Dominate the Super Bowl

Juju Smith Schuster, Wide Receiver, junior, is currently the biggest star on the Trojans team.

Last season, when Trojans quarterback Cody Kessler's performance was poor, and the offensively-oriented team always struggled to make headway, it became the core reason for the unsatisfactory team results. During the offseason, Offensive Coordinator Hayden became the head coach through an internal team interview.

Nevertheless, even with an underperforming quarterback, nicknamed "Juju," Schuster still performed exceptionally, reversing the situation with his own efforts several times. He finished the season with one thousand four hundred receiving yards and ten touchdowns, becoming the only spotlight in the dismal state of the Trojans.

This year, Kessler has turned professional, selected in the third round as the ninetieth pick by the Cleveland Browns, and the Trojans welcomed a brand new quarterback—

Sam Darnold, who enrolled last year but donned a redshirt.

Redshirt is a special status in the NCAA.

Normally, college athletes are eligible to play in four seasons of college games, but they can choose to become a redshirt during one year of their college tenure, thus extending their college athletic career to five years.

During the redshirt year, students can attend classes and participate in training, and even sit on the sidelines during games, but they are not allowed to compete for the team.

Thanks to the redshirt system, there emerged the phenomenon of "fifth-year seniors" in American colleges.

There are many reasons to choose a redshirt, the primary one being to take a year off from competition to focus on improving one's abilities to vie for a starting spot, a common occurrence in football.

Because the physical confrontations and body impacts in football are significantly tougher, players can use the redshirt year to improve their physique; additionally, since football tactics are much more complex than in high school, players need time to adapt to different styles of play. After all, there are no redshirt exemptions in professional leagues.

It's worth mentioning that if a redshirt player enters any game during the season, then the redshirt status is automatically forfeited, without exception.

The identity of a redshirt player is granted by the head coach, but only until the end of the season does the NCAA give affirmation.

What does that mean?

The head coach, based on his own judgment, grants a player redshirt status, but it doesn't mean the player won't appear in games during the season. If a player outperforms expectations in training, or if the team faces a severe spate of injuries, the head coach can rescind the player's redshirt status, allowing them to play in the remaining season games.

Once the player enters the field during a game, they are automatically forfeiting their redshirt status for that season, even if it's only for one play or one second, with no exceptions.

Therefore, only at the end of the season, after confirming that the player hasn't participated in any games, does the NCAA affirm the redshirt status.

Additionally, the most common injury redshirt is a particular exception:

If a player misses an entire season or a substantial part of the season due to a severe injury, and their playing time is less than 30%, the head coach can still apply for a redshirt for them, ensuring the player gets an extra year of opportunity.

Typically, so-called redshirt freshmen refer to sophomores who are playing for the school for the first year. They chose to redshirt their freshman season, trained with the team for a season, waited to grow, and then officially represented the school in competitions as sophomores.

Sam Darnold is a redshirt freshman.

Last year, the Trojans recruited Darnold to play as a...lineman, but during the training camp, they discovered Darnold's potential and switched him to a quarterback. As a redshirt, he learned behind two quarterbacks for an entire year, and this year he finally took over the main responsibility of starting quarterback.

Including Hayden, everyone in the Trojans, from top to bottom, is full of confidence. They believe without a doubt that Darnold has the ability of a first-round pick and it wouldn't be a surprise even if he becomes the first overall pick.

This is also the source of Juju's confidence.

Look, last season, even with the delivery of Kessler's erratic passes, Juju managed to complete a one-thousand-yard season purely on individual ability; now with an upgraded quarterback situation and more accurate and plentiful passes, as the Trojans' top wide receiver, Juju is confident about contributing to an even more outstanding and exciting season.

Perhaps, he might become the first wide receiver in NFL and NCAA history with a two-thousand-yard season?

Zhu Zhu's confidence had pierced the heavens, and the result?

Not only were the news media swarming around an unknown running back like flies, but even his own coach was being so cautious?

Zhu Zhu really wanted to shake Hayden hard: Coach, wake up, wake up! You have Derrick and me, two superstar athletes. Please rise up, okay?

"We're going to win the game," Zhu Zhu's gaze was brimming with confidence, almost ready to swallow Samantha whole.

Samantha wasn't convinced, "You're up against the defending champions."

Zhu Zhu just laughed, "Without Derrick Henry, they're nothing."

Samantha blinked, "But they now have an excellent rookie running back, he could…"

Zhu Zhu immediately exploded with impatience, "You mean that clown? Please, it's just a smoke bomb, isn't it obvious? Just one warm-up game and they talk about him making a grand appearance. If it's that easy to make a grand appearance, then right now the NCAA would be full of superstars. Would superstars still be valuable?"

"Wake up, hey, wake up!"

"It's all hype, that clown is just a puppet, a Pinocchio, nobody cares about him. He's just a tool the Crimson Tide Storm uses to divert attention. A rookie who just got into football this year, a complete outsider turned savior, haha, what do you think this is, a superhero movie?"

"It must be DC, not Marvel, haha."

Zhu Zhu was incredibly arrogant, his trash talk flowing nonstop.

Still patient, Samantha said, "But Sam Darnold was the same. A redshirt rookie who had never practiced as a quarterback before. What's the difference between him and Li Wei?"

Zhu Zhu's face split open: Don't hit a man in the face, okay?

His expression turned sour in an instant, no longer in the mood for jokes, "Let me tell you, the game will prove everything. We'll expose that guy for what he really is; we'll let him experience what real football is. We'll win the game."

"Not just win, but crush them."

"You understand? Crush them!"

Having just hit a wall with Crimson Tide Storm, Samantha finally regained her reporter's dignity standing before Zhu Zhu, "You mean against last year's nationwide number one defensive group of Crimson Tide Storm?"

The Trojans were good at offense, while the Crimson Tide Storm excelled at defense—

Just like that warm-up game, it was a clash of contradictions.

Zhu Zhu's face turned the color of liver, looking like he might explode at any moment. After all, he was still young, just eighteen, and still a kid, "Yes, yes, yes, yes. We'll win."

"We'll win."

"We'll win! Ahh!"

And then… there was no and then. Zhu Zhu stormed off, eyes red, mouth full of foul language, cursing all the way to the field, his beautiful dreadlocks as if they were on fire.

With a professional smile, Samantha said to the camera, "The Trojans are determined to win."