Corey Clement’s supposed breakout season is going to wait at least another month to take off.
University of Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst announced Thursday afternoon that Clement will undergo surgery to repair a sports hernia. The junior running back is expected to be out for the next 4-6 weeks.
“Corey has been dealing with some issues since the Alabama game,” Chryst said in a statement. “He has been undergoing treatment since that time and has seen some progress but not to the point our medical staff is satisfied. So after consultation with our medical staff, Corey has decided to have surgery.”
For the last week, Clement had been targeting the Big Ten opener against Iowa on Oct. 3 for his return from a groin injury that hampered him in the beginning of the season.
Even this week, coaches and teammates believed there was a chance he would play Saturday and expected him back for Iowa.
Football: Clement to be evaluated Thursday, could possibly return Saturday
Chryst said he sympathizes with Clement and believes he will make a return at full health later this season.
“I feel bad for Corey that this is impacting his season because I know how hard he works and how important this football team is to him,” Chryst said in the statement. “We are very confident that he will make a full recovery after the surgery and I know he will attack his rehab so he can get back on the field as soon as he can.”
Clement, speaking to the media Thursday afternoon shortly after the announcement of the surgery, said he’s “at peace” with his decision.
The pain started before the Alabama game, Clement said, but he felt like he had something to prove and withheld that information from his teammates and the coaching staff leading up to the game.
It’s something he regrets now.
“Me being so hard-headed, I just tried doing what I could do and show my teammates,” Clement said. “I should’ve been smart and played it safe and sat out and had the surgery way before this.”
Clement said he’s not sure whether it’s been a sports hernia the entire time or whether it has developed recently, but he expressed relief that the medical staff has finally gotten to the root of the problem.
The pain never got better every morning when he would wake up, Clement said, and he couldn’t kick it into his “fourth gear” and open up his strides.
“That’s when I knew something was wrong,” he said.
All of a sudden, redshirting becomes a real possibility to Clement, although those were never his intentions, he said. He’ll make that decision in the forthcoming weeks based on his rehab process and how the team is performing on the field.
“If my team keeps winning out throughout the Big Ten, and I’m able to come back, then I think there will be a strong possibility I will come back,” Clement said. “Gotta be smart with that. If the chances are unlikely for us to get back to the Big Ten Championship [game], then I might have to tone it down.”
As a third-stringer his freshman season behind James White and Melvin Gordon, Clement rushed for 547 yards on just 67 attempts, averaging 8.2 yards per carry.
Last season, as a sophomore, Clement rushed for 949 yards and nine touchdowns behind Gordon’s Heisman campaign.
In this season’s opener against Alabama, Clement carried the ball just eight times for 16 yards.
The Badgers will go forward without Clement Saturday, Sept. 26, against Hawaii at 7 p.m. They’ll then have to play Iowa, Nebraska, Purdue and Illinois without Clement in the backfield. In worst case scenario based on the 4-6 week diagnosis, Clement will be sidelined until November with only games against Maryland, Northwestern and Minnesota remaining.
