How Central Michigan football plans to stop Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor
Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor (23) looking for running room in the 3rd quarter. Wisconsin hosted Illinois at Camp Randall Stadium Saturday Oct. 20, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. The Badgers won 49-20. (Steve Apps/State Journal)
He is 5-foot-11, 219 pounds, the reigning Doak Walker Award recipient, last season's leading rusher (2,194 yards) and he ranks fifth all-time in rushing yards in Wisconsin history as a junior.
Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor has been described as the best back in the game, even compared to all-time great Herschel Walker of Georgia by ESPN's Louis Riddick.
"His production is dwarfing Herschel Walker," Riddick said in an interview with Chris Hall of Wisconsin Athletics. "That is rewriting history."
Taylor rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns on runs of 37 and 38 yards in the Badgers' 49-0 win over South Florida at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. The candidate for the Heisman Trophy added two catches, both touchdowns, for 48 total yards.
His rushing effort was the 23rd time in 28 games that he amassed 100 yards or more, and it was his ninth game scoring multiple touchdowns.
Taylor is the only running back in Football Bowl Subdivision history with 4,000 yards in his first two seasons.
"He's special," Riddick said.
Taylor poses a significant challenge for any defense. He's quick, shifty, elusive. Central Michigan will be the next challenger as the Chippewas (1-0) head to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, to take on the Badgers at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
First-year coach Jim McElwain started his tenure with a win 38-21 over Albany of the Football Championship Subdivision in Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Aug. 29.
CMU ranks 15th in the nation in rush defense, with 46 yards given up to the Great Danes. Wisconsin sits at 10th after allowing just 26 yards on the ground against the Bulls.
Taylor led the way in the rushing game, as the Badgers amassed 234 yards on the ground against South Florida, which was good for fourth in the Big Ten Conference.
The Chippewas, paced by Jonathan Ward's 158 rushing yards, ran through the Great Dane defense for 244 yards on the ground, enough for fourth in the Mid-American Conference.
Senior safety Da'Quaun Jamison said that the entire offense plays with a certain physicality, and the Chippewas will need to match that physical play against Wisconsin. As for Taylor, Jamison respects the running back's work.
"I think he's a good back," Jamison said. "We just have to get bodies on him, if everybody hustles and we get 11 hats to the ball, anyone can be stopped."
After a pair of strong campaigns and winning the Doak Walker Award last year, Taylor is considered a heavy favorite for the Heisman Trophy this season.
McElwain had just one thought when it comes to facing a back like Taylor.
"I hope he doesn't want to win the Heisman against us," McElwain said. "You've got to be gap sound and not peek our heads back and forth. We have to have someone in the gaps and wrap him up, that's the thing. You're not going to bring him down by just hitting him you've got to wrap up. Our guys have been doing that in our tackling circuits and getting him to the ground is a big thing."
To summarize, how to stop (or even slow down) Taylor: Get players on him, wrap him up and don't cheat defensive assignments.
If the Chippewas can check these boxes, they could see themselves in a competitive game with one of the nation's best.
