The Wisconsin football team overcame a rainy day at Camp Randall to put in their most solid performance of the season Saturday, defeating Rutgers in dominating fashion, 48-10.
The game was all about junior running back Corey Clement, who made his long-awaited return Saturday after being sidelined for nearly two months with a sports hernia.
And while the tailback didn’t get anywhere close to full workload, as he played limited snaps and only managed to carry the ball 11 times, Clement didn’t need to be on the field much to have his presence felt.
“It felt great to be back out there,” Clement said. “I couldn’t ask for anything else from this game.”
He finished with 115 yard and three touchdowns in a performance that not only showed how good Clement can be, but also how much better he makes this Wisconsin offense. Fellow running back Dare Ogunbowale, who actually got the official start at tailback for UW, complemented nicely, carrying the ball 11 times for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Clement’s performance took the pressure off quarterback Joel Stave, who had an efficient first half where he threw for 156 yards and a touchdown pass to wide receiver Alex Erickson – who finished with six catches for 103 yards.
The quarterback was less successful in the second half, highlighted by a third-quarter interception that was returned for a touchdown, giving Rutgers their lone trip into the end zone.
“It was a bad decision,” Stave said. “I didn’t have my feet set, I didn’t get enough on the ball. Everything bad that could happen did happen. ”
But it ended being a minor miscue in what was a very successful stay for Stave and the offense, as UW managed to accumulate 426 total yards on the day, with Stave contributing 217 passing yards to that total.
On the other side of the ball, the Rutgers offense never stood a chance, as after what was their only scoring drive of the first half – a 13-play, 55-yard drive that ended in a field goal – UW’s defense allowed just 26 yards over the Scarlet Knight’s next 18 plays to end the half.
The second half was no different, as UW’s defense prevented the Rutgers offense from gaining any momentum throughout the final 30 minutes. The Scarlet Knights finished the day with just 165 total yards on offense.
Outside linebacker Vince Biegel led the defensive charge, recording five total tackles, two tackles for a loss and a game-high two sacks in the outing. And despite Biegel taking it to another level on the field, linebacker Joe Schobert said it was the same old Vince out there.
“[Biegel] is always going 100 miles per hour,” Schobert said. “The last couple of weeks, he has be able to get a lot pressure and get hits on the quarterback.”
Fellow linebacker Jack Cichy – who filled in for injured inside linebacker Chris Orr – excelled in his greater role Saturday, finishing tied with safety Michael Caputo for a team-high eight sacks.
For Cichy, making his first start gave him some nerves initially, but in the end, for the sophomore, it’s just football.
“I was definitely a little bit nervous getting the first start, but after the first play, all those jitters kind of went away and we just got to play football,” Cichy said.
The victory brings the Badgers’ record to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play, and keeps them in second place in the Big Ten West. They still remain a game behind first-place Iowa.
