Inside the team bus: ???
As the players watched Lance walk away smoothly, the fans lining the tunnel erupted into cheers and shouts, the world seemingly at his feet. Yet, inside the bus, the players were all full of questions:
Wait, that's it?
Hadn't Humphrey said the media was waiting to swarm—oh no, to "interview" Lance?
But what just happened? Was that really all?
Hurts, completely confused, was the first to rush out. He looked at Samantha Ponder with a puzzled expression, pointing at Lance's retreating figure, ready to ask her something, but Samantha beat him to it, throwing a question his way, eager to dig for some inside information from the Crimson Tide's new starting freshman quarterback.
Hurts: Huh? What? Lance? Didn't Lance just walk right past you?
Seeing the bewildered look on Hurts' face, Samantha quickly rephrased her question, "Is number 23 still in the back? And what about you? Any thoughts?"
Hurts: …
After a moment of confused silence, Hurts finally muttered, "Lance is in the back."
Better him than me.
From that point on, Hurts had no recollection of how he answered Samantha's questions. His mind was still foggy, shocked by what had just happened as he trailed after Lance.
One by one, each player exited the bus, all equally perplexed. Their expressions ranged from suppressed laughter to curiosity, yet, without a word, they all kept up the charade.
After all, a prank is a prank. They didn't catch Lance, but someone was bound to get caught eventually.
Then came Jacobs—
This fresh-faced high schooler, just starting college in September, was the next in line.
Samantha glanced at the now-empty bus. Though she couldn't be 100% sure due to the angle, it seemed like no one was left. Right at that moment, the bus driver released the brake, and the bus slowly drove away... leaving Jacobs standing there.
Samantha hesitated for a moment. Wait, wasn't Lance supposed to be Asian? What's going on here?
Still, without missing a beat, Samantha asked, "Are you confident you can take on Derrick Henry's legacy and lead the Crimson Tide's ground game?"
Jacobs: ??? Who? Me? I'm taking on Henry's legacy?
Before the season opener, Coach Burns had spoken privately with each running back to discuss their roles. Lance had been named the Crimson Tide's starting running back, while Jacobs was the second-string. Their styles were different, and together they would share the burden of the team's ground offense.
Clearly, Lance was the lead running back.
Jacobs stammered, "Uh, I-I believe Lance can handle it."
Samantha: "Who?"
Jacobs: "Lance."
Samantha: "Huh? You're not Lance?"
Jacobs: "No, I'm not."
Samantha: …
Jacobs: …
Samantha: "Wait, isn't Lance on this bus?"
Jacobs blinked, hesitant and slightly worried, as Samantha looked like she was about to burst, resembling a pufferfish on the verge of exploding. He briefly imagined her brain splattering on her outfit, which wouldn't be easy to dry clean. "He was. Lance was the first one to get off."
Samantha: …
Haha! Hahaha!
A burst of laughter erupted behind them. It was wild and unrestrained. ABC's cameraman instinctively spun around to capture the scene.
There, the Crimson Tide players were roaring with laughter. They high-fived, cheered, screamed, and hollered. The youthful energy of the team was palpable, their camaraderie on full display as they reveled in their prank.
Swoosh.
Jacobs hurried past Samantha and joined his teammates. Without hesitation, the others teased him relentlessly—
While it wasn't quite as satisfying as pranking a rookie, Jacobs, being a freshman himself, still provided plenty of amusement.
It was only then that Jacobs finally realized what had happened. Resigned to his fate, he let the others poke fun at him, making them laugh even harder.
Then, out of nowhere, a figure sprinted past Samantha and the ABC crew, too fast for anyone to stop. Samantha was a beat too late in recognizing the runner: it was Humphrey.
Unlike the newer faces, Samantha wouldn't make a rookie mistake when it came to someone like Humphrey, a veteran from last year's starting lineup for the Crimson Tide.
Humphrey called out to his teammates as he ran, "Make way, make way."
The Crimson Tide players parted like Moses before the Red Sea, creating a long path as all eyes followed Humphrey's sprint toward the front. Humphrey leaped, monkey-like, and latched onto a familiar figure, spinning him around.
The next second, Humphrey looked directly at the camera, winking and making hand gestures:
It's him! It's him! He's the one!
The figure took off his headphones and sunglasses, and that's when Samantha finally realized—
It was Lance.
The only Asian face in the starting lineup of any NCAA team this season. How could she have missed that?
Samantha rubbed her forehead in disbelief. What on earth just happened?
From fifty or sixty yards away, Lance raised his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together in a salute toward the camera, a smile curling up the corners of his mouth.
Even from a distance, Samantha couldn't make out his exact features, but she saw the gesture. She could practically feel the carefree and cocky smile on his face. And suddenly, her frustration, confusion, and panic melted away into a grin.
Maybe this was even better.
Rather than having Lance stand in front of the camera, exchanging generic pleasantries, this little prank revealed much more about his personality.
Though they hadn't even spoken yet, Samantha found herself excited to see what number 23 would do.
Now, Samantha started to understand why everyone was buzzing about this player. In fact, even tonight's opposing team wasn't immune to the chatter.
USC Trojans head coach Clay Helton was feeling a bit nervous—
Although this was his sixth season with the Trojans, it was his first as the head coach.
Last season, the Trojans underperformed, finishing 20th in the national rankings and failing to qualify for any bowl games. For a traditional powerhouse on the West Coast, that result was unacceptable. The previous head coach had been fired, and Helton was promoted after an internal interview process.
New season, new beginnings.
Naturally, Helton hoped to kick off his head coaching career with a win, but the defending champions were his first opponents—
And not just any team, but Nick Saban's seasoned Crimson Tide.
Gulp.
Helton swallowed nervously, trying his best to hide his anxiety. His words came out cautiously, "We don't have much information on Lance yet, so I don't think I can comment at this time. But no matter the situation, we're prepared. We'll be ready."
His first sentence was "we are prepared," but the second was "we will be ready."
The contradiction in his words betrayed Helton's unease. A new coach in a new role often felt this way.
However, seeing their coach's nervousness, the young, hot-blooded players of the Trojans couldn't stand by in silence. Someone had to step up and rally the troops—
That someone was JuJu Smith-Schuster.
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