Sports: Football

Clay helps lift Wisconsin to victory

Things didn’t start well for John Clay in his second game as a Badger. Wisconsin trailed 14-0 when the running back came in for his first carry of the game, but the freshman fumbled the ball and was taken out after the 2-yard loss. By the time Clay got back into the contest, UW had built a big lead and Clay was ready to help extend it.

“Little nervous,” Clay said about his start. “I always get nervous when I’m out there, and it kind of showed when I dropped the ball. After I got that out of my system, I was good to go.”

The running back finished the game with 11 carries for 56 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

While he finished with a significant number of carries, most of them came when the outcome was no longer in doubt, but that’s fine with Clay.

“It was no problem; I just come in whenever they need me,” Clay said. “I’m here to help the team.”

When they did need him, Clay was a force to be reckoned with. He bowled over defenders, not shying away from contact and continued to establish himself as a tough runner.

“You can see on some of those runs when we gets his shoulders and his knees going, he’s pretty effective,” head coach Bret Bielema said.

After scoring his first touchdown last week, Clay’s celebration had been a little too much according to Bielema. Against Marshall, it wasn’t a problem.

“I just handed the ball to the ref,” Clay said.

 

Kicking game impressive

Wisconsin might have started out a little flat Saturday, but one Badger who was impressive from the beginning was punter Brad Nortman.

Nortman’s first punt of the game went 57 yards, and he finished the game averaging 47.7 yards per punt.

 “I don’t know what the first punt’s hang time was, but it was amazing,” Bielema said.

Philip Welch also looked good in his second game, hitting a 45-yard field goal that Bielema thought might have been a little out of his range.

“That was into a pretty stiff breeze. I had to be talked into it, give [specialists coach] Charlie Partridge kudos.” Bielema said. “I had 41[yards] on my sheet. That was gonna be the max.”

“I thought Taylor Melhalff was confident. Philip, he thinks he could kick a 75-yard field goal if he has to,” the coach added.

Welch is now 2-2 on field goals this season.

“I think our kicking game could be a strength,” Bielema said.

 

Beckum sits again

Tight end Travis Beckum sat out again Saturday. The Badgers’ leading receiver from a season ago has not played in either of Wisconsin’s first two games because of a hamstring injury.

 ”[Beckum] tried to go a little bit Thursday, but I basically said if he isn’t [going to] practice on Thursday, we’re not going to play him on Saturday,” Bielema said. “He went through a really good workout [Friday] as well as [Saturday], so we should have him full-go for next week.”

Bielema also mentioned linebacker Jonathan Casillas had been close to playing. Fullback Chris Pressley, who sat last week, was able to return to action against Marshall.