Alabama runs past Wisconsin

Published 4:00 am Sunday, September 6, 2015

These Badgers certainly didn’t resemble the team that averaged 264 yards rushing per game over the past five seasons in former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst’s first game as their head coach.

Derrick Henry ran for 147 yards and three touchdowns for No. 3 Alabama in a 35-17 victory over the Badgers, whose 40 rushing yards were their fewest since 19 in a 2012 game against Michigan State.

“There are some areas we’ve clearly got to improve upon for us to be the team we need to be,” Chryst said.

Along with the groin that Clement said afterward he tweaked in practice Tuesday, Wisconsin lost senior safety Michael Caputo, its top tackler last season, when he sustained a head injury while tackling Henry on the third play of the game.

“It was hard on him … yet it was pretty clear,” Chryst said about Caputo being held out the rest of the game. “Hopefully he’ll rebound. He means a lot to this team.”

Joel Stave, in his 29th start as Wisconsin’s quarterback, was 26 of 39 for 228 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

But these are the Badgers, who are known for their ground game. Even Clement had seven 100-yard rushing games and averaged 7.0 yards per carry while starting only one of 26 games his first two seasons.

In his first game as the featured back, he had eight carries for 16 yards. His longest run was 5 yards.

“I was hoping that the pain would subside during the game,” he said. “I really couldn’t push it … I had to be smart.”

Clement ran for 949 yards and nine TDs last season in the same backfield with Gordon (2,587 yards and 29 TDs) as they had the most combined rushing yards by teammates in FBS history.

“Give him a little credit, this game was important for him,” Chryst said. “It was all driven by how he was feeling.”

The AdvoCare Classic was played in the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium where the first College Football Playoff championship game was played last January.

Alabama didn’t make it that far, losing in a national semifinal to eventual national champion Ohio State, which had beaten Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game.

The Crimson Tide’s last national title was in 2012, which was the school’s third in four years under Nick Saban. That season opened in the same kickoff game with a 41-14 victory over No. 8 Michigan at the stadium that is home of the Cotton Bowl, one of the national semifinal games this season.

After a quarterback competition throughout camp that may not be settled, Jake Coker got the starting nod. He completed 15 of 21 passes for 213 yards. His 17-yard TD pass to Robert Foster in the second quarter broke a 7-7 tie and put the Tide ahead to stay.

Cooper Bateman, the second quarterback, was 7 of 8 for 51 yards.

“I told both guys we’re not naming a starter, we’re naming who’s going to start the game,” said Saban, who decided Thursday that both would play. “We’re just going to go on feel. Jake was doing pretty well.”

Henry ran for a team-high 990 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, when he was behind second-round NFL pick T.J. Yeldon. Now Henry gets his chance as the Tide’s top runner, following Yeldon, Eddie Lacy, Trent Richardson and 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram.

Henry’s 13 carries included a 37-yard TD run on Alabama’s second drive, then scores of 56 and 2 yards in the third quarter.

“Anytime you look up and see No. 2 running down the field and a whole bunch of guys chasing him — that’s an awesome feeling,” center Ryan Kelly said.