College Career
Following high school, Groce chose to attend the University of Nebraska over Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State and Syracuse, where he played football and was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. As a freshman, Groce was redshirted. As a sophomore, Groce played in every game as the backup left corner, taking over as the left corner when Keyou Craver moved to nickel back. Groce had at least one tackle in 12-of-13 games and had 24 tackles. As a junior, Groce broke Ralph Brown's school record for pass breakups in a season with 17. In 2001, as a redshirt junior, Groce had his most productive season, starting every game at cornerback as well as returning kickoffs and punts. Additionally, Groce was named a First-Team AP All-American for his punt-return duties, finishing fourth nationally with 17.0 yards per punt return.
As a senior, Groce was selected as one of the three team captains. He continued his productive career by starting every game of his redshirt-senior season. Against Troy State, Groce set a school record and tied an NCAA record with two punt return touchdowns and a pair of first-quarter interceptions in a 31-16 win. Overall, Groce set or tied four school records and set one NCAA record. Additionally, Groce joined 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers as the only players in NU history to amass 1,000 career punt return yards. In December 2002, Groce received a Communications degree.
Read more about this topic: DeJuan Groce
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