Baggot: From new perspective, Groshek saw same approach from Badgers
November 15, 2020 | Football
Senior leader unsurprised to see team come into Michigan unshaken despite challenges of COVID
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For the first time in his Wisconsin football career, a span of 43 games over the last four years, Garrett Groshek didn't play a snap Saturday night even though he was ready and willing to. The senior running back and co-captain paced the visitor's sideline inside cavernous Michigan Stadium wearing sweats and rain gear instead of a uniform. He watched intently as a moment of perceived crisis in primetime became a source of intense satisfaction.
Groshek was one of 10 front-line players who, due to COVID-19 issues or injury, sat out the Big Ten Conference encounter with Michigan in Ann Arbor. The lengthy list of absentees came on the heels of consecutive weeks where the No. 13 Badgers cancelled games with Nebraska and Purdue and team-related activities were paused from Oct. 28 to Nov. 9.
Yet the long list of absentees — including seven with starting experience — and the lack of prep time didn't prevent a historic performance. Wisconsin prevailed 49-11 on the way to its most one-sided victory in its 128-year-old series with the Wolverines.
The Badgers stormed to a 28-0 halftime lead, improved to 16-0 during the Paul Chryst coaching era when topping 300 yards rushing and limited Michigan to 45 plays from scrimmage, its fewest since 2010.
Groshek didn't like being a spectator, but he was heartened by what he saw given the shorthanded circumstances because it validated the quality of Wisconsin's depth and day-to-day mindset.
"We've enjoyed every obstacle we've had to face," he said. "In times of crisis and uncertainty, that's when leadership is exposed, your whole culture is exposed and you can see what type of foundation you really have as a program. We've been excited to take on every challenge we've had so far, during the pandemic or any team that we're playing."
Groshek, sophomore running back Isaac Guerendo, senior wide receiver and punt returner Jack Dunn, junior left guard Josh Seltzner and sophomore backup quarterback Chase Wolf joined Jack Coan, the incumbent senior starter at quarterback, on the list of the missing on offense.
Senior defensive end Garrett Rand, junior outside linebacker Izayah Green-May, junior cornerback Rachad Wildgoose and sophomore safety John Torchio were unavailable on defense.
"The expectations don't change based on who's out there for us," Groshek said.
Nor does the coaching staff in its week-to-week approach, regardless of the circumstances.
"There's really no change," Groshek said. "We approach every game the same. We worry about what we're doing and not necessarily the outside noise or what the team we're playing is doing. The message stays the same."
Between Oct. 24 and Nov. 2, 15 football players and 12 staffers tested positive for the coronavirus, including Chryst.
"I'm really proud of the way that everyone kind of worked through what we've gone through," Chryst said after his program-best third win over Michigan, the same as his Big Ten title-winning predecessors Bret Bielema, Barry Alvarez and Milt Bruhn. "I thought the coaches put together a heck of a plan. Most importantly, the players made it come to life."
The Badgers had reason to look somewhat disoriented given the 21-day layoff between games, but they were locked in.
"There are some things you can always clean up — we're never going to be satisfied — but I think the energy and excitement to be able to play a game kind of outweighed the rustiness that we may have had," Groshek said.
Wisconsin didn't have a turnover, was penalized once for five yards and was 8-for-13 on third-down conversions (.615).
Some teams might struggle to generate energy in quiet, mostly empty stadiums — especially the 107,601-seat facility known as "The Big House" — but the Badgers brought it in abundance.
"I don't think it's as tough as people think it is," Groshek said. "We were hungry. We were ready to play. We don't really care who's in the stadium — how many fans there are — we just love playing football. That's the kind of attitude we have when we came out today.
"From the first snap to the last whistle guys played with great energy. That's one of the only things you can control is how you approach each play and each game. We did that with a lot of good energy."
The Badgers did so even though they were without three senior leaders in uniform: Groshek, Coan and Rand.
"There's a whole bunch of guys that lead the team, so no matter who's in or who's out, we're always going to have leaders, guys who bring energy every night," Groshek said.
Wisconsin won back-to-back games against the Wolverines for just the fifth time in series history — and the first time since the 2009 and 2010 seasons — because of a game plan driven by a variety of options in the run game. Nine different players contributed to a 341-yard day, including two running backs, two fullbacks and four wide receivers. Leading the way was true freshman running back Jalen Berger (15 carries, 87 yards), junior fullback John Chenal (6-71), senior wide receiver Danny Davis (7-65) and sophomore running back Nakia Watson (12-65).
Groshek, who missed one game due to injury during his decorated prep career at Amherst High School, busied himself trying to help the guys who were playing. He did so believing he could have been in uniform assisting in a more hands-on fashion.
Groshek said he tested positive for the coronavirus but was asymptomatic. He quarantined for 10 days during the pause in team activities, but as soon as his test result came back, he knew he would have to sit out the Michigan game because of a Big Ten protocol requiring a seven-day get-back-in-shape period.
"I was definitely in good enough shape to play (against Michigan)," Groshek said. "That part's a little bit frustrating."
Redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz went through a similar experience. He tested positive Oct. 24, the day after he engineered a record-setting 45-7 season-opening win over Illinois with 21 completions in 22 pass attempts and five touchdowns. After four of five days of headaches, body aches, sore throat and a loss of taste and smell, he negotiated the Big Ten protocol in time to start against the Wolverines, albeit with a minimum of practice time.
"It was good to get back," Mertz said Saturday night after completing 12 of 22 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns against Michigan. "In total, I'm happy right now."
