2021 Wisconsin Positional Review: Running backs/Fullbacks

Wisconsin ended its 2021 season on a winning note by clinging to a 20-13 win over Arizona State in the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 30. After a brief break, UW will kick up winter conditioning as it begins its early preparation for the 2022 campaign.

Over the next two weeks, BadgerBlitz.com will review each position before turning the page from the 2021 season. Wednesday brings a look back on the tailbacks and fullbacks, who, along with those blocking in front of them, went on to become a top-25 program in rushing with nearly 211 yards per contest.

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Wisconsin started the season 1-3 with inconsistencies abundant on the offensive side of the ball. The run game picked up immensely in the next seven contests, which all resulted in wins. The Badgers gained 1,870 total rushing yards during that streak, and they scored at least two touchdowns on the ground in each of those victories.

UW ran for a season-high 391 yards on 61 carries with three touchdowns in a 24-0 win at Illinois. Both Chez Mellusi and Braelon Allen went over the century mark (145 and 131 yards, respectively) with one touchdown each.

UW also rushed for 290 and 305 yards against Purdue and Rutgers, respectively. Mellusi and Allen again accumulated over 100 yards on the ground apiece against the Boilermakers on Oct. 23, combining for 289 yards and three touchdowns.

Even after Mellusi was lost for the season during the win in Piscataway, Allen and the rushing attack continued its onslaught until the loss at Minnesota. Allen gained a career-high 173 yards against Northwestern, then eclipsed his personal mark in finishing with 228 yards in the home finale versus Nebraska.

Allen's emergence is arguably the biggest high - not just for the offense, but for the entire team. He ran for 1,219 yards in the final nine games of 2021, averaging 135.4 yards per contest.

Wisconsin ran for under 100 yards three times during the 2021 season against Notre Dame (78), Michigan (43) and Minnesota (62). The Badgers gained a combined 183 yards on just over 2.2 yards per carry in those contests that not so coincidentally ended in defeat.

The losses against the Fighting Irish and the Wolverines left the Badgers at a 1-3 mark before reeling off a seven-game winning streak. How P.J. Fleck and the Gophers' defense constricted UW's ground game was a gut punch with the Big Ten West division, a chance to play against Michigan in the conference championship game in Indianapolis, and Paul Bunyan's Axe all on the line.

Personnel-wise, three tailbacks -- Jalen Berger, Loyal Crawford and Antwan Roberts -- are no longer with the program. Head coach Paul Chryst announced that Crawford and Berger were dismissed in late August and October, respectively. UW, in the same release as Crawford's dismissal, noted that Roberts was suspended. He later entered the transfer portal.

Fullback Quan Easterling also entered the transfer portal in October, leaving the position group thin in depth besides starter John Chenal.

Allen emerged during the final nine games of 2021 -- eight of those contests ending in 100 or more yards -- on way to consensus second-team All-Big Ten honors. His patience, vision, ability to shed tackles (or seeing defenders bounce off his 6-foot-2, 238-pound frame), and overall maturity helped Wisconsin reestablish itself in the ground attack.

How he continues his evolution as a tailback will be a storyline to watch in and of itself in 2022, but how things pan out after him will also be significant. The 5-foot-11, 204-pound Mellusi recorded four 100-yard rushing performances this season, with a career-high 149 yards coming during the road win at Purdue.

However, Mellusi suffered a season-ending leg injury at Rutgers. Chryst was asked by a reporter in mid-November if he had a "rough idea" for a potential timetable the Clemson transfer's return.

"It is probably too early for me to speak on that," Chryst said. "I think certainly, it's gonna be one of those where it won't be spring ball."

Isaac Guerendo played in a quartet of contests before succumbing to a season-ending leg injury weeks prior to Mellusi. He displayed his speed against Eastern Michigan on his 82-yard sprint to the north end zone of Camp Randall Stadium, but he also appeared to run well between the tackles when called upon.

Walk-on Brady Schipper became key in passing situations for the offense with his blocking, but he also reeled in a nice 24-yard reception against Northwestern in November.

There's also Julius Davis, who will be in his fourth year in the program. He averaged over five yards per attempt in limited snaps in 2021, and spring ball will be a key opportunity to receive more reps. This will also be a key offseason and first set of spring practices for true freshmen Jackson Acker and Grover Bortolotti.

In recent memory, Wisconsin fullbacks have had a lineage season after season after season in the Paul Chryst era: Derek Watt went to Austin Ramesh, Ramesh to Alec Ingold, Ingold to Mason Stokke, and Stokke to John Chenal.

Chenal could technically return to UW for a fifth season if he accepts the extra year of eligibility, but the 2022 season will bring a huge question mark at this position group without a player that really could be presently thought of as the heir apparent. The exit of Easterling, who would have been in his fourth season this year, made Chenal became not just the fullback, but the fullback in 2021.

So, who could be next up?

Riley Nowakowski, a walk-on and technically still listed as an outside linebacker in Wisconsn's bowl game notes, should be a name to watch this season. BadgerBlitz.com noticed he worked with the backs during pregame warmups at Minnesota.

Redshirt freshman Cam Large, listed as a tight end, lined up in the backfield against Illinois in October before suffering a season-ending injury. Would he be potentially in line for a role here, or was he set there due to formation and need?

The Wisconsin State Journal's Colten Bartholomew even reported on Dec. 30 that true freshman outside linebacker and former four-star recruit T.J. Bollers wore No. 47 and was working with the fullbacks prior to the Las Vegas Bowl itself. Was that just due to numbers late in the season?

Regardless, Wisconsin will need to find answers starting in spring ball if Chenal chooses to move on.

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