The story behind Wisconsin’s turnaround this season has been the emergence of 17-year-old freshman running back Braelon Allen.
Entering today’s contest against Nebraska, Allen boasted six straight 100-yard rushing performances including a 173-yard game against Northwestern last weekend. He needed a repeat of that performance to top 1000 yards on the season.
The craziest part of where he is statistically: Allen wasn’t a featured part of the offense until Wisconsin’s win over Illinois. Since that game the freshman has topped 100 yards every game and has given the team critical production out of the backfield—production which has helped Graham Mertz and the offense complement one of the nation’s-best defenses.
Related: Wisconsin’s rushing production in 8-game win streak vs. Nebraska is remarkable
Well, Allen continued Wisconsin’s long streak of great rushing performances against Nebraska today with a 22-carry, 228-yard and 3-touchdown performance. He eclipsed 1000 yards on the season during the effort, becoming only the third Wisconsin true freshman to do so.
The previous two? Arguably college football’s two greatest running backs of all time.
Braelon Allen has topped 1,000 yards on the season.
Joins Ron Dayne, James White and Jonathan Taylor as true freshmen to hit that mark in the last 30 years.
— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) November 20, 2021
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