Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 54: Clutch (Gordon/Scout)

Scout

You're kidding me? He missed the kick? The ball hit the upright and went back down? I was completely stunned.

"You fucking blew history," I heard someone shout in the stands. "Go back to where you're from."

I could only hope that it was a Tennessee fan that said it and not one of our fans because that was totally disrespectful. I wanted to fight that son of a bitch right then and there. But, my heart was still feeling for Diego. He missed his second field goal attempt in the game and this one was a big miss. We were still leading 31-24, but the way Tennessee's sideline reacted, it seemed like they had the momentum.

With 1:56 left to go, the crowd was stunned silent, but were hoping our defense could make one final defensive stop for us to get to the end. Troy and Robert were trying to fire up their guys to make a stop and everyone seemed to be confident. Yet, we would find out if it was possible to stop them.  It would taken our opponents 77 yards to score the tying touchdown. So, we had to make sure they didn't even get 76 yards.

Looking at the drive sequence, what ensued was nothing but torture.

Tennessee Drive

1st & 10 TEN 23 - 17-yard pass completion

1st & 10 TEN 40 - 29-yard pass completion

1st & 10 HOU 31 - incomplete pass

2nd & 10 HOU 31 - seven-yard pass

3rd & 3 HOU 24 - eight-yard rush

Five plays for 61 yards and suddenly, they were inside our red zone. With each positive gain, our hearts were getting crushed and crushed. Even worse was on each play, including the rushes, the runningbacks were getting out of bounds, which kept killing the clock. Time couldn't seem to go by fast enough. It took just a minute to get to the 16-yard line.

I looked at our defense and for the first time all season, I saw them exhausted late in the game. This worried me entirely. They had played such a great game and had managed to hold down the fort for most of this contest. Now, in a moment that they needed to step up, they were running out of gas.

Tennessee saw this and attempted a pass on their sixth play of the drive. However, the throw was tipped by Albert Stover and I saw Y Smith going for the ball. He extended his arms and the ball hit him. Unfortunately, like a basketball, the ball sailed through the arms and hit the ground for an incomplete pass.

With the break they got, the Titans would get a short yardage play that moved them to the 12. Then, they threw another incomplete pass setting up fourth down. The ballgame was on the line right here. We needed to stop Tennessee right here and right now, or else, we faced the prospect of overtime.

I kept thinking what play the Titans were going to run. But, you knew they had to be thinking pass. They had passed on all but one fourth down conversion for the season. So our defense was expecting it.

What wasn't expected was that a receiver for Tennessee would be uncovered and get open. Somehow, on the snap, the receiver nearest the far sideline had managed to go by without being spotted and was all alone. When it happened and the ball was released, the hearts sank down to the bottom of the ocean.

It was a horrible feeling for that to happen and now, the Titans were an extra point away from tying the game with just 24 seconds left to go. The fans were nervous and they were tensed up. They couldn't believe that the Titans came back from two scores down with seven minutes left and be in this situation. Now, it looked as if overtime was a possibility.