CHAPTER 19

FALL FOOTBALL

It was early August, and Caleb had just turned 19. All the football players were starting to show up for full-time practice for the upcoming 1981-82 season. There were about 80 players on scholarships and some walk-ons. All of the juniors and seniors stayed in the athletic dorm next to Caleb’s, and there was a big courtyard between the two dorms enclosed in a tall fence. Nobody from the outside could see in, and the players couldn’t see out. Of course, it was planned that way—CAU didn’t want the press photographing whatever went on behind those fences.

There were barbecue grills, a volleyball court, a basketball court, lots of tables and chairs, and all kinds of sporting stuff for the football players, but most of the players smoked weed and passed around whatever drugs they could get their hands on. There was no such thing as NCAA drug testing, so it was pretty much ‘anything goes’ in that courtyard.

Caleb had begun to meet the players, and football life was getting into full gear. Everything, it seemed, revolved around the game. Weight training in the mornings; lunch, film, and conditioning in the afternoon. In the evenings after supper, all the quarterbacks had football classroom study, which included film, plays, and formations. Extensive work on what and where receivers were going during any play or out of any formation. A ton of study on defensive schemes—being able to recognize different types of zone coverages and man-to-man coverages, different blitz packages, and on and on.

All of this was a bit overwhelming to Caleb, but freshman QB Billy Thompson from San Diego was totally lost. Even before the first day of real practice, Caleb overheard Coach Axom telling offensive coordinator John Coran and head coach Joe Richert that Billy was struggling with the terminology and schemes. They were thinking maybe they’d have to red-shirt him or move him to a different position. Caleb, on the other hand, was picking it up, but it was tough. He had never studied so hard for anything in his life, and it didn’t leave much time for anything else. But Caleb was going to do everything in his power to be the starter at CAU as a freshman.

As for Anni, well, at this point he just didn’t have much time; he was either studying or worn out every night. And she was busy too, helping with all the new move-ins. For now, things had cooled off a bit between them. He had called Beth a few times late at night, intrigued by her—maybe even falling for her. He hadn’t ever loved or had a girlfriend, so he was confused by his feeling towards Beth. He hadn’t told her how he felt—they hadn’t even had a date yet, just talked on the phone—but he pushed it out of his mind. Right now, he just needed to focus on football.

On the first day of official practice, all the players on the roster showed up on the field. The coaches had been having position meetings and light workouts with the players for a couple of weeks, but this was the first time Caleb had been in full pads since he arrived in June, and he was anxious to get started. He saw his name listed on the depth chart as the third team QB, and he felt just a little insulted; he understood it, but he didn’t like it.

Offensive coordinator John Coran called the entire offense over to him in preparation for a live scrimmage for the next hour. “No particular player schemes as far as 1st team and 2nd team are considered right now; we just need to get a feel for where we are.” He would rotate players in and out of their respected positions, and he told everyone not to read anything into this scrimmage. He blew the whistle, and the offense huddled up, as did the defense.

Jason Allgood was the favorite to be the starting QB. Jason seemed like a nice guy, and Caleb really liked him. They had spent a bunch of time together in the last month, and he had put in his time and was prepared to be the starter. The starting running back was Luke Donaldson, a two-year starter from Meade, Pennsylvania. Big, fast, and tough as nails, he was already being touted as a Heisman trophy candidate on his way to becoming the leading rusher in CAU history. The second team QB was junior Henry Logano from South Dakota. He had some skills, but Caleb was sure he’d pass him over in no time; he just wasn’t as good as Caleb, and that was that.

Coach Coran told them to huddle up, Jason as the QB. The first play they handed the ball to Luke, who went for ten yards before being tripped up. They ran about ten plays (looked a bit sloppy to Caleb), but Jason didn’t make any mistakes and completed two of four passes. They put in Henry next and changed running backs. Henry dropped back for a pass on his first play and got sacked. Coach Coran went nuts, yelling at Henry about feeling the pressure and just standing there in the pocket, waiting for the receiver to get open. “You’ve got to make something happen! I’ve been watching you for two years just stand there and get sacked, and I’m sick of it!” Caleb thought it was a bit of a brutal outburst from coach; after all, it was Henry’s first snap of the year in a live scrimmage. Henry, of course, was shaken up, and he fumbled the next snap from center. Both coaches started hollering at him. Henry, visibly shaken now, stayed in for ten snaps before Coach Axom screamed, “I can’t take this anymore! Caleb, you can’t be any worse than Henry. Get in there!”

Caleb took a deep breath and leaned in to the huddle. Coach called a 20-yard crossing route to Lance Wood. Caleb had worked for two months with Lance, who was really an unreal athlete. He took the snap, dropped back, threw a rope to the spot where Lance should be. Pop. Lance was there, caught the ball, made some fleet-footed moves, and scored. What a way to start! The next four plays were just routine handoffs with no particular success, and then Coach called for a down-and-out to Lance. Caleb took the snap, dropped back 5 yards, and the protection broke down. The defense was blitzing even though they were given explicit instructions not to run blitz packages. Caleb saw the linebacker bearing down on him, took a few steps to the left sideline, and saw the corner coming up fast on him. He took off across the field, turning and twisting, stiff-arming anyone he came in contact with. He ran 40 yards and scored. Everyone was a whooping and hollering, and the coaches were going nuts, screaming, “That’s how you play football, boys!” The defensive coaches were shouting at their players, “A freshman is making you boys look like a bunch of pansies!”

Caleb took the next ten snaps, went four of five passing, and didn’t make a single mistake. When the practice was done, Coach Axom pulled him aside and said, “Son, you aren’t close to where you need to be yet, but that was a heck of a first scrimmage you just put on. Go in and let the trainers look you over and ice you down. You have the rest of the day off. I don’t want you to study; just relax at your apartment for a night and get a good night’s sleep. I’m proud of you.”

For the first time in a very long time, Caleb felt happy. He couldn’t wait to get home and call his dad to tell him about the scrimmage. And he might just give Anni a visit before he went home.