshman quarterback has had an indifferent season since taking over a few weeks ago for the injured Tevin White and Terrance Nash. He’s thrown 13 touchdowns, but also had 12 interceptions.”
“This Green Wave defense is littered with ball hawks, especially in the secondary, so he’ll have to be careful if he wants to keep those turnovers down.”
“The Tigers will start in the same way as their opponents with a run up the middle on first down. Micah Gould picking four on the play.”
…
“Conservative play call from Coach Armando Justice as he opts to call a screen on second down. Myron Hill makes the catch, but he might not have gone anywhere with Christian Vaughn making the stop almost immediately.”
…
“Reeves is flushed out of the pocket! He’s spinning to try to find an open receiver! Sheds a sack, he’s taking it himself and he’s got the first down! Ray Woodard on the tackle.”
“That was some perseverance from the young man. Marquess McElhaney was in the backfield in a flash and the blocking broke down from there. Big play from the freshman to keep this drive going.”
…
LSU’s drive had continued in much of the same vein, slow, plodding, punishing on the players up front. It would be five yards forward, two yards back and then an improbable first down to keep the drive going. But it had bogged down just outside of the redzone.
Devin shifted to the nickel, drifting closer toward the line of scrimmage. The quarterback went through his cadence, his white jersey already beginning to show the signs of the number of times he’d been on the Bermuda grass in Tiger Stadium.
The ball was snapped. Devin took a step back then took off, sprinting around the edge of the offensive line. The tackle, preoccupied with Mario, didn’t see Devin until it was too late.
The quarterback put his hand on the back of one of the linemen who’d been forced back into the backfield, collapsing the pocket. He rolled to his left, right into Devin’s path. The anticipation ramped up as Devin closed the distance.
He could see the quarterback’s eyes widen in a split second before he fell to the field, giving himself up to avoid taking a big hit or worse. Devin had to jump over him to avoid a potential penalty for hitting a defenseless player.
While he hadn’t gotten the hit, he was swarmed by his teammates with slaps on the helmet and back all the same.
…
“That’s going to be credited as a sack for freshman cornerback Devin King. LSU’s facing a long third down attempt here. Twelve yards to the first down marker.”
…
“Reeves’ pass sails on him and the Tigers will be forced to punt the ball away.”
….
“Oh, someone’s missed an assignment! Reyes finds Kendall Dallas for a big gain down the sideline!”
…
“Frazier bounces it outside and he’s going to get a first down and more! Just like that, the Green Wave are at the Tigers’ 45 yard line.”
…
“Reyes drops back to pass and he’s taken down in the backfield by Raphael Shelby! That’s how you get the momentum back if you’re LSU. It’s going to be second and sixteen for Tulane.”
…
“Caesar Jenkins makes his first catch of the game and he’s knocked out of bounds after picking up fourteen yards on that play.”
…
“Caesar Jenkins again. He breaks a tackle and he’s going to – pushed out at the Tigers’ 10-yard line! He’s fired up down there on the sideline!”
…
“Speed option from the Green Wave and Reyes is going to keep it himself to make it 9-0 Tulane in the waning seconds of the first quarter!”
“All season, we’ve seen Tulane break games open when they get into positions like this. The warning bells are surely going off for LSU. They need a touchdown on their next drive in the worst way to stay in this game.”
“The fans are certainly losing a bit of their steam. I can hear you now.”
…
“Julius Yates fields it for the Tigers at the three-yard line. He’s heading up the right sideline. HURDLES A MAN! 30, 40, shoved out of bounds at LSU’s 48 or 49. What a return from the senior cornerback to put the Tigers in position to get something from this drive!”
…
“Reeves drops back. No, it’s a draw on first down. Gould takes it up the middle for five yards.”
…
“The third running back on LSU’s depth chart, freshman Hasan Santiago, checks into the game. Reeves pitches it out to him and he’s good for three or four on the play.”
“A little background, Santiago played alongside Tulane’s Devin King and Caesar Jenkins in high school where they won the Louisiana state championship.”
…
“Reeves hits Drake Toomer in stride and that’s going to be a first down and some. He’s going to be marked down at Tulane’s 38.”
…
The din of the crowd had returned as LSU entered the redzone for the first time in the game. Devin felt as though there were extra players on the field as the crowd erupted after every positive play.
He crouched low, eyes locked onto the receiver across from him. The ball was snapped, and Devin immediately backpedaled, matching the receiver’s initial burst off the line.
The receiver’s feet danced with deceptive speed, his body faking left before cutting back to the right sharply. Devin reacted a second too late, his cleats digging into the turf as he pivoted to chase. He watched as the receiver brought in the pass.
Devin’s arms pumped as he tried to close the distance as fast as he could. The receiver turned up the field, picking up a block on Omari. The crowd’s roar grew with each yard gain. Devin closed in, determined to make up for his mistake.
The receiver slowed down to make another cut, back to the inside of the field. The decision allowed Devin to wrap his arms around his waist. Using his momentum, Devin swung the receiver to the ground, whistles blowing the play dead.
Devin had to get to his feet quickly to avoid being trampled by the LSU players running over to celebrate with their teammate. He threw his hands up in frustration as he jogged back to the huddle for the next play.
…
“Big catch for Randall Todd and LSU’s down to the 11!”
…
“Gould straight up the middle on first down for 3 yards.”
…
“Another hand-off to Gould, and he powers forward for a six yard gain. Down to the two.”
…
“The Tigers give it to Gould again and he’s – into the endzone for six! Third times the charm for LSU and they’ll be within three pending the extra point.”
“We might have a ball game on our hands!”
…
“Tulane starts out this drive with a short gain of three by Thibodeaux.”
…
“Reyes finds his tight end, Tucker Beal, for the first down.”
…
Caesar tugged at the wristband of his gloves as he settled into his stance, the cornerback creeping up toward the line of scrimmage to jam him.
He glanced inside toward the ball, checking for any audibles from Darren, the crowd noise having ratcheted back up after their touchdown. Darren called for the snap, and Caesar exploded off the line. His hands shot out, catching the corner in his chest and sending him stumbling back a couple of steps.
He released toward the inside before drifting back toward the sideline, stacking the defensive back and giving Darren somewhere to lead him. He threw his hand up and looked back, finding the ball arcing through the air toward him.
Watching it in over his shoulder, he brought the ball in and kicked it up a notch, the sideline becoming a blur as he closed in on the endzone. A couple checks behind him revealed white jerseys behind him and nothing but green ahead of him.
The cheers turned to boos with each stride that brought him closer the endzone. As he crossed the goal line, the Tulane fans exploded into cheers and the LSU fans into obscenities.
He ran through the endzone toward the stands, the stadium’s student section in the north endzone, flipping the ball and holding his arms out to the sides as the insults rained down on him.
…
“Death, taxes and Caesar Jenkins showing off his big play ability! Touchdown Tulane!”
“Death, taxes, that and Caesar Jenkins getting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Neal Cooper will need to show off his leg if LSU takes that penalty on the extra point.”
“It looks like they’ll be opting to have it applied on the kickoff. Cooper’s kick it up and it’s good. 17-7 Tulane with a little under five minutes remaining in the second quarter.”
…
“No change to the gameplan for the Tigers as Gould pounds the middle of the line of scrimmage with another bruising run. He’s not picked up a lot on that one, though. Gain of two.”
…
“Reeves finds Toomer for a quick pass to make it third and manageable.”
…
“Another pass and it’s going to be a first down with the freshman linking up with Hill on the play.”
…
“Gould takes it up the middle again and picks up three, maybe four on the play.”
…
“Duncan checks in and takes over the pounding up the middle with three on the play.”
…
“Santiago comes in now, and you guessed it, it’s a run up the middle.”
“The Tigers are running as much of this clock down as possible to prevent Tulane from scoring again before halftime. I don’t know what to think of this strategy, because it could backfire if they don’t put the ball in the endzone or at least get a field goal.”
…
The Tigers continued to run the ball straight up the middle, Tulane stacking the box be damned, inching ever closer to field goal range thanks to the fifteen-yard penalty on the kickoff.
Devin glanced up at the clock, watching as it ticked down to a minute and 30 seconds. As the offense jogged to the line of scrimmage, he crouched down in his stance, eyeing the quarterback and listening for any coverage changes.
The quarterback called for the ball and turned to hand the ball off to the running back for the umpteenth time, the offensive line surging forward. Tulane’s defenders bit, stepping up to meet the run.
