Taylor breaks Peterson’s freshman rushing mark
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Jonathan Taylor is a record-holder.
Taylor capped his impressive freshman season by rushing 26 times for 130 yards in Wisconsin’s 34-24 victory over Miami in the Orange Bowl on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
That performance left Taylor with 1,977 rushing yards, the No. 1 mark all-time among FBS freshmen.
Taylor passed Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson (1,925 yards in 2004) and UW’s Ron Dayne (1,863 yards in 1996).
Dayne’s total does not include his 246-yard performance in the Copper Bowl but the NCAA records do not include bowl games before 2002.
“It means a lot for me to be mentioned with guys like Adrian Peterson and Ron Dayne,” Taylor said. “It is humbling. There won’t ever be any guys like those. To be mentioned with (them), it is a testimony to the offense and to the team.”
Now consider this. Ask just about anyone in the UW program about Taylor and they’ll tell you he can get better, much better.
“I think the sky is the limit for him,” right guard Beau Benzschawel said. “It is going to be up to us as well, but I think the future is very bright for him. This year he kind of made his mark. If he keeps this up there is nothing stopping him for sure.”
Taylor played in all 14 games for UW. He had 10 games of at least 100 yards, including three of at least 200 yards.
“It’s been awesome,” left tackle Michael Deiter said when asked about blocking for Taylor. “It’s been a treat. He’s the type of guy that sometimes your fit is not always the best, but he’ll make you right, and that’s always nice to have something like that.”
Taylor finished the season with eight catches for 95 yards. Making plays as a receiver is one part of his game that should expand with more experience.
UW’s staff generally used other backs in third-down situations.
“We always talk about being a complete back,” Taylor said, “and I definitely know I have a lot of time left so I’m going to be working on my craft as much as possible. I want to be an all-around running back so I can do anything for my team.”
Nelson NFL-bound: As expected, redshirt junior cornerback Nick Nelson announced after the game he will enter the 2018 NFL draft.
“I’m ready to declare for the NFL,” said Nelson, who broke up 20 passes this season. “Coming out of a win was definitely big.”
Nelson said the decision was difficult. However, he only smiled when informed that the staff has expected for a long time he was entering the draft.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Nelson said after a long pause. “I just came to work every day.”
No ill will: The 27-21 loss to Ohio State dropped UW out of the top four in the chase for a berth in the College Football Playoff.
Asked whether he was upset that a one-loss UW team was left out, Deiter said he never had such thoughts.
“I’m just glad with the season we had, what we were able to do,” he said, “and I’m proud of how we didn’t get caught up in all the playoff talk, all that stuff. Would it have been nice? Yes. But we did lose, so I don’t think we can sit here and be mad or anything like that.”
Decision time coming: With Nelson opting to leave early, that left linebacker T.J. Edwards, Benzschawel and Deiter as the three players mulling whether to enter the 2018 NFL draft or return to UW.
All three players are redshirt juniors.
Benzschawel said after the game he plans to return to UW.
Edwards acknowledged scouts have concerns about his lack of speed so it would be difficult for him to improve that by returning to UW.
Deiter could enhance his value by returning and said he hopes to announce his decision soon.
Big Ten the best? UW’s victory improved the Big Ten to 7-0 in bowl games this season.