Dare Ogunbowale
The Wisconsin Badgers close out the non-conference portion of their schedule against Hawaii tonight (7 p.m.) at Camp Randall Stadium. As it turns out, it’ll be one last chance for running backs Dare Ogunbowale and Taiwan Deal to prepare themselves for the start of the Big Ten Conference season next week against Iowa.
The Badgers learned this week that their starting tailback, Corey Clement will undergo Sports Hernia surgery and missed most if not all of the Big Ten season.
The Badgers are about as prepared as they could be to this point. Clement had only eight rushes in the opener against Alabama before giving way to Ogunbowale and Deal because of injury. Clement hasn’t played since.
Ogunbowale was switched to tailback from cornerback last September. He will start his fourth straight game against Hawaii tonight. Ogunbowale has rushed for 196 yards on 33 carries, an average of 5.9 yards a carry with two touchdowns this season. Deal has 143 yards on 36 carries, an average of 4.0 yards per carry with two touchdowns.
It is that combination that will carry the Badgers moving forward. The question is, will they be able to move the Badgers closer to the team that has been a dominant running team in years past?
Wisconsin heads into tonight’s game ranked last in the Big Ten in rushing at 142.3 yards a game. Northwestern is the Big Ten leader, averaging 245.7 yards a game.
The Badgers may be ready to give freshman Alec Ingold, a 6’2, 237 pound former Bay Port high school standout that averaged 178.8 rushing yards as a senior. Ingold just switched from linebacker to running back last week.
Clement could possibly return before the end of the season if the Badgers are playing well. If they aren’t playing well, Clement said this week that he would consider taking a redshirt to get this season back.