Devin had remained root to the receiver’s hip as the receiver streaked across the middle of the field. The quarterback rolled to his right, bringing the ball back up as he slipped out of the pocket. Devin continued to shadow the receiver step for step as a second receiver and Omari ran toward him.
The quarterback drew his arm back and fired a pass in to the receiver Omari was covering. But he was late on the throw, trying to fit it into a closing gap between Devin and Omari. Devin leapt forward, stretching his arm out and batting the ball up into the air.
The ball spun awkwardly. The two receivers slowed down and immediately looked up for the ball. Hayden came down from his safety spot, his eyes darting to the floating pass. He tracked the ball’s arc and dove for it, getting his hands under it just before it touched the ground.
…
“It’s intercepted! The referees are saying he has it! What a play from Tulane safety Hayden Royal to get his hands under that to make the catch!”
…
“The Green Wave come out with five wide receivers on the field. It doesn’t look like they’re going to settle for a 10-point lead going into halftime.”
“You can’t blame Coach Denver Shuman. If he can increase the lead to 17 before the end of the quarter, LSU would be all but out of this one.”
“Reyes drops back and fires it out to Conrad for a first down. With a minute left, there is no panic or rush on that Tulane sideline.”
…
“Reyes connects with Dallas for a gain of 11. The clock is ticking, but Tulane isn’t having much of a problem moving this ball.”
…
“Reyes tries to go deep to Greer, but the pass it batted down by Erik Jenkins.”
…
“Reyes call—Busted play! Reyes is on his bike! He needs to get this out of his hands or it’s going to be a big sack and he… does! It’s incomplete but there’s no penalty on the play for intentional grounding so that’s the best outcome you could ask for.”
…
“Tulane steps to the line of scrimmage, facing third and 10 with 40 seconds remaining on the clock. They need to get to at least the LSU 30 if they want to give Neal Cooper a chance to extend this lead. The Tigers’ 42 is the line to get.”
…
Caesar broke from the line of scrimmage, sprinting downfield. He ran fifteen yards then planted his left foot, cutting toward the middle of the field. The cornerback fell a step behind him on the cut. Caesar threw his hand up for the ball.
Darren stepped up, launching a high, arcing pass in his direction. Caesar tracked the ball, drifting back as he shifted his path to get underneath the ball. He leapt, his arms extended to catch the ball at its highest point.
Erik closed with astonishing speed, timing his jump perfectly, getting his hand on the ball just as it descended toward Caesar’s hands. The ball deflected, falling harmlessly to the turf as Caesar fell onto his back.
But as Erik came down, his momentum rotated his body, taking him off balance. His left arm shot out to break his fall. He landed awkwardly, his arm twisting beneath him. A pop was barely audible over the din of crowd.
He rolled over onto his back, clutching his elbow, pain etched across his face.
Caesar got up, looked at him then the referees, calling for pass interference. At the same time, the roar of the crowd in Tiger Stadium faltered, a hushed silence falling over the fans as Erik sat up, still grabbing at his elbow.
The medical staff rushed onto the field alongside Coach Justice. As the trainers worked to carefully stabilize Erik’s arm, the noise in the stadium reached its lowest ebb of the night, only the sound of the murmured communications of the trainers and LSU’s coach.
Erik was helped to his feet, his arm cradled gingerly against his chest. The crowd slowly began to clap as he made his way to sideline.
…
“We’re back underway after that pause in the action to tend to Erik Jenkins.”
“It’ll be a huge loss to LSU if he’s not able to come back into this one. They lost every game he was forced to sit out of earlier in the season.”
“Tulane’s punt unit is out on the field. Clint Piggett puts it in the air and Yates signals for a fair catch.”
…
“Reeves takes a knee and we’ll head into halftime with the Green Wave leading, 17-7.”
…
As Tulane’s players ran to the locker room, buoyed by their first half performance, the Tigers walked to the home accommodations with their heads hung, fearing that they’d blown their chance to upset their rivals.
The air was thick with anticipation at Tiger Stadium as the sun began to dip behind the stadium, bathing the mighty Mississippi River in hues of orange, pink and yellow, the bright lights of one of college football’s true cathedrals beginning to bath the field.
The atmosphere was buzzing already, feeding off the energy of the hundreds of thousands of people stretching out across LSU’s campus who had been tailgating and drinking since the morning hours. It was the most pivotal game in the rivalry between the Green Wave and Tigers so far, one that would define an era.
As the players took to the field for their pre-game warm-ups, Caesar was ever confident as usual as he ran through his routine.
As the two teams moved closer to the center of the field during their drills, Caesar made a one-handed catch over his shoulder that took him near the LSU players. The jawing started almost immediately as Tulane’s mercurial receiver scuffed his feet across the Tigers’ logo in the middle of the field.
Players from both sides surged toward one another, verbal jabs quickly escalating to shoving as the coaching staffs fought to keep their teams from coming to blows with the referees wading into the crush to try to aid in separating the fired-up young men.
It was all the coaches could do to keep emotions in check as the players close enough to each other started to reach out and grab fistfuls of jerseys and shirts, readying to launch haymakers at one another. Eventually, however, order was somewhat restored, and a space opened up in the melee, limiting the altercation to just insults and shouting.
The energy was electric in the stadium, a current that would ripple out to the fans hearing news of the scuffle.
The players returned to their sides of the field to finish their warm-ups, but the match had been struck and gas had been poured on the fire.
There was no containing it now.
…
“It’s Saturday night in Death Valley, and the fireworks have already started in this one. We’re moments away from the teams taking the field in the Battle for the Rag. The third-ranked and undefeated Tulane Green Wave have ventured north to Baton Rouge to take on the 5-6 Tigers of Louisiana State University. What’s on the line in this one, Mark?”
“Pride is at the top of the list. Throw the records out. LSU hasn’t lost to Tulane since the 1980s. This group of players doesn’t want to be the first team in living memory to do that. Beyond that, the Green Wave are seeking their first undefeated regular season since 1998, while the Tigers are trying to keep a bowl streak that stretches back to their self-imposed ban in 2020 alive. But there’s no love lost between these two teams and we’re in for a physical game.”
“That’s right. They had to be separated during pre-game warm-ups and both teams were warned to keep it clean on the field. It’s been a week of build-up, a lot of back and forth in the media and on social media. Now, all the talking is done. It’s time to settle it on the field.”
…
As the teams took the field for the kickoff, Tiger Stadium rocked with a deafening roar. The student section, a sea of waving arms and youthful exuberance, chanted and sang, their voices rising in a crescendo that reverberated throughout the stands.
The volume only increased as LSU’s kicker placed the ball down on the tee. The atmosphere reached a fever pitch, the noise so intense it seemed to be shaking the very foundations of the stadium.
The referee blew his whistle, the ball was kicked and the game began. The roar of the crowd surged like a tidal wave, crashing over the field as Donovan fielded it for Tulane and took off down the field.
…
“Darren Reyes takes the field for his third start against LSU. Last season was his best showing in a 27-21 defeat to the Tigers in which he threw three touchdowns. The junior is in the shotgun with fellow junior Tyrone Frazier to his left. The one to watch, freshman receiver Caesar Jenkins, is split out to the left.
“Do you think he’s going to make good on his bet to donate $25,000 for every pass breakup against him?”
“It would be a noble gesture. Reyes gets the snap and hands it off to Frazier who only gains a handful to make it second and six.”
…
“Tulane keeps it conservative here on second down with what looks like the same exact play to make it third and three or four.”
…
“Reyes takes it himself to pick up the first down. Three straight runs to start things here for the Green Wave.”
…
“Reyes drops back for the first time tonight and he gets it out quickly to Arion Stanson on the crossing route. Stanson picks up six on the play.”
…
“Back on the ground for Tulane as Sonny Thibodeaux checks in to take the handoff. That may be a sign of things to come. The third-year spell back usually doesn’t see carries this early in games for the Green Wave.”
…
Slow and steady, the Green Wave worked their way down the field, the usual big play potential of the offense stymied by a staunch Tiger defense that wasn’t willing to give up anything beyond the first down markers.
Nonetheless, they’d worked their way down to LSU’s 31, but were now facing third and eight.
Caesar lined up on the right side of the field, his eyes focused on the cornerback opposite of him. At the snap, he burst off the line, his feet pounding the turf with rapid precision, dating past the defender. With a sharp cut, he streaked across the middle of the field, the cornerback trailing him by a few steps.
