Touchdown! Another touchdown!
Everything happened so fast. In a flash, the special teams made a great play, giving the San Francisco 49ers the ball at the sixteen-yard line. Then, thanks to Lu Ke's on-field command, in just two plays and forty seconds, the fifth passing touchdown of the night was scored!
The entire sequence, from start to finish, took less than a minute. The excitement and noise from the previous touchdown hadn't even settled down before this one came, leaving no room to breathe. The relentless waves of action truly caught everyone off guard and left them stunned.
In the high-intensity world of the NFL, for any team or quarterback to throw for five touchdowns in a single game is an incredible achievement worthy of major headlines. It's an unstoppable, all-out performance! Even the league's top-tier quarterbacks don't throw for five touchdowns in every game.
And, no interceptions!
Now, such a brilliant, outstanding, and perfect performance came from a rookie quarterback—an Asian quarterback, in his very first career start. This wasn't just shocking; it was an achievement that would shake the entire professional football world!
All the fans were cheering and roaring like they were welcoming their new king to the throne. All the commentators were speechless, seemingly trying to process the unbelievable news. Even Kirk Charleston was no exception, his eyes wide with astonishment, simply exclaiming in disbelief.
At this moment, standing on the field, Lu Ke watched Marcus score the touchdown and saw the referee raise his hands to confirm it. He then raised his own right hand high, his five fingers spread open. Under the brilliant golden sunlight, his single hand seemed to support the entire sky—a gesture so fragile yet so firm.
Marcus ran over, Logan ran over, Crabtree ran over... All the players came charging in with immense excitement, hugging and patting Lu Ke. Their wild actions expressed the raw joy and madness they felt inside. The frustration of the preseason was finally being released in a thrilling way during this regular-season game!
But Lu Ke remained still, holding his right hand up with a determined and resolute look, like the Statue of Liberty.
Gradually, his teammates noticed Lu Ke's unusual demeanor and backed away. That's when they saw Lu Ke's bright, intense gaze fixed on the stands, which were erupting like a volcano. His black, obsidian-like eyes showed a hint of fierceness and toughness, and then—
Slowly, Lu Ke closed his hand, leaving only his index finger raised, pointing straight up.
Five touchdowns, one victory. This was Lu Ke's answer. This was Lu Ke's response to the doubts, the provocations, the curses, and the attacks.
How did every fan in the stands feel?
In the stands, both Lu Zhengze and Jiang Youning stood up. There were no cheers, no shouts, no jumps. They just quietly watched Lu Ke on the field. Because of the distance, Lu Ke looked as small as a hand, and they couldn't see his expression clearly through his helmet. But in that moment, they knew:
Lu Ke had done it. Burdened by his dream and the pressure, Lu Ke had finally succeeded!
Overwhelmed with emotion, Jiang Youning was suddenly moved to tears. Tiffany Newman, standing next to her, opened her arms and gave Jiang Youning a firm hug. "Sweetie, that's your son. Remember, that's your son. He's going to be a hero in this city! Trust me, he's going to conquer this city! Of course, it would be even better if he would throw to my son more often."
The final humorous remark made Jiang Youning laugh out loud.
Austin Newman, on the outside, raised his right hand and high-fived Lu Zhengze. Then Austin whistled, "Go, Bambi! Go show these hicks what a real quarterback looks like!"
His roar was not subtle or polite, and it caused many nearby fans to turn their heads. But Austin wasn't intimidated. He stared back at them with wide eyes. "What? You don't like this quarterback? If you have a problem with it, want to take it outside? What else can those idiots do besides hurting our players! Look, look, this is the result he's delivered! Do you like it?"
Silence. A complete silence fell over the crowd. All the cheers stopped, and people looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
"Yeah, I fking love it!" a gruff voice yelled in agreement, breaking the silence. Then everyone else started to nod and echo, "Yeah, fk yeah! Love it! I damn love it!"
The stands started to get lively again.
The San Francisco 49ers' offense left the field, and the special teams, who had been instrumental forty seconds earlier, came back on. After successfully kicking the extra point, the score was now 35-10. The gap had widened even further. Now, for the Seattle Seahawks, the deficit was too big. They would need at least four drives to catch up or take the lead, and there were less than ten minutes left in the game. Victory was now only a theoretical possibility.
