Lu Ke was gasping for air, lying flat on the ground and staring up at the sky. Every part of his body ached. He needed a moment, just three seconds, to catch his breath.
The Trojans' defense had noticeably ramped up their intensity, going all out with a blitz. A blitz can be simply defined as a tactic against the quarterback, where four defenders break through the offensive line's block to tackle, sack, hit, or disrupt the pass, all to mess up the quarterback's plan.
The blitz has obvious pros and cons. The pro is that it puts pressure on the opposing quarterback. The con is that it leaves the backfield exposed. If the blitz fails, or if the quarterback escapes the tackle and completes a pass, the difficulty for the defenders to cover the receivers increases exponentially.
But the Trojans could afford to take that gamble.
In the last drive, the Trojans had advanced past midfield, leaving the Bruins with only about five minutes on the clock. For the Bruins, scoring a touchdown in five minutes and then stopping the opposing offense from scoring was a huge challenge. For the Trojans, they only had to do one thing: slow down the Bruins' offense as much as possible.
Because even if the Bruins scored a touchdown, the score would only be tied. If there was still time left after the touchdown, the Trojans' offense would come back on the field and control the final outcome. If time ran out, it would go into overtime, and both teams would be back on equal footing.
In other words, the Trojans wouldn't lose. So, their job was simple: constantly attack the quarterback, disrupt the opponent's offensive rhythm, and run down the clock. Even if the opponent completed a pass or made a gain, they had to make them as uncomfortable as possible.
If they succeeded, they could kill the suspense of the game right then and there!
This was a disaster for Lu Ke. The opponent's blitz tactic drastically shortened his release time. Every pass became incredibly difficult. His field of vision was severely compromised, and whether the pass was completed or not, the defenders would definitely hit or tackle him. The brutal physical contact was rapidly draining Lu Ke's energy.
The last two minutes were a living hell. Lu Ke struggled to lead the team to a 30-yard gain, reaching midfield, but he had been hit seven times. Each time felt like being hit by a truck, and every bone in his body was creaking.
Physical confrontation had never been Lu Ke's strong suit. His weak points, such as his less-than-agile footwork and inaccurate passes while on the move, were all exposed in the official game, putting him at a disadvantage.
Even worse, there were only three minutes and 23 seconds left, and they were only at midfield. The window for the Bruins to make a comeback was shrinking. Not to mention winning, even the possibility of tying the score was fading. In the last drive, they had two third-down conversions that barely kept the ball in their possession, but as they advanced past midfield, the difficulty would only increase.
A long pass? The thought flashed through Lu Ke's mind, but the Trojans' fierce blitzes didn't give him enough time to throw. Lu Ke started to miss his running ability, his ability to pass while moving, his ability to run with the ball, his evasiveness, his ability to push and block...
"Bambi, are you okay?" Marcus's head appeared directly above him, and his huge face startled Lu Ke. Beads of sweat fell, making Lu Ke laugh. He reached out his right hand, grabbed Marcus's hand, and with a pull, stood up.
"I'm great!" Lu Ke answered crisply, his eyes scanning the Trojans' defenders like a pack of hungry wolves, their green eyes searching for prey. A thought flashed in his mind, and Lu Ke looked back at the coaches on the sideline. They were also talking quickly, gasping for air. They had a clearer and more objective understanding of the dangerous situation on the field than Lu Ke did.
"Little Seven, what should I do?" Lu Ke asked in his mind, but all he got was silence. "Little Seven? Aren't you going to help me out?"
"Play design and execution are not services provided by the system," Little Seven's calm voice replied.
A smile crept onto Lu Ke's face. "Little Seven, why do I feel a little bit of schadenfreude in your voice? Is it just me?"
"..." Little Seven was silent, making Lu Ke chuckle. After waiting for five seconds, the coaching staff still gave no instructions. Norm noticed Lu Ke's gaze, raised his right hand, and made a "wait" gesture. But Lu Ke turned his head and looked at the countdown clock. The time for this play was down to 19 seconds and was still ticking down, along with the game clock.
