Chapter 54: Bursting from Desperation
After the snap, Lu Ke gripped the football tightly and dropped back quickly. As he raised his right hand, he saw the offensive line was in a precarious situation. Watt was a beast, charging forward with brutal force. The offensive line was like a candle in the wind, about to collapse at any moment.
Lu Ke raised his chin high, looking for the receivers. They were just breaking free from their defenders and hadn't fully built up their speed yet. They had just crossed the 35-yard line. It wasn't far enough, not yet.
Lu Ke quickly dropped back another two steps to the left, but in the next second, he saw Watt had already broken through the offensive line, his arms open and lunging forward. Damn it! This guy was an absolute beast!
In a pure contest of strength and speed, Lu Ke was no match for Watt, at least not yet.
In a flash, Lu Ke stood still. He didn't dodge immediately but paused for half a second. As Watt lunged forward, he ducked, feeling a storm rush over his head. His left shoulder was hit hard, and he almost lost his balance.
Lu Ke took half a step back, steadied himself, and stomped his left foot, running to the right. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Watt lose his balance and crash to the ground. This would buy him at least two seconds. Lu Ke quickly regained his focus and moved to the right.
After just three small steps to the right, Lu Ke saw two more defenders lunging toward him. He was between a rock and a hard place. At this critical moment, the offensive line completely fell apart. The Badgers' defense was in disarray, and he could clearly see two big guys lunging toward him.
Warning! Warning! Warning!
Lu Ke was in a desperate situation. The two players on his right were closing in, cutting off all his escape routes. On his left, Watt was on the ground but could get up at any moment. And his left was his blind side. He didn't know if any other defenders had broken through. It was like a checkmate.
Getting sacked here would be a loss of time that they couldn't afford. More importantly, even if he got another chance, he wasn't sure he could avoid Watt again.
His mind was crystal clear. Lu Ke gritted his teeth and made a sharp change of direction. He didn't know if his month of yoga practice was working, but his body was incredibly flexible in this crisis and he never lost his balance. He charged back to the left, avoiding the two dark figures lunging from the right. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Watt quickly getting up. Because he was off balance, Watt couldn't stand up completely, but he was still crawling toward him with his hands and feet!
Then, the entire stadium, including the commentators, gasped.
"Whoa, a jump! Lu Ke just made a move that only a running back would make. He jumped over J.J. Watt! This is a crazy attempt! Too crazy!" The exclamations from the commentators, including Kirk, came in waves. Almost no one had predicted such a development.
A jump? It wasn't that exaggerated. He just jumped over Watt's hands, a dodging jump to avoid Watt's desperate tackle. Then he quickly ran out. His body was shaking a little, his heart was pounding, and his steps were a little unsteady. But those weren't the important things. The important things were—where were the receivers? Where were the damn receivers?
Lu Ke looked up, taking in the entire field. They had just crossed the 25-yard line. The speed! It was too slow! Way too slow! To make matters worse, John was in man-to-man coverage, not a step behind. Christian was also. Cory had a small opening, but he was too close, and his catching ability was limited.
What about Logan? Logan was still trying to get away from his defender. His feet were just on the 25-yard line, and he was trying to push forward. It wasn't enough! It wasn't enough. This distance was still not enough. He needed them to get a little deeper.
But there was no time. He could already feel the storm rushing toward him from behind. Although the two defenders weren't as fast as Watt, running with the ball wasn't Lu Ke's strong suit. In one more second at most, the two players would tackle him to the ground without mercy.
He couldn't wait any longer.
Lu Ke adjusted his steps and suddenly threw the football to the left. This wasn't a bullet pass but a rainbow pass.
A rainbow pass meant a higher arc and a longer hang time, which could give the receivers more time to advance. But at the same time, it was also easier for the defenders to read. However, Lu Ke had no other choice now.
Just as the ball left his hand, the violent hit from behind came and slammed into Lu Ke. Lu Ke felt his internal organs churn, but he couldn't think about himself. His eyes followed the football, which drew a high and long arc.
"Lu Ke, Lu Ke, Lu Ke, pass!" Kirk yelled. "At the last moment, Lu Ke throws the ball. It's a rainbow pass, over the 40-yard line, the 35, the 30... The football is still in the air. This is a pass that's flying directly toward the end zone. Bold, it's really too bold! Wait, what am I seeing? Logan! Logan is accelerating, Logan is constantly accelerating!"