Darren avoided a sack with a drop of shoulder, stepping up in the pocket and letting the ball fly in Caesar’s direction.
It spiraled through the air as Caesar’s hands rose to catch the ball in stride. He saw a flash of white as the ball reached him, instinctively shifting and lowering his shoulder. The thudding impact jarred him, breath exploding from his lungs as the ball was knocked loose from his grasp.
He and the defender crashed to the turf, the crowd erupting in a cacophony of cheers and groans. He felt the defender push off him. As he got to a knee, he found Erik standing over him, clapping in his face, swarmed by his teammates with congratulations.
“That’s only one, bitch!” Caesar shouted at him as he got to his feet.
…
“We’ve been waiting all week for the first coming together of brothers Caesar and Erik Jenkins and the first battle goes the way of the Tigers’ safety as he lays out Caesar Jenkins to break that pass up and force Tulane to settle for the field goal.”
“Shoutout to the referees for letting them play, because there was some trash talk going back and forth after that one.”
“Just a little brotherly love, Mark.”
…
“Neal Cooper’s attempt is up, and it’s good. Tulane strikes first with a field goal to take an early lead here in Baton Rouge.”
…
“Austin Reeves jogs out on the field for LSU’s first drive. The freshman quarterback has had an indifferent season since taking over a few weeks ago for the injured Tevin White and Terrance Nash. He’s thrown 13 touchdowns, but also had 12 interceptions.”
“This Green Wave defense is littered with ball hawks, especially in the secondary, so he’ll have to be careful if he wants to keep those turnovers down.”
“The Tigers will start in the same way as their opponents with a run up the middle on first down. Micah Gould picking four on the play.”
…
“Conservative play call from Coach Armando Justice as he opts to call a screen on second down. Myron Hill makes the catch, but he might not have gone anywhere with Christian Vaughn making the stop almost immediately.”
…
“Reeves is flushed out of the pocket! He’s spinning to try to find an open receiver! Sheds a sack, he’s taking it himself and he’s got the first down! Ray Woodard on the tackle.”
“That was some perseverance from the young man. Marquess McElhaney was in the backfield in a flash and the blocking broke down from there. Big play from the freshman to keep this drive going.”
…
LSU’s drive had continued in much of the same vein, slow, plodding, punishing on the players up front. It would be five yards forward, two yards back and then an improbable first down to keep the drive going. But it had bogged down just outside of the redzone.
Devin shifted to the nickel, drifting closer toward the line of scrimmage. The quarterback went through his cadence, his white jersey already beginning to show the signs of the number of times he’d been on the Bermuda grass in Tiger Stadium.
The ball was snapped. Devin took a step back then took off, sprinting around the edge of the offensive line. The tackle, preoccupied with Mario, didn’t see Devin until it was too late.
The quarterback put his hand on the back of one of the linemen who’d been forced back into the backfield, collapsing the pocket. He rolled to his left, right into Devin’s path. The anticipation ramped up as Devin closed the distance.
He could see the quarterback’s eyes widen in a split second before he fell to the field, giving himself up to avoid taking a big hit or worse. Devin had to jump over him to avoid a potential penalty for hitting a defenseless player.
While he hadn’t gotten the hit, he was swarmed by his teammates with slaps on the helmet and back all the same.
…
“That’s going to be credited as a sack for freshman cornerback Devin King. LSU’s facing a long third down attempt here. Twelve yards to the first down marker.”
…
“Reeves’ pass sails on him and the Tigers will be forced to punt the ball away.”
….
“Oh, someone’s missed an assignment! Reyes finds Kendall Dallas for a big gain down the sideline!”
…
“Frazier bounces it outside and he’s going to get a first down and more! Just like that, the Green Wave are at the Tigers’ 45 yard line.”
…
“Reyes drops back to pass and he’s taken down in the backfield by Raphael Shelby! That’s how you get the momentum back if you’re LSU. It’s going to be second and sixteen for Tulane.”
…
“Caesar Jenkins makes his first catch of the game and he’s knocked out of bounds after picking up fourteen yards on that play.”
…
“Caesar Jenkins again. He breaks a tackle and he’s going to – pushed out at the Tigers’ 10-yard line! He’s fired up down there on the sideline!”
…
“Speed option from the Green Wave and Reyes is going to keep it himself to make it 9-0 Tulane in the waning seconds of the first quarter!”
“All season, we’ve seen Tulane break games open when they get into positions like this. The warning bells are surely going off for LSU. They need a touchdown on their next drive in the worst way to stay in this game.”
“The fans are certainly losing a bit of their steam. I can hear you now.”
…
“Julius Yates fields it for the Tigers at the three-yard line. He’s heading up the right sideline. HURDLES A MAN! 30, 40, shoved out of bounds at LSU’s 48 or 49. What a return from the senior cornerback to put the Tigers in position to get something from this drive!”
…
“Reeves drops back. No, it’s a draw on first down. Gould takes it up the middle for five yards.”
…
“The third running back on LSU’s depth chart, freshman Hasan Santiago, checks into the game. Reeves pitches it out to him and he’s good for three or four on the play.”
“A little background, Santiago played alongside Tulane’s Devin King and Caesar Jenkins in high school where they won the Louisiana state championship.”
…
“Reeves hits Drake Toomer in stride and that’s going to be a first down and some. He’s going to be marked down at Tulane’s 38.”
…
The din of the crowd had returned as LSU entered the redzone for the first time in the game. Devin felt as though there were extra players on the field as the crowd erupted after every positive play.
He crouched low, eyes locked onto the receiver across from him. The ball was snapped, and Devin immediately backpedaled, matching the receiver’s initial burst off the line.
The receiver’s feet danced with deceptive speed, his body faking left before cutting back to the right sharply. Devin reacted a second too late, his cleats digging into the turf as he pivoted to chase. He watched as the receiver brought in the pass.
Devin’s arms pumped as he tried to close the distance as fast as he could. The receiver turned up the field, picking up a block on Omari. The crowd’s roar grew with each yard gain. Devin closed in, determined to make up for his mistake.
The receiver slowed down to make another cut, back to the inside of the field. The decision allowed Devin to wrap his arms around his waist. Using his momentum, Devin swung the receiver to the ground, whistles blowing the play dead.
Devin had to get to his feet quickly to avoid being trampled by the LSU players running over to celebrate with their teammate. He threw his hands up in frustration as he jogged back to the huddle for the next play.
…
“Big catch for Randall Todd and LSU’s down to the 11!”
…
“Gould straight up the middle on first down for 3 yards.”
…
“Another hand-off to Gould, and he powers forward for a six yard gain. Down to the two.”
…
“The Tigers give it to Gould again and he’s – into the endzone for six! Third times the charm for LSU and they’ll be within three pending the extra point.”
“We might have a ball game on our hands!”
…
“Tulane starts out this drive with a short gain of three by Thibodeaux.”
…
“Reyes finds his tight end, Tucker Beal, for the first down.”
…
Caesar tugged at the wristband of his gloves as he settled into his stance, the cornerback creeping up toward the line of scrimmage to jam him.
He glanced inside toward the ball, checking for any audibles from Darren, the crowd noise having ratcheted back up after their touchdown. Darren called for the snap, and Caesar exploded off the line. His hands shot out, catching the corner in his chest and sending him stumbling back a couple of steps.
He released toward the inside before drifting back toward the sideline, stacking the defensive back and giving Darren somewhere to lead him. He threw his hand up and looked back, finding the ball arcing through the air toward him.
Watching it in over his shoulder, he brought the ball in and kicked it up a notch, the sideline becoming a blur as he closed in on the endzone. A couple checks behind him revealed white jerseys behind him and nothing but green ahead of him.
The cheers turned to boos with each stride that brought him closer the endzone. As he crossed the goal line, the Tulane fans exploded into cheers and the LSU fans into obscenities.
He ran through the endzone toward the stands, the stadium’s student section in the north endzone, flipping the ball and holding his arms out to the sides as the insults rained down on him.
…
“Death, taxes and Caesar Jenkins showing off his big play ability! Touchdown Tulane!”
“Death, taxes, that and Caesar Jenkins getting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Neal Cooper will need to show off his leg if LSU takes that penalty on the extra point.”
“It looks like they’ll be opting to have it applied on the kickoff. Cooper’s kick it up and it’s good. 17-7 Tulane with a little under five minutes remaining in the second quarter.”