There was no more time to waste.
Lu Ke made a gesture, signaling to Norm. He saw Norm look surprised and turn to talk to Rick quietly. Lu Ke didn't wait for a response. He gathered his teammates and said in a low voice, "Offense! No-huddle offense! After each play, don't huddle up again. Immediately start the next one. Let's speed things up!"
A no-huddle offense is an offense that starts immediately without the team gathering to discuss the next play.
The advantages of this offense are speed, efficiency, simplicity, directness, and rhythm. There are no complicated plays or multiple discussions. It gets the offense back to basics, relying entirely on the players' talent and ability, as well as the quarterback's and receivers' chemistry, to keep advancing. At the same time, the high-speed offensive rhythm doesn't give the defenders time to get organized. Often, one player's moment of inattention can lead to a complete defensive collapse.
But the disadvantages of this offense are that the speed is so fast that the offense can't afford any mistakes. One small rhythm error can lead to a failed play. Also, the speed is so fast that most of the plays are short passes with relatively simple routes. This is a crowded area for the defense. As long as the opponent adapts to the rhythm, a broken pass or an interception is very likely.
This is an offensive style that relies heavily on the quarterback's talent and ability but has very simple play requirements.
In professional leagues, there are more than 20,000 plays, so coaches don't particularly like the no-huddle offense. They prefer to stick to complex plays. Compared to young quarterbacks, offensive coaches have more faith in play design and containment. After all, not every quarterback can become a Peyton Manning or a Tom Brady.
However, in high school and college leagues, the no-huddle offense is very popular. Young players prefer to play with their talent rather than with plays, and offensive coaches are happy to give up some of their authority. This tactic has become very popular in the NCAA.
Now the Bruins were in a tough spot. On the one hand, time was running out. On the other hand, the opponent's defenders were blitzing, and their own offense had a lack of plays. In this situation, the no-huddle offense was their best option. Although it was a risk, it was the best chance for a breakthrough.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Ke made a decision and gave the signal. On the field, every second counted, and even a second of hesitation was a luxury.
Then, Lu Ke looked up at his teammates. This was his first official game, and his time to mesh with his teammates was limited. But at this moment, no one raised an objection. Everyone just nodded to show they understood, quickly turned, went back to their positions, lined up, and got ready for the play.
Lu Ke turned his head and saw Rick with his arms crossed over his chest. He noticed Lu Ke's gaze and nodded slightly in agreement. This wasn't just a play call; it was a sign of trust in Lu Ke and a gamble for victory.
Lu Ke let out a long breath, looked away, and looked back at his opponents. He temporarily forgot the muscle soreness, the bone pain, and the urgency of time. He focused on observing the opponent's defensive formation, then shouted, "1, 95."
"1" stood for the formation, and "95" stood for the routes of the receivers and tight ends. As for the others, they would improvise. This was the no-huddle offense; all the plays were as simple as could be.
With Lu Ke's shout, John and Logan ran behind Lu Ke, swapping positions. Logan ran to the left, and John stood on the right. Marcus and Lu Ke stood parallel, with Marcus slightly behind John.
With this simple play call, the opposing defenders noticed the change in details. Number 11 usually passed to the right. Tonight, at least four drives had been completed on the right side. The chemistry between number 11 and Logan was outstanding, and Logan was clearly number 11's favorite offensive weapon. So, would this play go left or right?
However, Malik was not distracted by this information. His eyes were locked on Lu Ke. Their play was to blitz the quarterback, not to give number 11 a chance for a medium or long pass. They would even let him throw a short pass. So, he would not waver or panic. The same mistake wouldn't happen twice!
"Hut!"
Lu Ke shouted loudly. The center quickly snapped the ball. He caught the ball with both hands and, with a turn to the right, immediately passed the ball without any delay. The speed was so fast that the Trojans' defenders hadn't even had time to start their rush when Marcus caught the ball. He ignored all the defenders, sprinted to the left, passed Lu Ke, and rushed toward Logan!
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