One thing you can say for Wisconsin Badgers running back Corey Clement: he’s not afraid to set the bar high.
Clement, who ran for 949 yards and nine touchdowns last season as the backup – the backup – to Melvin Gordon, told ESPN.com’s Brian Bennett at B1G Media Days in Chicago that his personal goal for the 2015 season is to rush for “no less than 2,000” yards.
A lofty goal, to be sure, but keep in mind that this is a Wisconsin team that saw Gordon go for 2,587 yards on 313 carries last year, while scoring 29 touchdowns. That’s an average of 184.79 yards per game, folks.
Pretty stout stuff, and it makes Gordon, the 1st-round pick of the San Diego Chargers and No. 15 pick overall in the 2015 NFL Draft, a pretty tough act to follow.
Clement’s task will be made even tougher by the fact that the Badgers will have only two returning starters on the offensive line this season, and one of those may not be ready for the season opener. Left tackle Tyler Marz will be a senior with 27 starts to his credit, while Dan Voltz will be the starting center, provided he’s recovered fully from the broken leg he suffered against Auburn in the Outback Bowl last January.
The other three line positions will be filled by players with zero college starting experience.
Wisconsin rarely has to rebuild its offensive line, however; they just reload. But injuries to multiple players prevented the presumptive starting five from working together much during spring practice, so they definitely have some work to do before they face Alabama on Sept. 5.
If they can find the right combination of “big uglies” in fall camp, though, Clement’s goal may well be within reach.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
