TAMPA -- All throughout the off-season, we heard Wisconsin tout Jonathan Taylor and the campaign of "bringing running back."

During a 49-0 road win against South Florida, Taylor certainly gashed the Bulls' defense on the ground. But he also showed off an enhanced skill-set that should catch the eye of the nation. The junior back rushed for 135 yards on 16 yards and two touchdowns, but he also caught two passes out of the backfield for 48 yards that resulted in two more scores.

Altogether on 18 touches, Taylor gained 183 total yards with four touchdowns.

"He was good in a number of different ways," head coach Paul Chryst said after the win. "He was awfully patient on the one run, and certainly had a little screen that he took [for a touchdown].

"You get him in space, he's -- here's one for you -- he's pretty good."

Taylor ran for nearly 2,200 yards last season but caught a mere eight passes for 60 yards. In the off-season many honed in on the New Jersey native evolving into a factor in the passing game and a "complete back."

He kicked off his 2019 campaign on the right foot, and the Heisman talk will continue to grow if he continues to emerge in that area of the offense.

“It’s good when you work all offseason. Nervous a bit," Taylor said after the game about his heightened skill-set. "You’ve worked and you don’t know what’s going to happen. You never know what play is going to be the play, but just to see it come to life on the field, it was a good feeling. It motivates me more now just to keep working because you love having that feeling of seeing your hard work pay off.”

According to junior quarterback Jack Coan, Wisconsin "definitely planned" on getting Taylor the ball in the aerial attack when looking at normal down and distance situations.

"Sometimes you just get rid of the ball and you think he's got a touchdown," Coan said.

Taylor's first career touchdown reception came in the second quarter when he caught a screen pass in the flat. With two linemen in front of him on that second down call, he sprinted down the field while making another defender miss for a 36-yard score.

Later in the quarter near halftime, Coan worked in the shotgun in an empty backfield as Taylor was split out wide to the right with nine seconds left. The quarterback hit the back with the pass well before the goal line with two defenders in front of him. Taylor pushed and stretched his way across the end zone for six.

Chryst acknowledged that under normal circumstances, he would like to see Coan throw into the end zone -- "unless you throw to 23 and he's going to score."

The head coach called it risky, but then again, his standout back made it work. In Taylor's eyes, he thought the result made it a good call.

“The idea was to get it in the end zone, but that’s what we did so I say it was a good decision," Taylor said with a huge smile.

Let's not forget about Taylor's talents in the ground game as well. His patience, speed, vision and strength all shined under the lights of Raymond James Stadium -- perhaps a place he will show his skills down the line in the NFL.

His 37-yard touchdown run on Wisconsin's first offensive drive of the season showed his ability to follow his blockers, with some help from wide receiver Kendric Pryor, and broke through to head down the left sideline into the end zone.

Early in the third quarter, he capped his scoring for the evening with a 38-yard run that showed his patience but also displayed a quick but sudden jump cut to find the hole and break through.

“I saw two of our blockers with their butts together, so I knew the block was going to split any second, so I had two guys in the hole," Taylor said. "Just had to buy a split second in order for that crease to open up so I could hit it.”

So in theory, in 32 minutes of game time, Taylor accumulated nearly 200 total yards and nearly a handful of touchdowns. Wisconsin cruised in the driver's seat the rest of the game, and the New Jersey native was a primary reason why.

There will be more conversations forthcoming about Taylor's individual performances week in and week out. When asked about the Heisman talk bound to come up during the season, however, Taylor instead focused on the team.

"I feel like if we come out and play like this every single game, our season, everything will fall into place," Taylor said. "That’s No. 1, coming out and winning games like this. That’s first and foremost on my list.”

Perhaps, others will do the talking for him.

UPDATE: Wisconsin had just nine seconds left in the first half. We've updated it to the correct time.