Fourteen More Should Be Plenty

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"Second & 15. Auburn brings the blitz. But before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it can get home, Moi delivers. Fires over the middle! And he picks up extra yards after the catch! Brock Bowers! First down, Georgia! Moi's quick release brings Georgia another first down!"

(Aaron Murray) — CBS Analyst

"Auburn is a heavy blitzing team. That's why the performance of tight end Brock Bowers today matters so much. Twenty-six receptions. Three hundred fifty-five yards. Eight total touchdowns. This rookie tight end has been absolutely dazzling. He's already being rated among the very best in the nation."

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"A distinct identity built in just three games. A third-down conversion weapon developed in just two. Georgia and Dwayne Moi Stone are facing far stiffer resistance than usual today — but the important thing is that they keep moving forward. Third & 6. Convert this, and they reach the red zone at the same time. Moi. Play action. AD Mitchell finds the perfect spot. First down, Georgia."

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"Third & Goal. Pressure comes off the edge. Moi. Rolling. FIRING! CATCH!! Jordan Addison!! Once again, Georgia's opening drive of the game ends in points!"

(Rick Neuheisel) — CBS Analyst

"This quarterback is the genuine article. He was facing far heavier and more varied pressure than in his previous games, but he kept his focus on third down and found ways to pick up yards in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all kinds of ways. He emptied the backfield, deployed two tight ends, and at times made the RPO decision himself. The most important thing is that the intent behind every single play is crystal clear. That quality in a quarterback instills confidence throughout the entire offense."

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"That's already his twenty-fourth touchdown pass. Georgia leads 6–0. The special teams take the field looking for the extra point."

The first quarter came to a close with Auburn's kickoff, and we would start the second from our own 29-yard line.

During the two minutes of rest we were given, the coaches responsible for each position delivered clear instructions to their players.

The offense taking the field was the exception.

We gathered in front of the head coach.

"Auburn is going to blitz all game long today! Your calls have to be airtight! When you spot something off, don't be afraid to let the team know! Even if you're wrong, it's what the team needs! We move as one! They are coming after our quarterback, all day long!"

It was exactly what needed to be said.

Maybe because the previous two games had come so easily, the disappointing part of the first quarter had been the calls. There were several situations where one of the interior O-linemen — Peter, Sedrick, or Justin — would normally have pointed them out, yet no adjustment call was made at all.

In that sense, the head coach's instruction couldn't have come at a better time, and then Coach Monken took the baton.

"The second quarter runs on 1-1 or 1-2 personnel as the base! You know that already, Moi. Even in the red zone, today it's one of those two. If the O-line holds up, we can attack their sorry cornerbacks. Our receivers are far better than theirs."

With the blitz calls not landing cleanly, enough time wasn't being secured in the pocket.

Because the pocket never settled, the offense kept devolving into short passes, and with the receivers on the outside becoming targets less and less often, the flow of the attack naturally grew suffocating.

No matter how excellent a quarterback is, if the stability of the pocket isn't guaranteed, there simply isn't much he can do.

You could always say, then just run. But when passing is the priority and the pocket collapses, it means at least one or two defenders are already bearing down on you from the edges. If anything, it's only in a scrum where bodies are contested that you can pick a gap and shoot through it.

Pocket stability.

An essential element of a functioning offense.

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama. Georgia leads 10–3 as we head into the second quarter. The heat radiating from eighty-eight thousand fans is simply tremendous. A completely different environment from last year."

(Rick Neuheisel) — CBS Analyst

"That's right. Georgia has come out in 1-2 personnel. Two tight ends and one receiver are bunched together on the right side. This is worth watching closely."

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"James Cook is in the running back spot. Play action. Moi. On the run — and it's complete! Plenty of yardage to move the chains! Ladd McConkey! Another freshman who joined Georgia's ranks this year."

(Rick Neuheisel) — CBS Analyst

"The play action and the rollout bought McConkey time to work his route. He sprinted out first, and the moment he came back, Moi's pass arrived in a beautiful spot."

The bench's conviction in its calls was higher than usual today, and the plays coming in felt sharp in a way I could feel in my bones.

When it's like this, you just hand the reins to the bench.

"Gun. Left Bunch. Y-Spider 23. All Brad Stick."

Clap!

I quickly formed the huddle, relayed the call exactly as it had come in from the sideline, broke the huddle, and scanned Auburn's defensive alignment.

Three D-linemen up front, with a linebacker attached to their left — my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right end. And the safety who'd been lingering deep drifted over toward the opposite side as well.

No blitz this time.

With linebackers and a safety split to each side to build out a five-man front, they intended to come after the pocket as pure edge pressure.

We, meanwhile, had kept Darnell in to make it a six-man O-line, and with Kendall Milton also earmarked as a blocker, we could bury them in numbers outright.

The pocket would most likely hold.

With that judgment came breathing room.

"Go, Red 80-!! Ready-!! Set!!"

