Notes: UW's Jonathan Taylor joins elite club by reaching 1,000-yard mark

MADISON – Jonathan Taylor joined an elite group of tailbacks on Saturday.

Wisconsin’s talented freshman broke the 1,000-mark for the season in the opening quarter against Maryland, his seventh game in college.

Taylor became just the sixth FBS freshman to reach the 1,000-yard mark in his first seven games. 

Taylor joined Florida’s Emmitt Smith (1987), San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk (1991), Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson (2004), North Texas’ Jamario Thomas (2004) and UW’s P.J. Hill (2006).

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“Definitely humbling to be mentioned with those guys,” Taylor said. “They’re phenomenal.

“They (offensive line) do a lot of the heavy lifting. That is a testament to show how hard they are working.”

Taylor also reached the 1,000-yard mark in fewer carries than any other UW freshman. He reached the mark on his third carry of the game and 130th of the season to break the mark set in 2010 by James White (138 carries).

White finished that season with 1,052 yards on 156 carries (6.7-yard average) and 14 touchdowns.

White, John Clay (1,012) and Montee Ball (996) combined for 3,060 of UW’s 3,194 rushing yards (95.8%) that season.

Taylor finished with 126 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He has 1,112 of UW’s rushing 1,798 yards this season, or 61.8%.

The day wasn’t all highlights for Taylor, however. 

One week after losing a fumble at the Purdue 5, Taylor lost a fumble at the UW 5 with the Badgers holding a 7-0 lead. 

Fortunately for Taylor, UW’s defense didn’t give up a yard and held the Terrapins to a field goal.

“A guy came from behind and the ball was exposed,” Taylor said. “That is just one thing you’ve got to work on when you’re a back that likes to fight for extra yards.”

Fumagalli shines: Senior tight end Troy Fumagallli was beaming during the week because he was able to practice at full speed for the first time since suffering a left-leg injury.

Fumagalli, who was held out against Northwestern in the Big Ten opener, had three catches for 31 yards at Nebraska and caught a pass against Purdue. 

He had six catches for 74 yards in the first half to help UW build a 21-3 lead Saturday and finished with seven catches for 83 yards, both team-high marks.

Fumagalli was targeted nine times. Three of his catches came on third down and all three resulted in first downs. 

“I think it's huge,” UW coach Paul Chryst said of Fumagalli’s performance. “As the season continues to go, we’re going to need everyone. I thought Fum was playing fast in practice and it carried over.”

From the infirmary: Freshman wide receiver Danny Davis, who had been listed as questionable after suffering a left-leg injury against Purdue, was held out Saturday.

Also out were wide receiver Jazz Peavy (right foot), tailbacks Chris James (left leg) and Taiwan Deal (right ankle) and defensive ends Isaiahh Loudermilk (left leg) and Chikwe Obasih (left knee).

Loudermilk was injured against Purdue. Obasih hasn’t played since the opener. Peavy missed his second consecutive game. 

With Davis and Peavy out, UW relied mostly on three wide receivers – Quintez Cephus, A.J. Taylor and Kendric Pryor.

Cephus had two catches for 45 yards, including a 30-yarder to set up UW’s second touchdown; Taylor had two catches for 41 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown; and Pryor had two catches for 9 yards. 

Linebacker Chris Orr was knocked out in the first half because of a right-arm injury and did not return. According to Chryst, Orr said he didn’t think the injury was severe.

Arrington Farrar filled in for Orr and recorded one tackle. 

Third down a charm: UW entered the day leading the Big Ten in third-down conversion at 54.1%.

Led by quarterback Alex Hornibrook, the Badgers padded that number by converting 8 of 13 chances (61.5%) against Maryland.

Hornibrook threw an interception on his first third-down chance, his second attempt of the game. He recovered to finish 5 of 8 third-down passes for 64 yards, with one interception. All five of the completions resulted in a first down.

That performance pushed his third-down season totals to 33 of 54 (61.1%) for 513 yards, with 27 first downs, six touchdowns and three interceptions.

Hornibrook completed a combined 13 of 16 attempts for 182 yards and two touchdowns on UW's three touchdown drives that allowed UW to turn a 7-3 lead into a 28-3 lead.

“He doesn't change after mistakes,” left tackle Michael Deiter said. “He doesn’t sulk. He knows that it's football and that stuff happens. And that’s what you want. Next play mentality.”

Extra points: UW set a program record with its 10th consecutive Big Ten regular-season victory. The previous mark was nine in a row, spanning the 2006 and ’07 seasons and the 2010 and ’11 seasons. …

Redshirt junior tight end Zander Neuville scored his second touchdown at UW – on his fourth catch. That was an 8-yarder in the second quarter. Neuville finished with two catches for 23 yards. …

Inside linebacker Ryan Connelly recorded a team-high nine tackles. Connelly had a total of eight tackles in UW’s first three games. He has 25 in UW’s four Big Ten games.