…
“No change to the gameplan for the Tigers as Gould pounds the middle of the line of scrimmage with another bruising run. He’s not picked up a lot on that one, though. Gain of two.”
…
“Reeves finds Toomer for a quick pass to make it third and manageable.”
…
“Another pass and it’s going to be a first down with the freshman linking up with Hill on the play.”
…
“Gould takes it up the middle again and picks up three, maybe four on the play.”
…
“Duncan checks in and takes over the pounding up the middle with three on the play.”
…
“Santiago comes in now, and you guessed it, it’s a run up the middle.”
“The Tigers are running as much of this clock down as possible to prevent Tulane from scoring again before halftime. I don’t know what to think of this strategy, because it could backfire if they don’t put the ball in the endzone or at least get a field goal.”
…
The Tigers continued to run the ball straight up the middle, Tulane stacking the box be damned, inching ever closer to field goal range thanks to the fifteen-yard penalty on the kickoff.
Devin glanced up at the clock, watching as it ticked down to a minute and 30 seconds. As the offense jogged to the line of scrimmage, he crouched down in his stance, eyeing the quarterback and listening for any coverage changes.
The quarterback called for the ball and turned to hand the ball off to the running back for the umpteenth time, the offensive line surging forward. Tulane’s defenders bit, stepping up to meet the run.
Devin had remained root to the receiver’s hip as the receiver streaked across the middle of the field. The quarterback rolled to his right, bringing the ball back up as he slipped out of the pocket. Devin continued to shadow the receiver step for step as a second receiver and Omari ran toward him.
The quarterback drew his arm back and fired a pass in to the receiver Omari was covering. But he was late on the throw, trying to fit it into a closing gap between Devin and Omari. Devin leapt forward, stretching his arm out and batting the ball up into the air.
The ball spun awkwardly. The two receivers slowed down and immediately looked up for the ball. Hayden came down from his safety spot, his eyes darting to the floating pass. He tracked the ball’s arc and dove for it, getting his hands under it just before it touched the ground.
…
“It’s intercepted! The referees are saying he has it! What a play from Tulane safety Hayden Royal to get his hands under that to make the catch!”
…
“The Green Wave come out with five wide receivers on the field. It doesn’t look like they’re going to settle for a 10-point lead going into halftime.”
“You can’t blame Coach Denver Shuman. If he can increase the lead to 17 before the end of the quarter, LSU would be all but out of this one.”
“Reyes drops back and fires it out to Conrad for a first down. With a minute left, there is no panic or rush on that Tulane sideline.”
…
“Reyes connects with Dallas for a gain of 11. The clock is ticking, but Tulane isn’t having much of a problem moving this ball.”
…
“Reyes tries to go deep to Greer, but the pass it batted down by Erik Jenkins.”
…
“Reyes call—Busted play! Reyes is on his bike! He needs to get this out of his hands or it’s going to be a big sack and he… does! It’s incomplete but there’s no penalty on the play for intentional grounding so that’s the best outcome you could ask for.”
…
“Tulane steps to the line of scrimmage, facing third and 10 with 40 seconds remaining on the clock. They need to get to at least the LSU 30 if they want to give Neal Cooper a chance to extend this lead. The Tigers’ 42 is the line to get.”
…
Caesar broke from the line of scrimmage, sprinting downfield. He ran fifteen yards then planted his left foot, cutting toward the middle of the field. The cornerback fell a step behind him on the cut. Caesar threw his hand up for the ball.
Darren stepped up, launching a high, arcing pass in his direction. Caesar tracked the ball, drifting back as he shifted his path to get underneath the ball. He leapt, his arms extended to catch the ball at its highest point.
Erik closed with astonishing speed, timing his jump perfectly, getting his hand on the ball just as it descended toward Caesar’s hands. The ball deflected, falling harmlessly to the turf as Caesar fell onto his back.
But as Erik came down, his momentum rotated his body, taking him off balance. His left arm shot out to break his fall. He landed awkwardly, his arm twisting beneath him. A pop was barely audible over the din of crowd.
He rolled over onto his back, clutching his elbow, pain etched across his face.
Caesar got up, looked at him then the referees, calling for pass interference. At the same time, the roar of the crowd in Tiger Stadium faltered, a hushed silence falling over the fans as Erik sat up, still grabbing at his elbow.
The medical staff rushed onto the field alongside Coach Justice. As the trainers worked to carefully stabilize Erik’s arm, the noise in the stadium reached its lowest ebb of the night, only the sound of the murmured communications of the trainers and LSU’s coach.
Erik was helped to his feet, his arm cradled gingerly against his chest. The crowd slowly began to clap as he made his way to sideline.
…
“We’re back underway after that pause in the action to tend to Erik Jenkins.”
“It’ll be a huge loss to LSU if he’s not able to come back into this one. They lost every game he was forced to sit out of earlier in the season.”
“Tulane’s punt unit is out on the field. Clint Piggett puts it in the air and Yates signals for a fair catch.”
…
“Reeves takes a knee and we’ll head into halftime with the Green Wave leading, 17-7.”
…
As Tulane’s players ran to the locker room, buoyed by their first half performance, the Tigers walked to the home accommodations with their heads hung, fearing that they’d blown their chance to upset their rivals.
-
Caesar
Topic author - Chise GOAT
- Posts: 12716
- Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 10:47
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Chinese Bandit
Beneath Tiger Stadium, in the maze of concrete hallways beneath the ancient stadium, the two locker rooms presented a stark contrast to one another.
In Tulane’s locker room, the atmosphere buzzed with energy. The walls echoed with shouts and the rhythmic clapping of hands as the coaching staff made adjustments to ensure that they would hold on to their lead and complete their mission.
Players slapped each other on the back, eyes filled with determination. Coach Shuman’s voice rising above the din and then quieting it, delivering a sermon about maintaining their intensity and focus through the end of the battle.
Confidence poured from the players, the air already beginning to have the sweet taste of victory that was within their grasp.
It was the total opposite for the Tigers.
A heavy silence hung in the air, broken only by the occasional coach getting a bit louder with his position group and he implored the players to make changes to fight their way back into the game and avoid the disaster of a loss to the Green Wave.
Players sat slumped on benches, heads in hands, the initial explosion of energy and confidence crushed by Tulane’s first half performance, seemingly stealing the possibility of an upset away from them and setting them on the path to an embarrassing end to the season.
The medical staff worked with quiet efficiency on minor injuries, offering words of comfort. Coach Justice’s message was one of resilience, digging deep to find the strength to preserve through adversity one last time in the season.
A loss would be devastating for LSU in more ways than one, and the sense of inevitability that had descended on everyone in purple and gold, players, coaches and fans alike, was draining the energy and desire out of the team.
As the Tigers walked out into the tunnel to take the field for the second half, Erik pushed his way through the crowd of his teammates, his helmet and pads on and his injured elbow covered in medical strapping.
“E, you good, bro?” Jayson asked.
Erik shoved the cornerback. “Don’t ask me if I’m alright. I’m fucked up!”
The outburst was loud in the quiet tunnel.
“This our fucking house and y’all letting them drink your fucking Kool-Aid like some bitches! Ain’t no fucking bitch in me! You got some bitch in you?” he turned to one teammate who shook his head. “You got some fucking ho in your blood?” A second teammate waved his hands and said ‘not me.’
“I don’t want no pussies on the field with me! Stay your fucking ass on the porch if you not built for this! I pour my heart into this shit, man! Let’s go!”
…
“The teams are out on the field to begin the second half, Tulane leading 17-7. We’re receiving news from the sidelines that LSU safety Erik Jenkins will play the second half after suffering what we understand to be a dislocated elbow.”
“The question is if a hobbled Erik Jenkins better than Sammy Fox, the backup who played in his stead during Jenkins’ brief administrative suspension earlier in the season.”
“The Green Wave are kicking off to start the half, so we’ll have to wait to see if he’s effective on the field with one arm.”
…
“Reeves under center to start this drive. The Tigers had a heavy helping of running the ball in the first half with 25 carries between their three running backs. Reeves will drop back to pass on first down here. He’s got the protection and launches it downfield. Incomplete, just overthrown.”
“Drake Toomer had a step on his man. That could’ve been six if Austin Reeves had been able to find him.”
…
“Reeves gets the snap in the shotgun. The pass is batted down by Vaughn and it’s going to be a third and long.”
