Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - October 18, 2012

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Position switch puts Groy on the 'cutting' edge LUCAS AT LARGE MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM I f your eyes were following the ball – the football and Montee Ball – you may have missed one of the better "cut'' blocks of the season on a stretch play during last Saturday's "clinic''at Purdue. "Textbook,'' said UW offensive line coach Bart Miller. Pulling from his left guard slot, Ryan Groy "cut'' Boilermakers cor- nerback Josh Johnson on the edge of the defense, a resounding block that allowed Ball to bounce outside to the boundary. "It's a very physical, nasty block,'' Miller gushed. "He (Groy) drove through the defender's feet and upended him. It's a very effective block, particularly on a better ath- lete; a linebacker or a DB.'' Timing is everything on a cut block. "You have to use the tech- nique wisely,'' Groy said. "If you don't get the cut, they get the tackle. You can't use it on every play.'' On this play, most eyes were on the end of the 16-yard run when Ball blasted Purdue safety Landon Feichter with his right shoulder and violently knocked him on his butt. Nobody appreciated that more than Groy. "After I cut my guy – he was lying on my back and I kind of popped up my head – I saw Montee hit No. 44 (Feichter),'' Groy said. "Our sideline was jumping up and down and yelling. That was a great spark for the whole team.'' In the fourth quarter, Groy had another "textbook'' cut block, helping spring James White on a 14-yard touchdown run. This one 10 » VARSITY OCTOBER 18, 2012 was thrown much farther downfield on a defenseless Purdue safety. More significantly, Groy was pulling from left tackle after re- placing the injured Rick Wagner. "Obviously, I've cut people before,'' he said, "but I haven't done it from the tackle position.'' After the play, Wagner was one of the first teammates to congratu- late him on the Wisconsin sidelines. "I was really jacked up,'' Groy said. "He (Wagner) was all jacked up, too.'' Leading up to the Purdue game, he had taken some reps at left tackle in practice. "I knew what I was doing,'' said Groy, a junior from Middleton. "It was just getting the right techniques and executing.'' To be honest, he made it look rel- atively easy. But it was not. "To be fair to Ryan,'' Miller said, "it's very tough, especially when you spent all week and most of your career at a certain position.'' Groy, at that, has shown versa- tility throughout his UW playing career, which began interestingly enough for him with a starting as- signment at fullback in the 2010 season opener against UNLV. "People remind me of that every once in awhile and it's kind of fun to bring up,'' said Groy, who was also the starting fullback at Michi- gan later that season. "It seems like awhile ago.'' Groy has also started a Big Ten game at center. "With coach (Bob) Bostad,'' he said, "we were repping a lot of positions: right side, left side, center. Tackle was something I really hadn't done.'' Until now. Miller was mentored by Bostad and his approach is very similar on many fronts. Groy's trust in Miller started developing last season when Bostad was still around and Miller was a graduate assistant. "He was always somebody you could talk to and work things through if something wasn't clear,'' Groy said of Miller. "It was kind of a Good Cop and Bad Cop. He was always the Good Cop.'' During practices, Bostad was al- ways the Bad Cop, a role that Miller inherited to a degree as the O-line coach when he replaced Bostad's replacement, Mike Markuson, fol- lowing the Oregon State loss. "We were always tight,'' said Groy, who's expected to start at tackle against Minnesota. "But once he (Miller) got the coaching posi- tion, we knew that it had to be a different relationship. "He has got to be a Bad Cop ev- ery once in awhile. You just can't be nice to somebody the whole time.'' Especially when you're coaching the offensive line, and toughness. "He does make practice tough,'' said Groy, who also believes that Miller's playing experience as an O- lineman at New Mexico under Bos- tad has assisted him in his coaching transition with the Badgers. "He understands the position because has played it within the last 10 years. He has been through it. He knows what we do, and what he has to do. That makes it easier.'' Both will cop to that.

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