Just when it looked like the final rose petal would drop Beauty and the Beast style, the Trojans dug deep and pulled themselves together to go on a forth quarter surge to score not one, but two touch downs and even up the score against Penn State at 49. After long stretches of dismal defense and mediocre offensive drives, the back-to-back touchdowns of Ronald Jones II and Deontay Burnett re-energized the team and made a comeback victory look like a plausible ending to a 3.5 hour long game filled with highs and lows.
With the threat overtime looming over the horizon, and the pressure of 95,128 people looking on, junior kicker Matt Boermeester stepped up to the 36-yard line and punted USC to victory while the predominately cardinal and gold colored crowd jumped and down for joy.
Once time officially ran out, and civilians were allowed to stand on the field with the team as the confetti rained down, it was easy to get swept up in the thrill of victory along with them. Sure there’s a few (or 20) years difference in age for some of us but even now, like them, we still want to win something. We’ve all looked toward some sort of finish line, came up short, only to get it right in the end. Being out there, living vicariously through these young athletes was special. Not better than average, or really cool, but truly special.
As magical as a theme-park parade.
Standing on the sidelines those last 5 minutes, and landing in the middle of the celebration that followed, was like being shaken up inside of a snow globe. Everything in its perfect place while the snow and glitter floats gracefully and beautifully around you. A completely perfect moment of a dream fulfilled for not only you but your family and the colors you play for. Savoring every second until next season’s final pedal is in danger of dropping once more turning the team into a beast forever.
But let’s not hasten tomorrow for the Trojans. On Monday USC lived and everybody on that field got to live right along with them. Battling back our own tears and heavy emotion while watching their tears being shed in victory. Right along side them as hands are being slapped, younger siblings are jumping up and down and the band plays on.
Lets not hasten ‘next time’ just yet. This time is pretty great.