…
“Third and 10 coming up here. Reeves fakes to Gould. He – sacked! Defensive tackle Kerby Greer blew through the middle of the line and made the play in the backfield! LSU’s going to have to put it away here after a three and out.”
“That was a big, missed opportunity to steal the momentum in the early goings of this quarter and the Tigers might be in trouble here if Tulane scores.”
…
“Frazier takes his first handoff of the half for a pickup of eight on the play.”
…
“Reyes finds Caesar Jenkins and it’s going to be a first down and some, twelve yard gain.”
…
“Reyes hits Beal and that’ll net the Green Wave nine.”
…
“Reyes fakes the handoff to his running back and takes it himself, bouncing outside. He’s pushed out of bounds at LSU’s 37.”
…
The Green Wave continued to force their way forward, the Tigers seemingly powerless in stopping them, serving more as speed bumps to prevent big plays.
They’d worked their way down to the 15 and were threatening to score and extend their lead to three scores.
Caesar burst off the line as the ball was snapped, releasing to the inside of the cornerback. He ran down the field before planting his outside foot and turning back toward the line. Darren fired the ball into him, hitting him between the numbers.
He turned up the field, seeing Erik lining him up for a tackle. Caesar ran to his right. Erik seemed to hesitate before exploding forward to close the distance ahead of the goal line.
As the safety lunged, arms wrapping around Caesar, Caesar kept his feet churning forward. He leaned forward, and felt Erik fall down, his grip broken and his hands swatting at Caesar’s feet as he surged forward.
He reached the ball out as he crossed the goal line, just as the other safety closed in, seeing the satisfying touchdown signal.
Tossing the ball to the referee, he turned around and leapt into the arms of a couple of the offensive linemen.
…
“Caesar Jenkins powers into the endzone for his second touchdown of the night and puts Tulane up 23-7!”
“Well, we got our answer about Erik Jenkins. It looked like he couldn’t quite wrap up on that play. LSU might want to take him out if they want to keep this game close, or Tulane might start targeting him.”
…
“Gould bounces it outside to pick up four for the Tigers and get them moving in the right direction in the third quarter.”
…
“Reeves completes a short pass to Hill and that’ll be a first down.”
…
“Reeves finds Toomer on the comeback route, and he falls backward for a few extra yards. Looks like that’ll be called a gain of 11.”
…
“It’ll be Gould’s fourteenth carry of the game and he’s only going to get a couple on that one.”
…
LSU’s drive continued, slowly working their way down the field, but their grinding gameplan had so far not yielded results and was only serving to burn through the clock, an enemy to their attempts to mount a comeback.
Devin backpedaled as the ball was snapped with the Tigers facing a third down. The receiver bolted off the line, releasing to the outside. Devin mirrored his every move, glued to his hip. The receiver cut sharply toward the sideline.
The quarterback, flushed out of the pocket by the defensive line, released a pass, wobbling pass that sawed through the air. Devin closed the gap between him and the receiver, his arm extending and swatting the ball to the ground.
There was an audible groan around the stadium as the ball rolled across the grass. The receiver smacked his hands together in frustration. Marcus ran over and slapped Devin on his back, shoving him in celebration, shouting “let’s go,” before the two of them jogged off the field.
…
“The Tigers are going to opt to take the points here instead of going for it on what would be a fourth and five from Tulane’s 21. Rogelio Cortez lines up to attempt the kick. He’s had an indifferent year, missing six in 2051. The snap is good, the hold is good, the kick is up – and it sneaks inside of the uprights. LSU cuts the Green Wave’s lead to 14.”
…
“Reyes shovels it forward to Greer and he takes it for a gain of seven.”
…
“Frazier powers up the middle and that’s going to be a first down.”
…
“First and ten, and Reyes drops back to pass. He’s got time in the backfield. Scanning, scanning. He fires it out to Conrad and – INTERCEPTED! Erik Jenkins has it! He makes a man miss and he’s shoved out of bounds at the 50! What a catch by LSU’s star safety!”
“He timed that perfectly. Textbook safety play! With one hand, too!”
…
“Reeves completes it to Beck for a short gain, and LSU is going with tempo! He hands it off to Santiago who picks up the first down before Tulane could get set!”
…
“LSU still running the hurry-up here, and Austin Reeves dumps it off to Gould out of the backfield just before he’s taken down. Gould scoots for a gain of ten on the play.”
“The Tigers have the Green Wave all out of sorts with this hurry up.”
…
Devin ran back to his position, trying to catch his breath. He glanced to the sideline, checking if he was being subbed out, and for the next play. Hayden and Blair shouted instructions, mostly drowned out by the crowd suddenly roaring back to life.
Devin crept closer toward the middle of the field to try to hear the adjustments, the frantic hand signals muddied by the chaos around the field.
The ball was snapped before he’d gotten back into position. The receiver took off, sprinting straight down the field. Devin reacted a second too late, thrown off by his mistake. There was already a gap between them.
He sprinted desperately to close the distance, the receiver in full stride ahead of him. The receiver looked back over his shoulder, the ball dropping perfectly into his hands.
Devin lunged forward, hoping to catch the receiver’s heels before he accelerated away again.
All he found was air as he crashed, face first into the turf. He looked up in time to see the receiver crossing the goal line, his arms shooting up in celebration before turning around to be mobbed by his teammates.
The stadium erupted as the band cued up their fight song. Devin slammed his hands against the field in frustration.
…
“Jordan Watkins takes it into the endzone and it’s suddenly 24-16! Listen to that crowd! Tiger Stadium has woken up!”
“That was a rare mistake in the secondary from the Green Wave, forced by LSU’s decision to go hurry up. The momentum is now in the Tigers’ court!”
…
“The Green Wave bog down around midfield and will be forced to punt the ball away.”
…
“LSU goes for it on fourth down, but Volken makes the stop and it’s going to be a turnover on downs as we start the fourth quarter.”
…
“Reyes is brought down in the backfield and Tulane’s really struggling to get their offense going here in the second half!”
…
“Reeves hits Hill across the middle and that’s a gain of ten!”
…
“Gould runs through a tackler! He’s still going forward, still going, chugging, chugging, rumbling, rumbling! The most physical seventeen yard run that you’ll ever see, ladies and gentlemen!”
…
“Reeves is flushed out of the pocket, but he takes it himself – Dives for the first down marker, GETS IT!”
“This is a completely different LSU team in the second half! You would be forgiven for forgetting that this team is fighting for its bowl life and their opponents are undefeated and one of the top three teams in the College Football Playoff rankings!”
…
“Gould take it outside, dives for the pylon! He’s got it! He’s got it! The Tigers are an extra point away from tying this game up! I think the top just blew off this stadium! They’re going to need to check the seismographs!”
…
“The Green Wave are going to have to burn one of their timeouts to avoid a delay of game penalty and that’s only made the fans in this stadium even louder!”
…
“Frazier takes the handoff and is met at the line of scrimmage by what looks like the entire LSU defense. Every yellow hat is at the ball! Loss of two on the play!”
“Look at what it means to that Tigers defense. They’re celebrating every play as if they’ve just sealed the National Championship!”
…
“Second and 12. Here’s the snap and Reyes mishandles it! He’s able to recover and get it out to Beal, but that might’ve only gotten the loss yardage back.”
…
It was the most pivotal down of the game to that point. The game tied with only minutes remaining on the clock.
Caesar flexed his fingers, settling into his stance. The sound on the field was deafening. He felt as if he was inside of a jet engine, the tens of thousands of fans jumping up and down on metal bleachers in the 100-plus year old stadium creating a cacophony of noise that he couldn’t say that he’d experienced before.
He burst off the line when the ball was snapped, hand fighting with the cornerback at the line of scrimmage as the corner tried to jam him. He threw a hand up in anger as he felt the slightest of tugs on his jersey.
Forcing his way to the outside, he tried to get into his route, but the cornerback was relentless, shadowing him every step of the way and being as physical as possible with his coverage.
He looked back, seeing Darren get flushed out of the pocket. He turned to work back to the ball, but the cornerback stuck on his hip.
Darren released the ball just as he was brought down, a lofted pass in Caesar’s direction, hoping Caesar could come down with a jump ball as he’d done so many times before.
Caesar leapt into the air, reaching for the ball. He watched the ball into his hands, but the cornerback timed his hit perfectly. Applying just enough force to Caesar to shove him out of bounds before his feet could come down inbounds.
The line judge ran over and immediately signaled no catch, pointing at the chalk and then out of bounds.
