Even Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst found it ridiculous that the Badgers were using a 6'5", 307-pound backup offensive lineman as the starting fullback in Saturday's game against UNLV. "What are we doing?" joked Chryst. But all 307 pounds of Ryan Groy was the on the field at fullback for 8 of 14 plays in Wisconsin's first drive in Las Vegas, which ended with a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. And we should expect to see Groy lining up at the fullback position all season. Chryst stated, "we’ve got to keep working with it. It would be too much invested in it to be just a one-time deal."
Fullback has been a fluid position for the Badgers since the end of the 2008 season, when Chris Pressley and Bill Rentmeester both graduated. Last season, Wisconsin used tight end Mickey Turner at fullback, but his graduation put the position up for grabs yet again this past offseason. Bradie Ewing is the only true fullback on the roster, but he has been slowed by injuries in the past. Tight ends Rob Korslin and Sherard Cadogan are also in the mix at the position. However, it sounds like Groy is more than capable to play fullback regularly, and the running backs seem to be happy with the arrangement as well. You never know, maybe Wisconsin will start a national trend of essentially having six offensive linemen on the field at once.
After the jump, more links to stories about the Badgers from all over cyberspace. And just because the 2010 college football season started doesn't mean we can't continue recapping the Badgers 2009 campaign. Today, we revisit Michigan at Wisconsin.
Wisconsin's 2008 matchup at Michigan was an embarrassing collapse by the Badgers that set the tone for a disappointing season. Bucky looked for payback on Senior Day at Camp Randall in 2009.
Michigan Wolverines (5-5, 1-5 Big Ten) at Wisconsin Badgers (7-2, 4-2), November 14, 2009 - Michigan traveled to Madison in a game they absolutely had to win if they had any aspirations of going to a bowl game in 2009, because no way in hell would the Wolverines beat Ohio State the next week. And the Wolverines did indeed come to play, at least for the first three quarters. A Scott Tolzien fumble was returned 14 yards for a Michigan touchdown to take a 17-14 lead late in the first half, but the Badgers stormed right back with a 6 play, 74 yard drive in 2:37 to take the 21-17 lead at half. Wisconsin's offense continued to score at will in the 2nd half, and Nick Toon's touchdown catch while he was being interfered with was a thing of beauty. Tate Forcier and the Michigan offense kept it close with a touchdown to make it 28-24, but the Badger defense was able to finally put the clamps down as the Badgers kept scoring. Final score was Wisconsin 45-24 in a game that was closer than the score indicated. Rich Rodriguez's seat continued to get hotter as Michigan lost its sixth Big Ten Conference game in a row.
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Week 1 did nothing to change the Badgers' standing in relation to other Big Ten teams. Both Adam Rittenberg of ESPN and Brett Yarina of the Big Ten Network have the Badgers at number 3 in their power rankings.
Fans across the country will get to watch us defeat San Jose State on ESPN.
The 1990 Wisconsin hockey team, a squad that won the NCAA national championship, is a good reminder that it takes more than talent to be a good team.
Right tackle Josh Oglesby might be losing his starting job soon. Sophomore Ricky Wagner would be the starter in place of Oglesby, a player who has often been called out by coach Bret Bielema when talking to the media.
Check out this Wisconsin football chat recap with beat writer Jeff Potrykus. A lot of interesting questions and insightful answers.
J.J. Watt was all over the place Saturday night against UNLV. Check out this feature story on one of Wisconsin's defensive leaders.
This is the game recap from the last time Wisconsin played San Jose State: 1997. Talk about old school.