J.J. Taylor (football)

J.J. Taylor
Arizona Wildcats No. 21
Position Running back
Class RS Sophomore
Major Undecided
Career history
College
Bowl games
High school Centennial HS
Personal information
Born: (1997-02-11) February 11, 1997
Corona, California
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg)
Career highlights and awards

J.J. Taylor (born February 11, 1997) is an American football running back for the Arizona Wildcats.

Early years

Taylor graduated in 2016 from Centennial High School. He named Mr. Football as state’s top offensive player by CalHiSports.com. Also he named All-Inland First Team. He recognized as a Blue-Grey All-American. He gained 2,290 and 44 touchdowns as a senior. He earned a three-star recruit by Scout.com, Rivals.com and 247 Sports. Taylor had offers from Washington State, Nevada, Ohio, Montana State, Sacramento State and Weber State from the Big Sky Conference as well. Taylor committed to Arizona in 2015.

College career

Freshman

He played in four games with one career start before going down with an injury as a true freshman.[1] Taylor rushed for 261 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries, even though he barely played in Arizona’s first game of the season against BYU. The best proof came in a two-game stretch where Taylor rushed for a combined 267 yards on 37 carries with two touchdowns, particularly in Arizona’s dominant win over Hawaii in Week 3. Taylor was poised for a breakout freshman season before the injury in Pac-12 opener, which occurred during the Wildcats’ fourth game against Washington. He still totaled 97 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown.

RS Freshman

Taylor, a redshirt freshman from Corona, Calif., played in all 12 games and was the Pac-12’s top freshman rusher with 828 yards (6.1 yards/carry), averaged 69.0 yards per game, and added five touchdowns. He rushed for a career-best 153 yards on 14 carries (10.9 avg.) with two touchdowns vs. Washington State.[2] Taylor was a major contributor to Arizona’s ground game that averaged 324.4 yards per game (3rd in the FBS) and a school single-season team record 48 rushing touchdowns. Arizona rushed for 300 or more yards seven times, including a pair of 500+ yard games with a UA single-game record 534 yards vs. Oregon State. He was the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.[2]

RS Sophomore

Taylor was put on the Doak Walker Award watch list in July 2018.[2] Against Southern Utah, Taylor returned a kickoff for a touchdown.[3]

References

  1. Kelapire, Ryan (September 15, 2018). "Arizona DE Justin Belknap has broken foot, could be out for season, per reports". Arizona Desert Swarm. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Spears, Justin (July 18, 2018). "Arizona Wildcats RB J.J. Taylor put on Doak Walker Award watch list". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  3. Christy, Mike (September 15, 2018). "Seen and heard: Game of firsts includes takeaway, sack and a win for Kevin Sumlin". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.