BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — After completing Saturday's postgame radio interview on the Badger Sports Network,
Jonathan Taylor took off the headphones and pondered his future.
His immediate future.
Steak or pasta? Where should he take his mom and dad for dinner?
"I'll probably just ask her where she wants to go," he said, shrugging.
Elizabeth Taylor and Jonathan James had just watched their son rush for 222 yards in a 45-24 victory over Purdue. It was the first time they both attended a game at Camp Randall Stadium.
"My dad has been able to come a few times (to Madison)," Taylor said, "and my mom was at the Pinstripe Bowl and at Penn State."
His parents live in New Jersey and he was looking forward to spending some time with them Saturday night (no matter where they dined) before they left Sunday.
"Being so far away from home," he said, "I was just glad to finally get both of them up here at the same time and I kind of wanted to put on display what I've been doing the past few years.
"They're always wondering about me, wondering if I'm OK. I just wanted to put on a good performance to show them that I've been working and getting my education."
Taylor schooled Purdue's defense. Again. Just like he had schooled Nebraska's defense. He has rushed for over 200 yards three times each against both the Boilermakers and the Cornhuskers.
If you're wondering if he takes 200 yards for granted — especially since he has done it 12 times in his career, two shy of Ron Dayne's all-time mark — Taylor doesn't. Not a chance.
"You don't," he emphasized, "because you don't know when your last play is."
Instead, he tried to "soak it all in" before, during and after Saturday's game.
Gallery: (11/23/2019) Wisconsin Football vs. Purdue
With 2:19 left, a 21-point lead and the ball, the Badgers took a timeout so that they could remove Taylor from the offensive huddle for the equivalent of a Camp Randall curtain call.
"I didn't even know that was going to happen," he admitted sheepishly.
A lot of things raced through his mind as he walked to the sideline.
"You think about the good times and the bad times that you had at Camp Randall throughout the time that you've been here," said Taylor, who has decisions to make regarding the NFL draft.
"It's a weird feeling because even though you didn't like the bad times, now you start to appreciate them as well … and you kind of just soak it all in."
When the game was over, Taylor took a victory lap, slapping hands with Badger fans.
"I know sometimes maybe if I get interviewed (on the field by network TV), I've got to run right into the locker room," he said. "This was a chance to interact with the fans again.
"It was really special because you see the smiles that you put on faces because they want to come and see you put on a show. It's just a different feeling when you see people's eyes light up."
Years from now, Taylor conceded that he will look back on the Purdue game with fondness.
"The biggest thing I'm going to take away from it," he said, "is how appreciative the fans are here. They always talk about how this is the best stadium in college football.
"But really, it's not the stadium. It's the people who fill the stadium. What makes Camp Randall special is Camp Randall. And, now, I'm really starting to realize that."
The Badgers celebrated the Purdue win in the locker room. It was the 14th straight in the series. But their attention quickly shifted to Saturday's regular-season finale at Minnesota.
Last year, the Gophers snapped a 14-game losing streak to Wisconsin.
"It's actually kind of setting up perfect," Taylor said. "You've got the Big Ten West on the line. You've got the Axe. You've got a rivalry game. I don't think it gets much better than that."
Everyone shared that sentiment.
"That was the message in the locker room, 'Good win, but we're not done yet,'" linebacker Zack Baun said of a reoccurring theme in making this a "November to remember."
Purdue was another step and it just happened to fall on Senior Day.
"Last year going into the Minnesota game," Baun said, "we were so focused on the seniors and what they had done, which was necessary because they had put so much into the program.
"But at the beginning of this week, I gave a message to the team that it's not just about the seniors. It's about this team, and what we could do. Last year, it was not just the seniors who lost that game (to the Gophers). It was the whole team. So, we kind of took the emphasis off the seniors this year while still keeping it special."
Baun is a fifth-year senior. So is inside linebacker Chris Orr, who was handed a microphone on the field — "It was an honor for me to represent the team" — and thanked the remaining fans in the stands.
"It definitely started hitting me late in the game that this would be the last time walking off Camp Randall," Orr said. "It felt surreal and there was some bitter sweetness to it.
"But we still have some unfinished business to handle."
After Baun got a tackle on Purdue's final offensive play, he and Orr hugged and danced.
"We just kind of embraced," Baun said. "Nothing choreographed. Just emotions. That's my brother. That's my dog. We've been through thick and thin together, the good times and the bad times.
"Before the game, I told Chris that I was going to remind him of every last thing that we were going to do. The last time we ran out of the tunnel. The last time we did this. The last time we did that.
"They're not the lasts that you'll remember for the rest of your life. But the whole thing is in understanding that this was an important time in your life."
Saturday will be Baun's last game in the Border Battle. He didn't have to be reminded.
