By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Reporter
All is quiet on the Bruin front.
After the huddle, UCLA’s front five walks to the white
chalk battle line.
The deafening roar of the crowd is tuned out as simply as
hitting the mute button on a TV remote.
For the front five, their minds are so focused that they could
hear a pin drop.
Troy Danoff’s voice penetrates the silence. He screams out
assignment checks, making sure that everyone on the other side will
be blocked and accounted for.
Danoff and the linemen crouch down into their stance, coiled up
and ready to strike.
A silent standoff begins between the nine largest men on the
football field. Right in the middle of this standoff is Danoff,
UCLA’s senior center, who holds on to the game’s most
prized possession ““ the football. If he moves a muscle, the
play will die before it begins. Danoff and the others on the line
are spring loaded with adrenaline, all waiting for one magical
word: “Hut.”
Danoff snaps the ball and the previously dormant volcano of
pent-up energy erupts. Danoff holds his ground based upon a
pre-ordained scheme. He uses every fiber of strength in his body to
make sure that his man doesn’t get to quarterback Cory Paus,
the man Danoff plays to protect. It’s survival of the fittest
in the approximately six second battle between the offensive
bodyguard and defensive assassin. Then Paus throws the ball or
running back DeShaun Foster runs out a play and the battle comes to
a close.
One play down, 72 plays to go.
So far this season UCLA has averaged 73 offensive snaps a game.
For Danoff, the only senior starting on the offensive line, those
fights in the trenches are what he loves to do more than anything.
Danoff is the head of the secret service team meant to protect Paus
and open holes for Foster. With no tangible statistics for the
general public to analyze and with all eyes on the Bruin
superstars, Danoff’s job on the line largely goes
unnoticed.
“That’s part of being an offensive lineman,”
Danoff said. “I’m not going to get the accolades that
some of the other guys get, but that’s fine with me. Normally
if they call my name it’s because I’m doing something
bad.”
Despite the lack of public attention at the line of scrimmage,
the Bruins would not be 4-0 without it. Danoff, the weight lifting
record holder at his high school, knows that there is a lot more to
trench warfare than pushing people around.
Danoff describes the moment he snaps the ball as
“controlled chaos.”
When the ball gets into Paus’ hands, Troy must get his
307-pound frame into a precise position in order to gain leverage
on his opponent. The positioning comes from footwork and lateral
movement.
“Troy has good footwork and exceptional strength,”
UCLA strength and conditioning coach Mike Linn said.
“He’s a guy that plays for position, but if in the off
chance that he gets out of position, he can make up for it with
strength.”
As a center, Danoff draws a complicated assignment in
run-blocking schemes. Danoff has to read the defense and provide
double teams in places where the hole will be created. If he
doesn’t get a quick push and establish position, the hole
closes and Foster gets in trouble.
“I’m on the inside, so there’s a lot people
around me,” Danoff said. “I’m in the middle of a
lot of double teams as well as making sure that everyone’s
blocked, so there’s a lot to do the split second after I snap
the ball.”
On passing plays, it’s more an all out fight. Danoff and
the lineman can’t go past the line of scrimmage on a pass, so
they have to stand their ground against someone who wants nothing
more than to put them on their back.
After 50 some odd plays, when fatigue sets in the fourth
quarter, Danoff’s performance could mean the difference
between a win and a loss.
“I have to let it loose and go wild when I’m on the
field,” Danoff said. “The whole week prior to the game
is for preparation and by that point, it’s second
nature.”
This week Danoff receives his toughest assignment of the season
““ All Pac-10 Washington defensive tackle Larry Triplett.
“Troy will match-up well against Larry and I expect a
great battle between the two,” UCLA offensive line coach Mark
Weber said. “(Danoff) always knows where the play is going
and how to get in position.”
For Danoff and the rest of his offensive line, close to 70
battles will be waged in the war over the line of scrimmage against
Washington. Danoff’s efforts will be a large part of a win or
loss.