Wisconsin football: Jonathan Taylor named B1G offensive player of the week

Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor earned the B1G offensive player of the week award for his Week 1 performance in a 49-0 shellacking of USF. For anyone who watched the game this probably doesn’t come as a surprise as Taylor was electric every time he touched the ball. And, as we all know, Jonathan Taylor is good at football.

Taylor racked up 183 total yards on the day, with 135 of those coming on the ground and 48 through the air, and scored four times, two each through the air and on the ground. It was the 23rd time in his career that he rushed for over 100 yards in a game. The two receiving scores were the first of his career. His career total in receiving yards entering the game was 60, so he almost doubled that in three quarters.

The last player to score two rushing and receiving touchdowns in a B1G game was Mikel Leshoure of Illinois in 2010. The last player to score four TDs for Wisconsin was Melvin Gordon who did it in his (then) record-setting 408-yard performance against Nebraska in 2014.

This was Taylor’s fifth career conference player of the week award and, obviously, his first this season. The last time he won the award was Nov. 19 of last season. This probably will not be the last time Taylor wins this particular award, if I can dish out a hot take for you today.

His next opportunity to impress the nation is this Saturday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium against Central Michigan.