Arizona Football: J.J. Taylor a gem out of the Wildcats backfield

Arizona Football has a dangerous offensive weapon in running back J.J. Taylor,  yet the Wildcats are enjoying all the benefits against opposing defenses.

It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but rather the size of the fight in the dog. This saying certainly rings true for Arizona’s elusive running back, J.J. Taylor.

Just a redshirt sophomore, the 5-foot-6 running back continues to terrorize opposing defenses. While he may be short in stature, there is nothing diminutive or short about the way he plays.

Arizona Wildcats

With every run or catch out of the backfield, he continues to prove why he is among the best running backs in college football.

As Wildcats fans, we were first introduced to Taylor his freshman year, as he dazzled fans with jaw dropping runs out of the backfield. He showed eye popping elusiveness and quickness, running 38 times for 261 yards and two touchdowns.

However, a leg injury against Washington in just the fourth game of the season derailed that year, as he was able to redshirt the rest of the season.

Finally, he was able to get a bigger role for the Wildcats last year, as he put together an impressive 2017 campaign. Just a redshirt freshman then, Taylor ran for a total of 847 yards on 146 carries out of the backfield, finding the pay dirt five times for the Wildcats.

This was all just a preview of the immense potential Taylor had. In 2018, he once again has been able to tap into that potential putting together a remarkable season.

While the Arizona Football team did not get off to the hot start that they had looked for, in the past two games, the Wildcats have seemed to turn the corner and a big reason for that, is because of the effort by Taylor. Of recent, he has come up huge for his football team.

On homecoming against the Oregon Ducks, with the stage being its biggest and the lights shinning their brightest, Taylor put on a performance unlike any other. He gave the Ducks defense a headache all game long as they searched for way to stopped him.

The redshirt sophomore finished the night with 212 yards on 30 carries to go along with 2 TD’s, helping to propel the Wildcats in their upset win over the then No.19 ranked Oregon Ducks by a score of 44-15.

However, could he duplicate that kind of success again? Against the Colorado Buffalos, he came up clutch again! Rushing for 192 yards on 40 carries. While he did not find the end zone, there was many cases that Taylor was able to fight for the extra yards to keep drives going. His effort yet again helped the Cats to another win by the score of 42-34.

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This type of year has vaulted Taylor into national spot light and rightfully so, as he continues to impress locally and nationally. It is always nice to see when a player puts in the work and then get rewarded for his effort, and right now, the national attention is well deserved for this Wildcat running back.

Arizona football will enter a bye week this week, before finishing off the season at nationally ranked Washington State, and at home against Arizona State the following week. Taylor will look to continue to shine and carry his Wildcats to hopeful wins to finish off their year strong. There is no doubt that Wildcat fans would like to see more of this.

Be sure Wildcat fans to tune in and watch your Wildcat football team, as they need our support these next few weeks! Arizona will look to upset a top ten team and beat their rivals all while trying becoming bowl eligible. Bear Down, Arizona!