Badgers' running back Jonathan Taylor broke the single-season Freshman rushing record during the Orange Bowl.
He needed 79 yards coming into the game to surpass Adrian Peterson’s 13-year-old record of 1,925 yards.
However, according to a historical deep dive from the Wisconsin State Journal’s Jim Polzin, Taylor won’t actually surpass the record until he collects 2,106 yards.
Jonathan Taylor: Most rushing yards by a freshman in FBS history.
Jonathan Taylor: Second-most rushing yards ever by a UW freshman.
Both true, thanks to the NCAA's bizarre record-keeping.— Jim Polzin (@JimPolzinWSJ) December 31, 2017
Before Peterson, Wisconsin running back Rod Dayne boasted the freshman rushing record when he ended the 1996 season with 1,863 yards.
However, the NCAA did not count Dayne’s 246 yards he accumulated in the Badgers 38-10 win over the Utah Utes in the Copper Bowl.
In 2002, the NCAA changed its rules and started counting bowl games. Unfortunately for Dayne, that had no affect on his stats since the NCAA said it would not retroactively count Bowl stats for players before 2002.
Luckily for Taylor, he won’t need the extra 183 yards needed to actually break the record.
Dayne doesn't harbor any animosity towards the unfortunate decision. He actually tweeted his congratulations to Taylor for bringing the honor back to Wisconsin
As the Don of Running Back U 👐🏾 I would like to say I'm so proud of Jonathan Taylor for keeping it in the family 🏉 🏆 pic.twitter.com/oaMmMNQdH9
— Ron Dayne (@Ron33Dayne) December 31, 2017
He and the rest of Badgers' fans are proud of the 19-year-old Taylor who is well deserving of holding the record.
On nearly 300 carries this season, he’s amassed almost 2,000 yards and averaged almost 7 yards per carry. The only thing he needs to clean up is the six fumbles he has this season.
