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Jonathan Taylor has joined the 5,000 yard club.
Heading into Saturday’s game against Illinois, the Wisconsin running back had 4,996 total rushing yards, needing just four yards to eclipse 5,000 for his career. He hit that one the first play, picking up 16 yards on his first carry of the contest.
Taylor had absolutely no trouble picking up those four yards.
There it is! JT 5,000! pic.twitter.com/cneB5VvASt
— Paul Harvey 🔨 (@HammerHarvey) October 19, 2019
Taylor is midway through his junior season at Wisconsin and continues to climb up the B1G and national rankings in the all-time rushing category. He becomes just the fourth player in FBS history to reach the plateau.
The other three players were Georgia’s Herschel Walker, Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne and Oregon’s LaMichael James.
.@JayT23 joins Georgia’s Herschel Walker (5,596), Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne (5,091) and Oregon’s LaMichael James (5,082) as the only FBS players to rush for 5,000 yards by the end of their junior season#JT23 || #OnWisconsin
— Brian Mason (@Brian_Mason) October 19, 2019
In the first six games of the season, Taylor has rushed for 825 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s also caught four touchdown passes for the Badgers. He’s a huge reason why Wisconsin is a perfect 6-0.
Taylor also entered the game as the B1G’s leading rusher in yards per game, posting a 137.5 average.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB