Published Sep 24, 2021
Confidence growing for Wisconsin's Travian Blaylock after early injuries
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Jake Kocorowski  •  BadgerBlitz
Senior Writer
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@JakeKoco

Hamstrung by injury his first couple of years in cardinal and white, Travian Blaylock now sits in a position to contribute for Wisconsin’s defense.

Blaylock, currently in his fourth year as a Badger, emerged into the two-deep early this season as a second-team safety. He and fellow redshirt junior John Torchio found extensive playing time against Eastern Michigan two weeks ago with sixth-year senior Collin Wilder unavailable.

Torchio started the game and played 21 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, but the service also credits Blaylock in playing 20 snaps in the win over the MAC Program.

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"He's finally stayed healthy for a long stretch of time, and I know that it's been frustrating for him for a while," safety Scott Nelson said of Blaylock on Sept. 11. "But he's been able to make plays in camp, and physically he's just extremely gifted, and he's really excelling mentally now.

"He's finally getting the more consistent reps to where he's out there and he's playing fast, and you can see it tonight. He made a bunch of plays out there tonight, so he's finally just put it all together, and I know it's been a long, frustrating journey for him with injuries. I've been there, too, so I know I feel his pain, and it was great to see him be able to put it together and make some plays tonight."

Blaylock officially played in 12 games in three years prior to the 2021 season. Earlier this week, he noted that it has been, as he described it, "kind of been a roller coaster," in terms of health since he arrived at Wisconsin as a member of the class of 2018. The defensive back credits his faith and others for pushing him through the adversity.

"I'm just relying on the plan that that Lord has for me, and just kind of staying true to that, and then just working every day with the trainers and with my dad whenever I get to go back home," Blaylock told BadgerBlitz.com on Monday. "My wife has helped me a lot through this as well, even back when she was my girlfriend back like freshman year. And all those steps, all the injuries, all the hardships, everything has put me in a position of being where I'm at now and being able to play on the field all last year, and then also this year.

"It's just been a blessing.”

Blaylock's injury battles started before coming to Wisconsin. He recalled the hamstring problems he faced in high school, though he feels he did not miss many games from that ailment, but he also partially tore his left labrum in his shoulder his sophomore season that cost him some action.

His time in Madison started off promising, however, with the Humble, Tex., native playing in the program's first four games of the 2018 season. Then came UW's bye week, and the former three-star prospect tweaked his hamstring.

Blaylock admitted he was "used to tweaking" it, and he kept attempting to return to practice. However, it continued to become irritated and worsened over time.

Eventually, Blaylock found out he tore one of the tendons in that muscle. He underwent surgery after the season, and "a long road of rehab," according to the safety, took place after that, resulting in him missing spring ball.

That was Blaylock's right hamstring. He then suffered an injury to the same muscle in his left leg during the 2019 season, though he noted that he did not have to have surgery for that. He played in only one game for Wisconsin's Rose Bowl campaign. Though he referenced "some other injuries, it's all been hamstring really," according to the defensive back.

However, Blaylock's health allowed him to play a full season during the abbreviated 2020 season, participating in all seven games. He has learned what works for his body, calling out stretching, rolling out, and other recovery modalities.

Seeing time in all seven games resulted in a renewed belief in himself after missing significant snaps within his first two years at Wisconsin.

"I got to play a little bit on defense last year. Played all four phases on special teams last year, so it just builds a lot of confidence, man," Blaylock said. "Makes me feel like I was doing something right and made me feel good actually."

On top of battling the hamstring bugs, Blaylock also switched positions during his tenure at Wisconsin. UW officially listed him as a cornerback for his first two years in the program before the change in designation to a safety on the 2020 roster.

Blaylock played corner in high school during his sophomore and junior years of high school, but then took reps at both that position and at safety as a senior. His experiences at Atascocita High School helped him with the change at the next level.

"I think they kind of mix it up now, but we played a lot of zone coverage when I was there," Blaylock said. "A lot of safety is a lot of zones, dropping into hooks, being like deep half, deep third. So it wasn't really too hard of a transition, in terms of that aspect, but learning all new techniques and how to disguise different things because corner’s a lot of just line up and just ball, line up and play.

“Safety can take a little bit more savviness, a little bit more disguise, a little bit more technique in that sense. So I think that was probably the biggest challenge in transitioning because I'm still learning stuff. I'm still learning stuff, but coach [Jim] Leonhard is doing a great job, man. He's got us right, so I'm learning a lot and enjoying learning a lot every day.”

Now, Blaylock sits in the two-deep as No. 18 Wisconsin prepares for its non-conference clash with No. 12 Notre Dame on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, FOX). He continues to learn from Nelson, Wilder and Torchio, but he also believes he brings the ability to play with speed and explosion.

UW listed Wilder as questionable for this weekend's matchup on its preliminary status report, which could thrust Torchio and Blaylock into more game action. However, head coach Paul Chryst mentioned on Thursday that "everyone was able to practice and do something this week," when asked if he expected the starting safety and first-team cornerback Faion Hicks to play on Saturday.

The secondary will need to contain a Notre Dame passing attack averaging over 300 yards through the air that is led by former teammate, quarterback Jack Coan. The graduate signal caller has completed nearly 63% of his passes for 828 yards and eight touchdowns to just two interceptions in three games so far this season.

Blaylock said they are looking forward to the upcoming test.

"This is a good Notre Dame team. Jack's been looking really good. I think he's been looking great. I mean his debut, put up like four or five touchdowns -- I think four -- and led them to a win. Then, Toledo you've seen it all over social media popping that finger back in and throwing the go-ahead touchdown.

"He's a gritty guy, man. He's hard working, man. That's who he was when he was here, and that’s who he continues to be over there. So looking forward to the challenge of playing him because he is a great quarterback, and they have great receiving threats. It's our time, man. It's our time to show the nation what we've been working towards all offseason, and for the first part of the season, just showing what we got."