Even so, ten minutes was still a sufficient amount of time to play. Even though the suspense was very, very small, the game still had to continue.
Pete Carroll, standing on the sidelines, was roaring, his face flushed with anger. He was constantly gesturing and shouting commands for his team to go on offense. As the game went on, he seemed to become more and more agitated, and his emotions were getting out of control. But it was impossible to know if it was because the opposing quarterback was performing so well or because the Seahawks were losing the game.
The San Francisco 49ers' defense, who took the field next, seemed to have let their guard down and were a bit sloppy. They allowed the Seattle Seahawks to get three consecutive first downs and cross the midfield line. The 49ers' defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, was furious. He kept yelling on the sidelines, and he finally managed to get the defensive players to pull themselves together.
Aldon Smith, the 49ers' first-round rookie this year, didn't start in his first game and only came on as a rotational player. He had been virtually invisible throughout the game, until this drive where he showed a decent level of skill. He made a tackle on a Marshawn Lynch run, successfully stopping "beast mode" and finally making an appearance in the season's first game.
However, the Seattle Seahawks' offense finally found some rhythm—even though it was already late in the fourth quarter. It seemed a little late, but better late than never. Even though the San Francisco 49ers' defense was playing well, the Seahawks still managed to continue their drive, making two third-down conversions and finally getting into the end zone.
Marshawn Lynch once again entered "beast mode," and on the second down, he ran for three yards, scoring a touchdown and changing the score to 17-35.
A successful touchdown was a good thing, but it took nearly five minutes to complete. Now there were only five minutes and nine seconds left in the game, which was bad news. Even if the Seahawks' offense had a resurgence, what could they do without enough time? Furthermore, they were still eighteen points behind and needed three drives to take the lead.
As expected, Lu Ke, who took the field again, didn't give the Seahawks any chances.
On the first down, he lined up in a shotgun formation, which made the Seahawks nervous, but it was a run. Marcus Lynch ran for an impressive eleven yards, getting a first down.
On the next play, Lu Ke once again lined up in a shotgun formation. The Seahawks were hesitant, and Lu Ke connected with Kyle Williams, gaining three yards. It was a short pass, and Lu Ke deliberately chose a short pass, letting the wide receiver run with the ball to eat up time. Williams dodged and weaved on the field, managing to run for eight yards and also taking up a lot of time.
Under Lu Ke's command, the pass-to-run ratio was surprisingly balanced. But unlike in the first half, the intimidation of three consecutive touchdowns in the second half gave Lu Ke the absolute upper hand in the battle of wits between offense and defense. Returning to a balanced pass and run game now felt effortless, and even Anthony Dixon, who had returned to the field, started to warm up.
"The 49ers are already warming up for the next game," Kirk commented in the broadcast booth. "Now their entire offense has opened up. Next, the running backs and the quarterback will just pad their stats and keep the players in shape and ready for the next game's plays. For Lu Ke, number fourteen, his chemistry with the team's offense is still too new. There were a few mistakes in coordination today, and they need to get into a rhythm as soon as possible."
"Yes, next week, they'll be facing the Dallas Cowboys, and that's definitely a tough one," Teddy also agreed. As the game entered garbage time, the commentators' nerves also relaxed a bit. "We were expecting a head-on collision, but it turned into a showcase for the San Francisco 49ers' rookie quarterback. This is definitely something we didn't expect."
Not just the Fox commentators, but the other commentators in the booth were also starting to come to their senses, thinking about how they should evaluate this game.
Amid the chatter, Lu Ke's offense ran down four minutes before a three-and-out. In those four minutes, they only made it to the midfield line, an incredibly low efficiency that was clearly meant to kill time.
Then, the Seattle Seahawks' offense took the field again and tried two passing plays—gambling on long passes—but Travis still couldn't complete them. With less than thirty seconds left in the game, the Seahawks also chose to give up and let the clock run out.
The referee blew the final whistle, declaring the end of the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks.
As the quarterback, Lu Ke jogged back onto the field. He shook hands with the opposing quarterback, Travis, as a sign of sportsmanship, and then turned to leave.
He looked up, and the seventy-thousand-seat stadium was roaring. The loud and surging shouts came from all directions, but before Lu Ke could fully enjoy it, all the players, especially his teammates on offense, rushed over and began frantically patting his shoulders and back, expressing their joy with intense actions.
The 2011 season had started with a win!
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