Caesar exploded in anger, but his teammates were quick to herd him to their sideline before he could get himself in trouble.
The cornerback celebrated with an old school “clamps” celebration as he was mobbed by his teammates.
…
“The Green Wave sends their punter out on the field after that incompletion call was upheld on review. LSU will get the ball back with a little over three minutes remaining in the game and the opportunity to take the lead.”
“The Tigers can run a lot of this clock off with Tulane being forced to burn that timeout on the last drive, and I bet Coach Justice will favor his team to win it in overtime with all the momentum and playing at home. I can’t see them not going for the win in regulation, though.”
…
“The rarely seen I-Formation to open the drive for the Tigers and they run the ball straight up the middle with Chris Duncan. Gain of three on the play.”
…
“Santiago bounces it outside and gains four on that carry.”
…
“Gould piles forward for the first down.”
“Tick, tick, tick. The Green Wave might have to burn those timeouts if the Tigers start threatening to score here.”
“Letting them score is always a strategy in these situations as well.”
…
“It’s a fake! Reeves sidearms it to Hill coming across the field and that’s going to be a gain of nine on the play. Smart from the junior to make sure that he went down in bounds to keep the clock running to get to the two minute warning.”
…
“Gould up the middle for two.”
…
“Duncan up the middle for five.”
…
“Reeves takes it himself and picks up the first down!”
…
“Gould gains two on the play and LSU inches into field goal range. The clock is running down toward a minute and thirty seconds.”
…
“Santiago gains three or four and the Green Wave call their second timeout with a minute-twenty left to play.”
…
With heavy breaths showing his exhaustion, Devin jogged off the field. They’d managed to stop the Tigers on third down but had to watch as LSU ran the play clock all the way down, Coach Shuman choosing not to use the team’s last timeout.
The clock seemed to tick slower as the Tigers’ head coach stood next to the referees, preparing to burn a timeout to stop the clock with only 38 seconds remaining to play.
Devin took a knee on the sideline, his teammates gathering around as they all looked up at the scoreboard, taking in the gravity of the situation. LSU had fought all the way back and were a successful field goal away from taking the lead for the first time all night.
As their kicker trotted onto the field, the crowd, which had been on their feet and cheering for the majority of the second half quieted to a hush. Only Tulane’s support offered up any kind of challenge to the kicker’s psyche.
Devin couldn’t watch the kicker as he took his steps back into position. Hanging his head and covering his eyes, he chose to only listen. Some of his teammates had gone further, blocking out the sounds on the field with towels over their heads.
The shrill of the referee’s whistle cut through the Louisiana night air. A few seconds passed, what felt like an eternity.
A hush fell over the entire stadium, the quietest it had been all night. The clash of helmets and pads signaled the ball had been snapped. And then there was nothing. No sound. Not even anyone daring to breathe
In a growing crescendo, the stadium burst into a roar so loud that Devin could feel the vibrations in his chest. He dared to look up, seeing the referees signaling the kick was good. A glance at the scoreboard confirmed it as the 24 under LSU changed to 27.
He dropped his head into his hand, a sentiment shared by the entire Tulane sideline.
…
“No return on the kickoff and Tulane will start at the 25-yard line. The Green Wave will need to get to the LSU 32 if they hope to make it easy for Neal Cooper to try to send the game to overtime.”
“He was hitting from a little further out in pre-game warm-ups, but you don’t want your guy at the edge of his range in a game on the line situation.”
“Tulane’s offense takes the field, having gone almost 25 in-game minutes since the last time they found the endzone. Reyes is in the shotgun, 34 seconds for the rest of their lives. Here’s the snap and here we go. Reyes gets it out quickly to Caesar Jenkins and that’s a gain of ten on the play.”
…
“Hurrying back to the line. The clock will start once the ball is set. Reyes flicks it out to Dallas and he gets out of bounds, but that’s only a gain of six.”
…
“Twenty-six seconds remaining. The Green Wave are up to their own 41. They’re making good progress for the field goal attempt. Reyes gets the snap and he’s looking for an open receiver. Drifting to his left.”
“You can’t hold on to the ball this long!”
“Reyes takes it himself and jumps out of bounds. That’s going to be a first down, but that ran ten seconds off the clock.”
…
“Tulane is going to need to get a big chunk on this play, needing at least 30 yards to get into field goal range. Reyes calls for the ball and finds Caesar Jenkins on the quick slant. He’s got the first down!”
“He’s gotta get down!”
“He jukes back to the outside and is wrapped up, but he’s fighting forward for more yards! He gets shoved from behind – by his own teammate and he’s down. The ball is at LSU’s 40, but there are only 4 seconds remaining on the clock!”
“Caesar Jenkins has done this multiple times this season, fighting for more yards when he should go down. We saw it in the Alabama game most recently. You have to coach your guys to know game situation and what to do. You just can’t be doing that with an undefeated season on the line.”
“Some may call that freshman inexperience. Senior Nigel Conrad was the player who pushed him down. The Green Wave take their final timeout, and we’re almost surely going to see a Hail Mary heave to the endzone.”
…
Caesar, Nigel, Arion and Kendall all lined up on the right side of the field, the stadium electric with anticipation as the clock showed enough time for one more play in what had turned into one of the games of the season.
His heart pounded in his chest, a mixture of exhaustion and nerves. It all came down to this, a Hail Mary attempt to beat their rivals.
As Darren shouted his cadence, attempting to draw the lone down lineman offside in hopes of a free play, the decibel level of the crowd ratcheted up to an almost insane proportion. The players on the field couldn’t even hear the band playing over the cheering.
Darren called for the snap. The receivers exploded off the line, running straight for the endzone. LSU’s defenders dropped back, getting into position for the jump ball that was about to come their way.
Darren stepped up, launching arguably his best thrown ball of the night toward the goal line. The ball arced high through the air, spinning like a desperate prayer against the night sky.
Time seemed to slow as the ball descended, all of the players turning around to leap for the ball. Caesar’s eyes locked onto it. He backed up further into the endzone, jostling with the Tigers who were also fighting for position.
He jumped into air at the back of the scrum, rising the highest.
Everything went silent.
The ball brushed Caesar’s fingertips.
He fell backward.
The ball popped into the air as Caesar hit the turf. He turned over and tried to dive forward to get under the ball.
But it hit the ground with a thud, a yard away from his outstretched hands. It was like a bomb was set off as the final whistle blew.
Caesar’s hands immediately went to his head as he lay face down on the turf.
…
“LSU DOES IT! THE HAIL MARY ATTEMPT IS INCOMPLETE! IT’S INCOMPLETE! THE TIGERS WIN! THE TIGERS WIN! THE FANS ARE STORMING THE FIELD! THE TULANE GREEN WAVE ARE SHOCKED BY THEIR RIVALS IN A COMEBACK FOR THE AGES!”
Beneath Tiger Stadium, in the maze of concrete hallways beneath the ancient stadium, the two locker rooms presented a stark contrast to one another.
In Tulane’s locker room, the atmosphere buzzed with energy. The walls echoed with shouts and the rhythmic clapping of hands as the coaching staff made adjustments to ensure that they would hold on to their lead and complete their mission.
Players slapped each other on the back, eyes filled with determination. Coach Shuman’s voice rising above the din and then quieting it, delivering a sermon about maintaining their intensity and focus through the end of the battle.
Confidence poured from the players, the air already beginning to have the sweet taste of victory that was within their grasp.
It was the total opposite for the Tigers.
A heavy silence hung in the air, broken only by the occasional coach getting a bit louder with his position group and he implored the players to make changes to fight their way back into the game and avoid the disaster of a loss to the Green Wave.
Players sat slumped on benches, heads in hands, the initial explosion of energy and confidence crushed by Tulane’s first half performance, seemingly stealing the possibility of an upset away from them and setting them on the path to an embarrassing end to the season.
The medical staff worked with quiet efficiency on minor injuries, offering words of comfort. Coach Justice’s message was one of resilience, digging deep to find the strength to preserve through adversity one last time in the season.
A loss would be devastating for LSU in more ways than one, and the sense of inevitability that had descended on everyone in purple and gold, players, coaches and fans alike, was draining the energy and desire out of the team.
As the Tigers walked out into the tunnel to take the field for the second half, Erik pushed his way through the crowd of his teammates, his helmet and pads on and his injured elbow covered in medical strapping.
“E, you good, bro?” Jayson asked.
