With the emergence of redshirt freshman running back John Clay as a complement to junior P.J. Hill, the Wisconsin football team has one of the most potent ground attacks in the country. This season, Badger backs have rushed for 1,803 yards, second in the Big Ten only to Penn State.

This hasn’t benefited everyone, however. One player who is seeing much less playing time this year than expected has been sophomore running back Zach Brown.

Last season as a freshman, Brown saw a significant amount of playing time — especially on the road — when Hill was dealing with nagging injuries and former back Lance Smith was unable to travel with the team to road games.

Brown rushed for 568 yards on the year, including 250 in his start at Minnesota, and five touchdowns. The yards he put up a season ago were the fifth-most in Badger history for a freshman running back.

This year, however, Brown has carried the ball just 46 times, though he has been productive with the chances he’s received, rushing for 251 yards and three touchdowns.

While his playing time has been reduced from a year ago, Brown has remained positive.

“I just keep working hard, knowing that at any time, I could be back to where I was last year,” Brown said. “I just practice hard and keep on moving forward. I had a great year last year, and although I’m not getting the ball as much as I was last year, I want to show that I can still get better.”

Wisconsin running backs coach John Settle sees the situation in the same light as Brown does.

“He’s been the ultimate professional,” Settle said. “Coming into camp this spring, he knew there were a lot of talented guys competing for his position, including John Clay. He understands that not everyone can start, and he’s fortunate enough to have a role and he’s doing the best he can in that role.”

Though Hill continues to get the bulk of Wisconsin’s carries, he has seen what his teammate has been capable of doing as a backup.

“He goes out and works hard,” Hill said. “His work ethic hasn’t changed. I don’t think he’s troubled by not getting as many carries because he knows he’s going to play on Saturdays. As long as he goes out there and handles whatever role he has, he’s satisfied.”

Brown, who attended Royal Palm Beach High School in Florida, was ranked as one of the top 50 running backs in the nation. Unlike Clay and Hill, Brown does not have the size to mimic their running styles. Instead, the Badgers use Brown’s 5-foot-11-inch, 207-pound frame in a way that utilizes his speed and quickness to the fullest: third-and-long situations. With the defense spread out to defend the pass, Brown is free to dash and dart more than he would be in short yardage situations.

“His role is to come in on third downs and help us move the chains, whether it be on draw plays or pass protection,” Settle said. “He’s in the game in tough situations. Usually when he’s in, it’s ‘move the chain’ time. If he’s in on third down and we hand him the ball, we expect a conversion.

“If he’s in there to protect the quarterback, we expect him to block his guy. The more he helps us on third downs, the more opportunities he’s going to get.”

Hill sees Brown’s role the same way.

“When they put the ball in Zach’s hands, he becomes a very quick guy,” Hill said. “He gets the ball down the field very well. He gets less carries, but with the carries he gets, he does a lot with them and puts us in a good position to score points.”

Although this new role for Brown may equate to less playing time, the sophomore has accepted his role and is happy with it.

“John [Clay] is more into the running game this year than I am, but I like my role being in on passing situations,” Brown said. “The role is good for me because I feel like I help the team and am very effective at that position.”