The red-shirted halfback took the pitchout and headed wide, looking for running room off tackle. A pulling guard slammed the defensive end out and the ball carrier bolted forward, cutting in behind him and then swinging out as he cleared the line of scrimmage, his yellow-striped helmet swiveling from side to side as he searched for daylight in the secondary. A blue-helmeted defender made a dive for him but was foiled by a neat limp-leg decoy, and then the halfback hit the sidelines and was streaking for all he was worth, helmet bobbing as he left them further behind him with each stride, his ears filled with the deafening roar of the huge crowd as 60,000 spectators screamed their support.
High in a corner of the great horseshoe stadium, Nikki Newman turned to the young woman next to her and complained angrily.
"What the hell is the matter with these-" her final, unprintable word was blown away by the boom of the university cannon as the runner crossed the goal line far below them. All around there was delighted bedlam, people leaping out of their seats and swatting each other on the back. There were a lot of hats and red faces and raccoon coats, because it was already nippy on a late October afternoon in southwest Maryland.
"Look at that!" Nikki said in disgust as the point-after was kicked and the cannon thundered again. She gestured toward the huge scoreboard towering above the far end zone, its yellow lights showing TERPS 21, GUEST 0, with less than five minutes gone in the second quarter. "Christ, it's going to be five touchdowns difference by halftime!"
The dark-haired girl beside Nikki smiled her crooked smile and said, "You've got to be the only person in the world who goes to homecoming and then bitches because Maryland wins too easily!"
"Well, good God," said Nikki, "I didn't pay my money to come out and see this crap! Hey, if I want to see a track meet I'll come back in the spring! It's too damn cold out here for this! What's the matter with these clowns, anyway? I thought they were supposed to have a decent team this year."
"Well, their quarterback got hurt last week against Clemson," the dark-haired girl said. "Didn't you hear about that?"
"Sure, I know," Nikki returned. "But give me a break, Denise-what's the quarterback got to do with defense? What, are these jerks all having sympathetic pregnancies, or something?"
Denise burst out laughing, raising her hand to her mouth in embarrassment. All around them people were standing for the next kickoff, still noisily congratulating one another on the way the game was going.
"Hey, if you think this is bad," Denise told her, still giggling, you should've seen the Syracuse game. Gaw-w-d-fifty.;five to three, or something! "
"Yeah, well… " Nikki stared out at the gridiron as the kickoff went tumbling downfield. The visiting back gathered it in and was swarmed under almost immediately by a horde of scarlet jerseys.
"Nice!… Syracuse," she repeated, refocusing on what Denise had said. "Oh, well, Christ, no wonder!-You know why that happened, don't you? They played Nebraska the" week before. Ohh-ho, God! What was that, a million to nothing or something?"
Denise sat staring at her silently, her black eyes dancing. Nikki finally noticed and turned, a quizzical look on her face.
"What…?"
"Listen to us," Denise giggled merrily. "We sound like two old alumnae drunks! Sitting here talking about the ins and outs of football!"
"Well, just because you're a broad-"
"You're a broad! The old tomboy sitting here pontificating on the game!" She pressed her dark head against Nikki's and mumbled: "Maybe we should both be lezzies…!"
"Hey, speak for yourself!" Nikki said, pushing her away.
"Oh, no, not me," Denise replied cheerfully, gazing back out at the field. "No sense in my being here if that was the case."
Nikki turned and stared at her until Denise finally looked back and met her eyes. "You were actually serious, huh?" Nikki asked.
"Well, certainly. I'm not really here to see football; I'm working."
Nikki could not help staring, her head shaking in wonder. "But, Denise… you graduated!"
Denise started to reply but she was cut off by a thunderous roar as everyone around them leaped to their feet, arms in the air, shouting. The two girls jumped up and watched as a Maryland defensive back threaded his way down the far sideline with the football tucked under his arm. Apparently Duke's backup quarterback had tried a pass from deep in his own territory, and this was the ill-fated result.
The scarlet-shirted player picked up a couple of blockers and knifed into the end zone to the accompaniment of the ear-splitting cannon. The place-kicker entered and departed, making it 28-0 with still half the period to go.
"See?" Denise said, almost shouting amidst the deafening clamor. 'Ol' What's-his-name wouldn't have done that."
Nikki replied with a curse, still staring out at the field. Blue, hazy smoke from the two cannon shots was rising above the far end zone.
"Come on," Denise said, grabbing her by the arm. "This game is shot. Let's go downstairs and I'll show you how it works."
Nikki turned on her. "Now, wait a minute…!"
"Come on-n-n-n-n, football fan!" Denise commented, dragging her toward the aisle. "Who cares if you miss anything-there's a taped replay tonight on television!"