ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

Coming out of spring practice, it looked likely that Dustin Sherer and John Clay would open the season as Wisconsin's starting offensive backfield.

Now it appears neither man will take the field when the Badgers' offense lines up Sept. 5 against Northern Illinois.

Sherer, who started the final seven games last season at quarterback, has slipped back in the race. Head coach Bret Bielema confirmed that redshirt freshman Curt Phillips and junior Scott Tolzien have created some separation. Phillips has looked like the frontrunner for most of camp, but Tolzien came on strong last week.

"I said I think it was a week ago that a [veteran] player has got to show us a certain amount of things," Bielema said. "And other guys you've got to see what they can do with reps. Scott and Curt have taken advantage of those reps. Nothing against Dustin. He is doing some good things but we want to see where those guys can go in this week."

Perhaps more surprising is the fact that Zach Brown has overtaken Clay at running back. Clay finished seventh in the league in rushing last fall (884 yards) despite backing up P.J. Hill, and he was expected to become a star this season. I named Clay as the 16th best player in the league this spring.

Instead, Brown could open the year as the starter.

[Running backs coach John Settle] made it clear Brown is the No. 1 tailback and it is looking more and more like he'll open the season as the No. 1 back, with John Clay No. 2.

Wow. Very interesting stuff in Madison.