Erik shoved the cornerback. “Don’t ask me if I’m alright. I’m fucked up!”
The outburst was loud in the quiet tunnel.
“This our fucking house and y’all letting them drink your fucking Kool-Aid like some bitches! Ain’t no fucking bitch in me! You got some bitch in you?” he turned to one teammate who shook his head. “You got some fucking ho in your blood?” A second teammate waved his hands and said ‘not me.’
“I don’t want no pussies on the field with me! Stay your fucking ass on the porch if you not built for this! I pour my heart into this shit, man! Let’s go!”
…
“The teams are out on the field to begin the second half, Tulane leading 17-7. We’re receiving news from the sidelines that LSU safety Erik Jenkins will play the second half after suffering what we understand to be a dislocated elbow.”
“The question is if a hobbled Erik Jenkins better than Sammy Fox, the backup who played in his stead during Jenkins’ brief administrative suspension earlier in the season.”
“The Green Wave are kicking off to start the half, so we’ll have to wait to see if he’s effective on the field with one arm.”
…
“Reeves under center to start this drive. The Tigers had a heavy helping of running the ball in the first half with 25 carries between their three running backs. Reeves will drop back to pass on first down here. He’s got the protection and launches it downfield. Incomplete, just overthrown.”
“Drake Toomer had a step on his man. That could’ve been six if Austin Reeves had been able to find him.”
…
“Reeves gets the snap in the shotgun. The pass is batted down by Vaughn and it’s going to be a third and long.”
…
“Third and 10 coming up here. Reeves fakes to Gould. He – sacked! Defensive tackle Kerby Greer blew through the middle of the line and made the play in the backfield! LSU’s going to have to put it away here after a three and out.”
“That was a big, missed opportunity to steal the momentum in the early goings of this quarter and the Tigers might be in trouble here if Tulane scores.”
…
“Frazier takes his first handoff of the half for a pickup of eight on the play.”
…
“Reyes finds Caesar Jenkins and it’s going to be a first down and some, twelve yard gain.”
…
“Reyes hits Beal and that’ll net the Green Wave nine.”
…
“Reyes fakes the handoff to his running back and takes it himself, bouncing outside. He’s pushed out of bounds at LSU’s 37.”
…
The Green Wave continued to force their way forward, the Tigers seemingly powerless in stopping them, serving more as speed bumps to prevent big plays.
They’d worked their way down to the 15 and were threatening to score and extend their lead to three scores.
Caesar burst off the line as the ball was snapped, releasing to the inside of the cornerback. He ran down the field before planting his outside foot and turning back toward the line. Darren fired the ball into him, hitting him between the numbers.
He turned up the field, seeing Erik lining him up for a tackle. Caesar ran to his right. Erik seemed to hesitate before exploding forward to close the distance ahead of the goal line.
As the safety lunged, arms wrapping around Caesar, Caesar kept his feet churning forward. He leaned forward, and felt Erik fall down, his grip broken and his hands swatting at Caesar’s feet as he surged forward.
He reached the ball out as he crossed the goal line, just as the other safety closed in, seeing the satisfying touchdown signal.
Tossing the ball to the referee, he turned around and leapt into the arms of a couple of the offensive linemen.
…
“Caesar Jenkins powers into the endzone for his second touchdown of the night and puts Tulane up 23-7!”
“Well, we got our answer about Erik Jenkins. It looked like he couldn’t quite wrap up on that play. LSU might want to take him out if they want to keep this game close, or Tulane might start targeting him.”
…
“Gould bounces it outside to pick up four for the Tigers and get them moving in the right direction in the third quarter.”
…
“Reeves completes a short pass to Hill and that’ll be a first down.”
…
“Reeves finds Toomer on the comeback route, and he falls backward for a few extra yards. Looks like that’ll be called a gain of 11.”
…
“It’ll be Gould’s fourteenth carry of the game and he’s only going to get a couple on that one.”
…
LSU’s drive continued, slowly working their way down the field, but their grinding gameplan had so far not yielded results and was only serving to burn through the clock, an enemy to their attempts to mount a comeback.
Devin backpedaled as the ball was snapped with the Tigers facing a third down. The receiver bolted off the line, releasing to the outside. Devin mirrored his every move, glued to his hip. The receiver cut sharply toward the sideline.
The quarterback, flushed out of the pocket by the defensive line, released a pass, wobbling pass that sawed through the air. Devin closed the gap between him and the receiver, his arm extending and swatting the ball to the ground.
There was an audible groan around the stadium as the ball rolled across the grass. The receiver smacked his hands together in frustration. Marcus ran over and slapped Devin on his back, shoving him in celebration, shouting “let’s go,” before the two of them jogged off the field.
…
“The Tigers are going to opt to take the points here instead of going for it on what would be a fourth and five from Tulane’s 21. Rogelio Cortez lines up to attempt the kick. He’s had an indifferent year, missing six in 2051. The snap is good, the hold is good, the kick is up – and it sneaks inside of the uprights. LSU cuts the Green Wave’s lead to 14.”
…
“Reyes shovels it forward to Greer and he takes it for a gain of seven.”
…
“Frazier powers up the middle and that’s going to be a first down.”
…
“First and ten, and Reyes drops back to pass. He’s got time in the backfield. Scanning, scanning. He fires it out to Conrad and – INTERCEPTED! Erik Jenkins has it! He makes a man miss and he’s shoved out of bounds at the 50! What a catch by LSU’s star safety!”
“He timed that perfectly. Textbook safety play! With one hand, too!”
…
“Reeves completes it to Beck for a short gain, and LSU is going with tempo! He hands it off to Santiago who picks up the first down before Tulane could get set!”
…
“LSU still running the hurry-up here, and Austin Reeves dumps it off to Gould out of the backfield just before he’s taken down. Gould scoots for a gain of ten on the play.”
“The Tigers have the Green Wave all out of sorts with this hurry up.”
…
Devin ran back to his position, trying to catch his breath. He glanced to the sideline, checking if he was being subbed out, and for the next play. Hayden and Blair shouted instructions, mostly drowned out by the crowd suddenly roaring back to life.
Devin crept closer toward the middle of the field to try to hear the adjustments, the frantic hand signals muddied by the chaos around the field.
The ball was snapped before he’d gotten back into position. The receiver took off, sprinting straight down the field. Devin reacted a second too late, thrown off by his mistake. There was already a gap between them.
He sprinted desperately to close the distance, the receiver in full stride ahead of him. The receiver looked back over his shoulder, the ball dropping perfectly into his hands.
Devin lunged forward, hoping to catch the receiver’s heels before he accelerated away again.
All he found was air as he crashed, face first into the turf. He looked up in time to see the receiver crossing the goal line, his arms shooting up in celebration before turning around to be mobbed by his teammates.
The stadium erupted as the band cued up their fight song. Devin slammed his hands against the field in frustration.
…
“Jordan Watkins takes it into the endzone and it’s suddenly 24-16! Listen to that crowd! Tiger Stadium has woken up!”
“That was a rare mistake in the secondary from the Green Wave, forced by LSU’s decision to go hurry up. The momentum is now in the Tigers’ court!”
…
“The Green Wave bog down around midfield and will be forced to punt the ball away.”
…
“LSU goes for it on fourth down, but Volken makes the stop and it’s going to be a turnover on downs as we start the fourth quarter.”
…
“Reyes is brought down in the backfield and Tulane’s really struggling to get their offense going here in the second half!”
…
“Reeves hits Hill across the middle and that’s a gain of ten!”
…
“Gould runs through a tackler! He’s still going forward, still going, chugging, chugging, rumbling, rumbling! The most physical seventeen yard run that you’ll ever see, ladies and gentlemen!”
…
“Reeves is flushed out of the pocket, but he takes it himself – Dives for the first down marker, GETS IT!”
“This is a completely different LSU team in the second half! You would be forgiven for forgetting that this team is fighting for its bowl life and their opponents are undefeated and one of the top three teams in the College Football Playoff rankings!”
…
“Gould take it outside, dives for the pylon! He’s got it! He’s got it! The Tigers are an extra point away from tying this game up! I think the top just blew off this stadium! They’re going to need to check the seismographs!”
…
“The Green Wave are going to have to burn one of their timeouts to avoid a delay of game penalty and that’s only made the fans in this stadium even louder!”
…
“Frazier takes the handoff and is met at the line of scrimmage by what looks like the entire LSU defense. Every yellow hat is at the ball! Loss of two on the play!”
