Badgers' Clement puts focus on team over personal stats

MADISON, Wis. – Corey Clement is practicing patience as the clock winds down on his college football career.

He has just four games left in his final regular season at Wisconsin, starting with a trip Saturday to face Northwestern.

The senior came up big in the eighth-ranked Badgers' biggest game of the season, but his 164 yards on 25 carries Oct. 15 came in an overtime loss to then-No. 2 Ohio State. Clement has shown flashes of big-play ability and has been a rock-solid contributor to the Badgers' ground game.

What Clement hasn't had is that breakout performance that propels Wisconsin (6-2, 3-2, No. 8 CFP) to victory, a game that makes national pundits notice.

"As far as statistic-wise, it's going to come, and understand we're getting stronger as the season is going on," Clement said.

He focused on the team first. With such a rigorous schedule, Clement would rather be 6-2 against tough completion than 2-6 but with better personal stats.

Not that Clement hasn't been producing: He has run for 699 yards and six touchdowns on 161 carries.

"When you look at it, I can't really be too negative about the season, what happened," Clement said when asked about his stats. "I don't want to be selfish, I've just got to really put it on the team, and really focus on the real object at end at the end of the season."

Expectations are high when a top recruit goes to Wisconsin, a running back factory that has produced college greats such as Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball and Ron Dayne.

Team-wise, the Badgers have exceeded outside expectations with three wins over top 10 programs, a school first. Their two losses, to the Buckeyes and No. 2 Michigan, were by a combined 14 points.

The schedule also includes a host of top defenses, an added degree of difficulty for Clement.

"I think our guys are really stepping up to the challenge," he said.

But the Badgers have mixed and matched elsewhere at times as they look to build depth and find effective combinations. Deiter said he doesn't think the different pairings disrupt chemistry, since the Badgers also use different combinations in practice.