Welcome back, Corey Clement.
The junior running back made the most of his return against his home state's university, rushing for 115 yards on 11 carries and three touchdowns in the Wisconsin Badgers' 48-10 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Camp Randall Stadium. That included a 58-yard run that led to one of five Badgers rushing touchdowns on the afternoon.
With a 200-yard day for the offense on the ground, along with senior quarterback Joel Stave's 16th 200-yard performance, the Badgers cruised against a Scarlet Knights defense that was allowing under 150 rushing yards per contest.
The Good
1. Clement's return. It was the eighth hundred-yard game in the junior's career and his first ever three-touchdown performance. His 58-yard scamper is now the longest run from scrimmage for the Badgers this year, eclipsing redshirt senior wide receiver Alex Erickson's 56-yard run against Illinois last week. Though he admitted he wasn't 100 percent -- more like 85 percent -- Clement provided more than enough of a spark in the running game and to the offense in general.
Clement showed patience running the ball and showed signs he was back, though we'll see if he'll regain more of that top-end speed that hampered his 58-yard run from being 62 and his fourth score of the game.
Attention @bigten: @BadgerFootball RB Corey Clement is back. Back in the form of a three-TD day! https://t.co/zyNRfDGPds
— Wisconsin on BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) October 31, 2015
2. Statistical balance. With Clement back, the Badgers gained 426 total yards -- 209 rushing, 217 through the air. Offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph's squad came into Saturday's game averaging 152.5 and 254.8, respectively.
UW gained 6.5 yards per play, 5.5 on the ground. The Badgers' ground game averaged a full 1.4 yards per carry (5.5) compared to its season average (4.1). Stave threw for 217 yards, putting him one 200-yard game away from tying John Stocco for the all-time school lead in that category.
The Badgers had a 200-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver.
3. Third-down conversions. Another solid performance by the offense on the big-time down, going 8-for-16. The Badgers are now 55-for-125 this season (44 percent)
4. Erickson. Without junior Robert Wheelwright as a complement, the former walk-on continued his strong 2015 season, reeling in six passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. He now ranks eighth in school history in receptions with 122, and for the season is only 20 away from Jared Abbrederis' UW single-season record for catches at 78.
Erickson also displayed some impressive punt return skills, returning three for 55 yards with a long of 25. He's been invaluable to Wisconsin's offense and could leave Wisconsin with at least one school record to his name.
4th & 7 for @BadgerFootball? Watch Alex Erickson convert it into a touchdown. https://t.co/puDxfyUCnr
— Wisconsin on BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) October 31, 2015
The Bad
1. Stave's interceptions. The only touchdown for Rutgers didn't come courtesy of a Wisconsin defensive miscue. Rather, it was on Stave's second interception of the day facing a 3rd-and-3 at midfield in the third quarter. Stave's errant pass across the field was undercut and intercepted by Blessuan Austin and returned 50 yards for a pick six.
Stave now has nine touchdown passes on the season compared to seven interceptions. He was only 13-of-25 on the afternoon.
Pick-6 alert! @RFootball takes Joel Stave's pass back for six points. https://t.co/Y2dFIGo7mZ
— Rutgers on BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) October 31, 2015