Dominate the Super Bowl

Chapter 63: Break out of the armor

Li Wei was extremely focused—

The Trojans thought the Crimson Tide Storm would opt for a ground attack to kick off the season, and indeed, the Crimson Tide Storm did start with a ground offensive.

On the tactical level, there were no secrets.

But what about the execution level?

Li Wei had been sizing up the Trojans' defensive line. Even though it was merely one person more than a normal "4-3" formation, the pressure near the line of scrimmage felt completely different.

"Attack!"

Hertz announced the snap.

Li Wei didn't start moving immediately. Instead, he uncharacteristically paused in place, his vision of the Crimson passing through like automatic doors sliding to the right.

The view across the line of scrimmage unfolded slowly like a scroll, and he promptly noticed his offensive line teammates performing their duties superbly, securing their positions one-on-one and engaging in the first line of confrontation.

Just like venetian blinds.

Maintaining their matchups and moving laterally, yet as they moved, differences in speed and strength caused their rhythms to misalign, and gaps appeared—

There it was!

His feet started moving, stepping forward to Hertz's left. Pretending to pass to the right, Hertz retracted his motion and stretched out his right hand, completing the handoff to Li Wei, and the football nestled securely into Li Wei's embrace, tightly controlled.

Step up.

But he didn't accelerate; instead, he slowed down his pace, keeping his mind clear.

This was a clear difference between McCoy's training template and that of Peterson. People often thought that McCoy, relying on speed, would always opt for raw pace, charging forward without thinking. But that wasn't the case.

The calm observation and careful judgement before starting were the foundations of McCoy's ground offense because once he started, his speed would be pushed to the limit, rarely changing direction even when hitting a wall, but rather advancing forcefully due to speed.

Therefore, Peterson could often break free from tackles and continue pushing forward, while McCoy, unless he could evade the grab with his speed and agility, would find it difficult to break free once tackled.

Now, in a straightforward contest, the Trojans were clearly prepared with their net spread out, waiting for the running back to crash into it, so naturally Li Wei wouldn't act rashly.

Patience, calmness, waiting—

For the opportunity.

Li Wei paused his steps just a bit to adjust, watching as the venetian blinds kept moving, and when the gap appeared again, he started moving.

His foot pushed off, releasing his speed in a flash.

Before him was the meat grinder of layers upon layers; ten players from the offensive and defensive lines clashed and grappled with one another, like dragon's flame, a rolling heat wave spread out, and his vision was filled with smoke.

However, Li Wei's calmness and patience paid off. He caught sight of a gap between the matchups and, with his burst of speed, he was already charging through.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Before they could even blink, Li Wei had already crossed the line of scrimmage, breaking out of the encirclement. The Trojan's impenetrable defensive line had already been left behind—

Is that all?

The heavily fortified "5-2" formation hadn't even managed to touch Li Wei's jersey. The thick, compact layers of the frontline defense had already been breached.

The wind was blowing.

Li Wei was somewhat surprised, catching a glimpse in the corner of his eye, then seeing a face in a helmet twisted by panic and surprise, shaking pupils reflecting Li Wei's visage, but before they could capture the details, they turned into a streak of light as Li Wei burst out.

Brushing past, crossing paths.

That Trojan tried to reach out, but it was too late, catching only a gust of wind.

Whoosh.

The sound of the wind, rustling. Li Wei broke out of the encirclement, emerging from the armor, the layered, entangled armors torn apart, leaving cracks which then crumbled away.

Before him was a whole new world.

But it was still fraught with peril. Li Wei had barely adjusted his steps when he saw several figures moving quickly to surround him.

Perhaps the Trojans had stacked all their defensive power near the start line, and once breached, their backfield would face severe pressure; but they also moved their linebackers and safety up in anticipation, ready to fill the gaps immediately.

Especially after watching the Crimson Tide Storm's warm-up game against the Tigers, no one wanted to witness another one of Li Wei's impressive straight runs.

Just as one wave settled, another arose. No sooner had he broken through the first line of defense than the second one was already upon him.

On the sidelines, Zhu Zhu was stunned—

Number 23, how did he break through?

Defense, positioning, cover.

Zhu Zhu suddenly stood up, couldn't help but clench his fists, held his breath, and then saw a Trojans' lineman wrapping his arms around Number 23:

Well done!

Zhu Zhu waved his fist: That's it! Your next chapter is on M-V-L

Li Wei clearly felt the head-on collision, the dense defensive line was indeed excellent, layered tightly with no extra room to breathe, his steps barely crossed the kickoff line when he was already embraced head-on, his dodging left and right was useless, he was firmly captured.

Fortunately, Li Wei was mentally prepared.

He had thought he would encounter a hit on the defensive line, but it didn't happen; then, half a beat slower, the impact from the lineman was already there, tightly wrapping around his waist.

It was a bit slow, but still within Li Wei's expectation.

Bang!

Li Wei got into position for the impact, didn't give way, and directly collided head-on.

Force against force, both sides took damage, not only the lineman in front of him, but Li Wei himself was also shaken, his throat tasting a sweet, bloody flavor, instantly igniting the passion in his blood.

The difference was that Li Wei was ready—

After the collision, he kept moving forward, turning the surging power of his blood and qi into the momentum to keep pushing off the ground, the power from deep within his Dantian exploded in an instant.

Ah!

A roar of fury.

Ahhhhh!

Full force.

The power to push off the ground transformed into the energy to keep pushing against the opponent, driving the shield before him to keep moving forward.

A hit, a push.

And then, overturn!

Ah! Ahhhhh!

The lineman before him was flipped sprawling, the rolling surge of qi scattering grass debris, the power bursting out from within Li Wei didn't stop, it turned into acceleration, and he immediately took off.

The entire field, stunned.

Zhu Zhu: ???

A sharp inhale of astonishment swirled through the air.

After the first layer of defense, the second layer had also collapsed to the ground.

To describe it, it seemed like he had conquered five passes and slain six generals; in reality, Li Wei had only advanced less than five yards, just crossing the kickoff line and breaking through the lineman's embrace, about five yards away from achieving the first down, attracting the eyes of the entire field, hearts nearly bursting in their throats.

As a running back, could he continue to advance further?

At least Li Wei had no intention of stopping his steps.

Push off the ground!

Push off the ground!

Push off the ground!

Speed, fully unleashed.

As he was about to cross the first down line, out of the corner of his eye, he could see another linebacker adjusting his balance for a second takeoff to leap forward.

The reason was simple, Crimson Tide Storm had set up a shotgun formation, with Hertz moving along the offensive line to the right, starting to look for a right-side pass target, an action that drew the attention of the Trojans' defense, making the linebackers have to cover, thus only now making the second attempt to defend.

Close.

Even closer.

Although slightly slower, the defensive routine of the Trojans was set, even if anticipated, their second reaction was quick enough, with the second linebacker immediately on coverage—

There!

Impact, embrace!

With a leap, that linebacker sprang into the air, actually soaring up.