Kirk didn't even realize it himself, but he was standing up. He only stopped when the earphone cord pulled at his movement, but he still hadn't come to his senses. He just stood there in a half-crouch. "Logan has shaken off his defender and is sprinting at full speed. The path ahead is clear, and two defenders are behind him. The Badgers didn't expect a deep pass at all, and their defense has a hole in it. Logan has already left the defenders behind! Logan is still accelerating!"
Logan was sprinting with all his might. After breaking free from his defender, he sprinted forward without a care in the world.
As Lu Ke's best receiving partner and training partner for the past five months, he knew how accurate Lu Ke's deep passes were. "Two '1's" meant that Lu Ke was aiming directly for the end zone, close to the left side. The specific location would be slightly adjusted based on the receiver's running route—their usual training running route. So, all he had to do was sprint, sprint with all his might. He believed Lu Ke could definitely throw it far enough. The question was, could he catch it?
He looked up and still didn't see the football. Had he misjudged it? No, in the next second, the football flew over his head. This made Logan's eyes light up. He put his hands out in a catching gesture and adjusted his position. There were no defenders around him now. The closest one was two steps behind. Logan's eyes were glued to the football, focused and without distractions. Then, with a "whoosh," he caught it!
Time, at this second, stood still, as if by magic.
"Logan makes the catch! Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown!" Kirk stood up wildly, pulling off his headset and knocking over a bunch of things. But Kirk didn't care. He just raised his hands, grabbed the microphone, and screamed, "Logan scores a touchdown! In the final moments of the game, Lu Ke dodged Watt's tackle, avoided the two defenders closing in on him, and then jumped over Watt's second tackle to throw a rainbow ball, a forty-three-yard rainbow ball! Logan Newman makes the catch in the end zone and easily walks into the end zone. A fatal blow! The Bruins deliver a fatal blow in the final moments of the game!"
It wasn't just Kirk. The entire commentary box was in a frenzy. "Unbelievable, unbelievable..."
"We just witnessed the biggest comeback in ten years..."
"...The Bruins completed a forty-three-yard pass, a fatal blow!"
"A miracle! A miracle! An unimaginable miracle!"
"The game is over. The Bruins' backup quarterback has ended the game!"
The sounds of astonishment were everywhere. They couldn't believe their eyes. They were witnessing one of the most unbelievable moments in Rose Bowl history. They had even forgotten that Lu Ke was a Chinese-American quarterback. They only knew that this was a backup quarterback who, in the final two minutes of the game, had pulled the Bruins back from the brink and won the game!
"Ahhh! Ahhh!" Jiang You-ning was the first to jump up, screaming in disbelief. As she screamed, her vision blurred, but she couldn't stop. She just screamed, screaming wildly. Her furiously beating heart felt like it was about to explode. But she wasn't alone. Jay and Lu Zheng-ze next to her were also in a frenzy. To be precise, the entire Rose Bowl was in a frenzy.
Jeff stood on his chair. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" He was like a madman, repeating it over and over. Everyone around him was hugging, cheering, and shouting. Everyone in his sight was screaming, jumping, and in a frenzy. The passionate roar of "Ahhh" made the entire Rose Bowl tremble.
Then Jeff saw Danny.
Danny fiercely ripped his T-shirt and howled like a wolf, "This is what I'm talking about! Bruins! Bruins! Bruins!" It wasn't a wolf howl, but a bear's roar. He roared passionately. He turned around, his eyes bloodshot and gleaming with excitement. Danny and Jeff roared at each other, "Bruins!" Their emotions were overflowing!
The roars reverberated in the air, hitting their eardrums hard. Even their blood started to boil. At this moment, the Rose Bowl bloomed in its most spectacular and beautiful form! Seventy thousand fans, a full seventy thousand spectators, were celebrating wildly, as if it was the end of the world! A wave of hot energy rolled in, mercilessly swallowing the thirty thousand Badgers fans who had traveled so far.
"Ahhh!" John, Cory, Christian, and the others ran toward Logan, celebrating wildly. The offensive linemen swarmed toward Lu Ke.
Lu Ke, who hadn't had a chance to get up yet, instantly became the base of a dogpile. Everyone piled on top of him, patting his helmet and shouting, "Bambi! Bambi!" There were a million thoughts in their minds, but at this moment, they couldn't express them. There was only one thought left, to call out the name of the hero, "Bambi!"
They did it. They really did it!
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