Wisconsin Football: Jonathan Taylor is Badgers’ next great running back
Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor is a name to remember in college football as the freshman running back is quickly making a name for himself.
A number of college football programs like to say they’re “RBU”, a program that churns out running backs like an assembly line. Only one program, however, can claim they have a running back with the most rushing touchdowns (Montee Ball) and a running back with the most rushing yards for their career, including bowl games (Ron Dayne). That’s the Wisconsin Badgers and they have another product rolling off the assembly line that looks like the next great Wisconsin running back.
Jonathan Taylor is only a freshman but he’s quickly made a name for himself with his play in the first month of the season. Taylor ran for 87 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries in his debut against Utah State to suggest he’d be a quick study. He followed that up with a 223-yard, three touchdown performance against Florida Atlantic on 26 carries. A star was born. Taylor followed that star-making performance with 128 yards and another score in the win against BYU.
In a conference where Saquon Barkley is ripping opposing defenses to shreds as a runner, receiver and returner, it’s easy to be overlooked. And when there is another freshman back putting up big numbers at Ohio State in J.K. Dobbins, Taylor has been lost in the shuffle when it comes to acknowledging the best backs in the country.
But don’t sleep on him any longer.
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Taylor entered Saturday’s game against Northwestern with an average of 8.26 yards per carry. Among running backs with at least 50 carries, he was third in the nation, trailing Bryce Love and Lexington Thomas and his 438 yards were second among freshmen in the nation (Dobbins).
Taylor added another 80 yards and two more touchdowns as he led the Badgers in carries and yards in the team’s win over Northwestern. With his first Big Ten game under his belt, look out for Taylor to set the rest of the conference by storm with his legs, just like so many Badger greats did before him.