“Look at what it means to that Tigers defense. They’re celebrating every play as if they’ve just sealed the National Championship!”
…
“Second and 12. Here’s the snap and Reyes mishandles it! He’s able to recover and get it out to Beal, but that might’ve only gotten the loss yardage back.”
…
It was the most pivotal down of the game to that point. The game tied with only minutes remaining on the clock.
Caesar flexed his fingers, settling into his stance. The sound on the field was deafening. He felt as if he was inside of a jet engine, the tens of thousands of fans jumping up and down on metal bleachers in the 100-plus year old stadium creating a cacophony of noise that he couldn’t say that he’d experienced before.
He burst off the line when the ball was snapped, hand fighting with the cornerback at the line of scrimmage as the corner tried to jam him. He threw a hand up in anger as he felt the slightest of tugs on his jersey.
Forcing his way to the outside, he tried to get into his route, but the cornerback was relentless, shadowing him every step of the way and being as physical as possible with his coverage.
He looked back, seeing Darren get flushed out of the pocket. He turned to work back to the ball, but the cornerback stuck on his hip.
Darren released the ball just as he was brought down, a lofted pass in Caesar’s direction, hoping Caesar could come down with a jump ball as he’d done so many times before.
Caesar leapt into the air, reaching for the ball. He watched the ball into his hands, but the cornerback timed his hit perfectly. Applying just enough force to Caesar to shove him out of bounds before his feet could come down inbounds.
The line judge ran over and immediately signaled no catch, pointing at the chalk and then out of bounds.
Caesar exploded in anger, but his teammates were quick to herd him to their sideline before he could get himself in trouble.
The cornerback celebrated with an old school “clamps” celebration as he was mobbed by his teammates.
…
“The Green Wave sends their punter out on the field after that incompletion call was upheld on review. LSU will get the ball back with a little over three minutes remaining in the game and the opportunity to take the lead.”
“The Tigers can run a lot of this clock off with Tulane being forced to burn that timeout on the last drive, and I bet Coach Justice will favor his team to win it in overtime with all the momentum and playing at home. I can’t see them not going for the win in regulation, though.”
…
“The rarely seen I-Formation to open the drive for the Tigers and they run the ball straight up the middle with Chris Duncan. Gain of three on the play.”
…
“Santiago bounces it outside and gains four on that carry.”
…
“Gould piles forward for the first down.”
“Tick, tick, tick. The Green Wave might have to burn those timeouts if the Tigers start threatening to score here.”
“Letting them score is always a strategy in these situations as well.”
…
“It’s a fake! Reeves sidearms it to Hill coming across the field and that’s going to be a gain of nine on the play. Smart from the junior to make sure that he went down in bounds to keep the clock running to get to the two minute warning.”
…
“Gould up the middle for two.”
…
“Duncan up the middle for five.”
…
“Reeves takes it himself and picks up the first down!”
…
“Gould gains two on the play and LSU inches into field goal range. The clock is running down toward a minute and thirty seconds.”
…
“Santiago gains three or four and the Green Wave call their second timeout with a minute-twenty left to play.”
…
With heavy breaths showing his exhaustion, Devin jogged off the field. They’d managed to stop the Tigers on third down but had to watch as LSU ran the play clock all the way down, Coach Shuman choosing not to use the team’s last timeout.
The clock seemed to tick slower as the Tigers’ head coach stood next to the referees, preparing to burn a timeout to stop the clock with only 38 seconds remaining to play.
Devin took a knee on the sideline, his teammates gathering around as they all looked up at the scoreboard, taking in the gravity of the situation. LSU had fought all the way back and were a successful field goal away from taking the lead for the first time all night.
As their kicker trotted onto the field, the crowd, which had been on their feet and cheering for the majority of the second half quieted to a hush. Only Tulane’s support offered up any kind of challenge to the kicker’s psyche.
Devin couldn’t watch the kicker as he took his steps back into position. Hanging his head and covering his eyes, he chose to only listen. Some of his teammates had gone further, blocking out the sounds on the field with towels over their heads.
The shrill of the referee’s whistle cut through the Louisiana night air. A few seconds passed, what felt like an eternity.
A hush fell over the entire stadium, the quietest it had been all night. The clash of helmets and pads signaled the ball had been snapped. And then there was nothing. No sound. Not even anyone daring to breathe
In a growing crescendo, the stadium burst into a roar so loud that Devin could feel the vibrations in his chest. He dared to look up, seeing the referees signaling the kick was good. A glance at the scoreboard confirmed it as the 24 under LSU changed to 27.
He dropped his head into his hand, a sentiment shared by the entire Tulane sideline.
…
“No return on the kickoff and Tulane will start at the 25-yard line. The Green Wave will need to get to the LSU 32 if they hope to make it easy for Neal Cooper to try to send the game to overtime.”
“He was hitting from a little further out in pre-game warm-ups, but you don’t want your guy at the edge of his range in a game on the line situation.”
“Tulane’s offense takes the field, having gone almost 25 in-game minutes since the last time they found the endzone. Reyes is in the shotgun, 34 seconds for the rest of their lives. Here’s the snap and here we go. Reyes gets it out quickly to Caesar Jenkins and that’s a gain of ten on the play.”
…
“Hurrying back to the line. The clock will start once the ball is set. Reyes flicks it out to Dallas and he gets out of bounds, but that’s only a gain of six.”
…
“Twenty-six seconds remaining. The Green Wave are up to their own 41. They’re making good progress for the field goal attempt. Reyes gets the snap and he’s looking for an open receiver. Drifting to his left.”
“You can’t hold on to the ball this long!”
“Reyes takes it himself and jumps out of bounds. That’s going to be a first down, but that ran ten seconds off the clock.”
…
“Tulane is going to need to get a big chunk on this play, needing at least 30 yards to get into field goal range. Reyes calls for the ball and finds Caesar Jenkins on the quick slant. He’s got the first down!”
“He’s gotta get down!”
“He jukes back to the outside and is wrapped up, but he’s fighting forward for more yards! He gets shoved from behind – by his own teammate and he’s down. The ball is at LSU’s 40, but there are only 4 seconds remaining on the clock!”
“Caesar Jenkins has done this multiple times this season, fighting for more yards when he should go down. We saw it in the Alabama game most recently. You have to coach your guys to know game situation and what to do. You just can’t be doing that with an undefeated season on the line.”
“Some may call that freshman inexperience. Senior Nigel Conrad was the player who pushed him down. The Green Wave take their final timeout, and we’re almost surely going to see a Hail Mary heave to the endzone.”
…
Caesar, Nigel, Arion and Kendall all lined up on the right side of the field, the stadium electric with anticipation as the clock showed enough time for one more play in what had turned into one of the games of the season.
His heart pounded in his chest, a mixture of exhaustion and nerves. It all came down to this, a Hail Mary attempt to beat their rivals.
As Darren shouted his cadence, attempting to draw the lone down lineman offside in hopes of a free play, the decibel level of the crowd ratcheted up to an almost insane proportion. The players on the field couldn’t even hear the band playing over the cheering.
Darren called for the snap. The receivers exploded off the line, running straight for the endzone. LSU’s defenders dropped back, getting into position for the jump ball that was about to come their way.
Darren stepped up, launching arguably his best thrown ball of the night toward the goal line. The ball arced high through the air, spinning like a desperate prayer against the night sky.
Time seemed to slow as the ball descended, all of the players turning around to leap for the ball. Caesar’s eyes locked onto it. He backed up further into the endzone, jostling with the Tigers who were also fighting for position.
He jumped into air at the back of the scrum, rising the highest.
Everything went silent.
The ball brushed Caesar’s fingertips.
He fell backward.
The ball popped into the air as Caesar hit the turf. He turned over and tried to dive forward to get under the ball.
But it hit the ground with a thud, a yard away from his outstretched hands. It was like a bomb was set off as the final whistle blew.
Caesar’s hands immediately went to his head as he lay face down on the turf.
…
“LSU DOES IT! THE HAIL MARY ATTEMPT IS INCOMPLETE! IT’S INCOMPLETE! THE TIGERS WIN! THE TIGERS WIN! THE FANS ARE STORMING THE FIELD! THE TULANE GREEN WAVE ARE SHOCKED BY THEIR RIVALS IN A COMEBACK FOR THE AGES!”
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Captain Canada
- Posts: 5638
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
No clutch Caesar Jenkins 