Clap!!

The snap arrived on the clap, and just as I'd expected — no blitz, and the pocket held firm. So I casually tapped the ball with my left hand and checked my first target: Brock.

The kid had completely shaken his defender.

What a crafty little rascal.

Pleased with my team's freshman tight end having claimed his seat, I swung my right arm with everything I had.

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"Moi lingers comfortably in the pocket, then lofts a high ball. It sails deep, to a man running free down the field! Brock Bowers showing immaculate spot selection!"

The drive had started at our own 43, and Brock went down at the offense's 24 — a thirty-three-yard completion.

This is exactly what I mean.

The reason Brock is special.

He isn't merely a tight end who can run routes. He's a tight end who runs routes as fast and as varied as a wide receiver's.

Normally, when a tight end begins moving like a receiver, the man covering him is almost always a linebacker. Or, in a situation like this one where the defense can afford to empty the backfield, a safety will take the tight end — but either way, they're slower than your average wideout.

Brock, though, is faster than most wide receivers and runs better routes, which is precisely what makes him such a dangerous target.

Beautiful, honestly. Just beautiful.

Brock is turning into a genuine blessing for us.

"Go, Red 80-!! Turbo, Set!!"

The coaches' intent — to weaponize surprise against Auburn's soft secondary — carried on without pause.

This time Darnell was aligned at left Z receiver, and while everyone assumed he was a decoy, we targeted his side as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The play was only ever designed to gain about ten yards, so even slow-footed Darnell was no problem at all. What we actually wanted was for that monstrous frame of his to plant a seed of pressure in Auburn's No. 23.

And then—

"I got him early!"

The play hit exactly on design.

I could feel it, plain as day — Auburn's defense, which had held firm through the first fifteen minutes, beginning to wobble the instant the second quarter started.

Before long we were inside the 9-yard line, and as usual the option play developed, with the personnel grouping set.

Now that everyone had confirmed the sheer intimidation Darnell's body imposed on Auburn's defenders, the bench made its gamble: sending in Darnell, not Brock.

Nine coaches out of ten would have gone with Brock Bowers here. Which is exactly why I love these men who make such insane calls.

Surprise is always vital in football.

That one thing alone changes everything.

"Go, Red 80-!!"

Even now, it was the same. The Auburn linebackers didn't so much as twitch at the first call — showing me that they had no intention of blitzing, and that they were wary of the creature named Darnell.

I could predict that a good number of the defenders up front would get tangled up with him and backpedal. And I know Darnell's path better than anyone.

The space between the D-line and those backpedaling linebackers would buy rushing yards regardless, and even if we didn't punch it in this play, there was no burden — it was only the first attempt.

This time, I run it.

Myself.

"Ready-!! Set!!"

Clap!!

The ball arrived, and I faked the handoff to Zamir beside me — then chose to take off myself.

And right on cue, the A-gap in the middle opened up.

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"Moi takes off. Slips one man! Two! Oh—! Spin move! He's still running! And he's brought down! This could be a problem now! Yes — the flag is thrown! Smoke Monday came flying out like a bullet and made contact — but that was not a good play for Auburn."

There'd been a helmet-to-helmet collision, but the impact that actually reached me was far less than it looked.

A slight ring, maybe?

No dizziness. Nothing.

I flashed the worried bench a signal that I was fine.

I had no idea exactly how many yards I'd picked up, but it didn't matter — the offense was starting at the 1.

Zamir jogging onto the field.

We're using him here.

It was time for the play we pride ourselves on.

Elite tight ends and O-linemen. If they stood up Auburn's defenders in front of the end zone and carved out a gap, Zamir would wedge himself through that narrow crack and finish it.

Under center.

I called it out immediately.

"Go, Red 80-!! Turbo, Set!!"

I took the snap, turned, handed the ball to Zamir — and the moment I glanced back at the end zone, it was already a touchdown.

I hadn't even seen it, and the kid had already leapt into the air.

"Did you see that?! Did you see this body launch me into the end zone?!"

"You're really hogging all the credit there, huh."

"WOOOOAH-!!"

The damage Auburn took on this drive was enormous.

First, the weakness of their secondary had been laid completely bare. Then they'd lost a key safety. The ejection of Smoke Monday — an All-SEC Second Team selection just last year — would put wings on our receivers from here on out.

The O-linemen, too, looked locked in. And Zamir had been grinding harder since last week.

Maybe the string of easy touchdowns had put him in a good mood, but either way, Zamir's rebound could supply the running back option that had been the one missing piece of our offense this season.

"We should keep pushing them, Coach."

"Yeah. I know."

If you fail to strike while the opponent is shaking, you'll end up beating the ground in regret far too late.

Having delivered my word to the head coach, I chose not to sit down on the bench but to go around the offense instead — finding the linemen, the receivers, and the tight ends in turn, shouting that we should put up even more points.

