Alabama Football: Tide Stuffs The Badgers’ Run Game To Win, 35-17

At times, it is tough to run on an Alabama football team. Some believe it can be done pretty easily. Enter Wisconsin Badger running back Corey Clement. Earlier this week, Clement made comments to the media that suggested he thought that could be accomplished.

“I did a lot of film study on them, and I’ve seen a lot of teams gash them for a lot of yards,” Clement, a junior, told AL.com. “The opposing team always shot themselves in the foot and allowed Alabama to win. I believe Alabama can be run on. It’s just, you’ve got to pound it to them. You can’t really run east and west. It’s really a north and south game, so it’s really going to be in between the trenches.”

Clement finished with just 16 yards of the Badgers’ 40 yards of rushing.

For the night, Alabama finished with 502 yards of offense compared to 268 yards for Wisconsin. Alabama ended up with a balanced production for the night with 238 yards on the ground.

The first two drives of the game started as you would expect any opening drives for a season to start. There were some nerves and a little rust. The Tide came out running the ball, getting back to their bread and butter. Quarterback Jake Coker got the start for Alabama but only completed one pass for a short gain. Coker began to settle down on the next drive, completing his first three passes for 43 yards. On fourth and 1, running back Derrick Henry took it to the house 37 yards for the touchdown with 5:54 to go in the first.

In the second quarter, the Badgers pieced together a 9-play, 63-yard drive to tie things up when Joel Stave (26-39, 228 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) connected with Alex Erickson from 6 yards out for the touchdown. Erickson led the Badgers in rushing and receiving with 25 and 74 yards respectively. The Tide answered right back to jump back into the lead with an 88 yard drive of their own. Alabama’s scoring drive was capped when Coker connected with Robert Foster (4 receptions, 50 yards) for a 17 yard reception for the score. Five other Tide players had at least 22 yards of receptions.

Sep 5, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jake Coker (14) throws in the pocket against the Wisconsin Badgers at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

After that, the Tide didn’t look back.

Alabama extended their lead out to the 21-7 lead with 11:42 left in the third quarter with a 56 yard touchdown run from Henry for his second of the night. The Tide defense then started to clamp down a bit more in the second half as they settled down. During the second half, Wisconsin only totaled 97 yards with 17 of those coming on the ground.

Just as Alabama will do most games, they start to wear on you and their next drive was no different. Henry crossed into the end zone with a run from two yards out to give him his third and final touchdown of the night. He finished with 147 yards, averaging 11.3 yards per carry. Coker came out of the game in the third quarter finishing 15-21 for 213 yards and one touchdown. Cooper Bateman (7-8, 51 yards) finished out the game for the Tide with the exception of the kneel down.

If you are wondering if Tide running back Kenyan Drake (1o carries, 77 yards, 1 TD) was recovering well, I am here to tell that he is fine after seeing his 43 yard run to give Alabama their final touchdown of the night. Adam Griffith missed two field goals from 44 and 49 yards that could have gave the Tide a bigger win.