"Let's Go!! Let's get more!"

Twelve minutes and forty-seven seconds left in the second quarter.

Fourteen points ought to be plenty.

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"Twenty-five yards already gained. Play action. Moi has all the time in the world. This one's going deep. Throw! It's going deep! Ladd McConkey is there! And the catch!! TOUCHDOWN!! What a play by Dwayne Moi Stone!! A fifty-one-yard touchdown pass fired like a bullet!!"

(Noah Eagle) — CBS Play-by-Play

"Third & Goal. Auburn is desperately holding the line in front of their own end zone. But the danger persists. Adonai Mitchell is lined up outside, Milton is in the backfield. Fires — and Adonai Mitchell hauls it in! Touchdown! Georgia!"

For the second straight year, we walked away from Auburn with a forty-five-point victory.

A single missed thirty-nine-yard field goal that could have shattered the record margin gnawed at me a little, but it was a satisfying result all the same.

Brock was on the field now, and having been granted four final possessions, we planned to close the game out exactly like this.

"SIX IN A ROW, BABY!!"

In the backfield, a fully amped Adonai ran around shouting about the six-game win streak, while the others traded banter with bright faces.

And I, headset in hand, went over to the tight ends who had toiled hardest today and exchanged fist bumps with each of them.

I didn't know what calls the coaches would make going forward, but perhaps today we had uncovered one more possibility this team carried within it.

Through 1-2 or 0-2 personnel.

That kind of possibility.

If Darnell could perform the way he had today, we could even run a flea flicker using Brock like a running back.

"It's over!"

"YEAH---!!"

Six straight wins this season. Fold in last year's record, and as of today that made nineteen in a row personally since enrolling in college.

A good number of the Auburn boys had been born and raised in Georgia, so warm greetings were exchanged all around — my case being the exception, a few words here and there was all it came to for me.

But none of that really mattered.

Because I had someone important to share the joy with.

I hurried across the field toward where Hannah was, and before that, I sought out the fans who had cheered us on and gave away the wristband I'd been wearing on my right wrist as a gift.

At last, I arrived in front of Hannah.

"My lucky goddess."

"That hit earlier — are you okay?"

"That? Which one?"

Hannah had been worried about the targeting penalty I took early in the second quarter, so I told her the results of the halftime examination.

"Perfectly fine. This body of mine is built like a fortress."

"Still. That was way too dangerous."

"Thank you for worrying about me."

I wasn't staying in Auburn tonight.

Instead, Hannah and I were heading to Phoenix.

Hannah's Arizona State is in Tempe, but we'd agreed to spend the time until tomorrow afternoon in Phoenix, where there's far more to do.

It's the next town over anyway.

I planned to head to Phoenix again after the Kentucky game next week, too — using the fact that the fourth week of October is a bye week, with no Monday or Tuesday training, to spend it together with her.

"See you in a little while."

A light kiss, and as I turned to go, Broderick Jones, standing nearby, glanced sidelong at Hannah before saying to me:

"You and this supermodel girlfriend of yours are getting along better than I expected."

"Better than expected, huh?"

"They never lasted long before."

Fair point.

Truth be told, I hadn't seen this coming either.

She was more devoted than I'd imagined, which never failed to surprise me.

"Be careful. Girls like that always come with something attached."

"I'll handle it myself, so stay out of my business."

"Fair enough. Like you'd listen to me anyway. Let's go."

"Yup."

What Broderick had said was wiped clean from my mind before long.

(Kevin Negandhi) — ESPN Studio Host

"Next up, Georgia and Auburn. The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry produced a heavily one-sided result for the second straight year. It was billed as a head-to-head between the 2019 SEC Freshman of the Year and the 2020 SEC Freshman of the Year — and the gap between the two only seemed to widen. First, let's take you to the highlights."

(Kevin Negandhi) — ESPN Studio Host

"As you just saw, Dwayne Moi Stone is displaying tremendous passing ability this season. Back when George Pickens tore his ACL last spring, we all thought crisis had arrived for Georgia and Dwayne Moi Stone — but reality has flowed in exactly the opposite direction."

(Booger McFarland) — ESPN Studio Analyst

"Moi is the most stable quarterback in the country right now. He deploys his tight ends and wide receivers at will, and he's completing well over eighty percent of his passes. Those are genuinely absurd numbers."

(Mark Sanchez) — ESPN Studio Analyst

"Generally speaking, when a team loses its number one wide receiver and freshmen fill that void perfectly, the credit belongs to the bench first. But when you look at Georgia right now, you can see that the quarterback's share of that success is every bit as substantial."

"The passes are simply too accurate. Just as CBS's Rick Neuheisel said, Moi's throws are delivered precisely to fit each receiver — into the easiest possible catching position. That is something a coaching staff cannot do from the sideline. The reason Georgia can run the number one offense in the country is that they have brilliant play designs, and a quarterback executing them at one hundred percent."