MADISON, WIS. -- Isaac Guerendo is fast. Like, really fast.

Many knew this heading into the 2021 season. Guerendo shined as a prep track standout out of Avon High School in Indiana, claiming the state championships in the 100-meter and 4x100 relay as a senior in 2018 before arriving at Wisconsin. Jonathan Taylor called his teammate "a blazer" during 2019 Big Ten Media Days.

Guerendo told BadgerBlitz.com in August that he reached 23.93 miles per hour in a sprint during summer conditioning, and yet he called that mark "pretty upsetting." Why?

Because he wanted that to reach 24.

The back demonstrated that extra gear on Saturday night on way to his first collegiate touchdown. The redshirt junior hit 22.15 miles per hour, according to UW official Brian Mason, on his 82-yard dash to daylight in the second quarter during Wisconsin's 34-7 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday night.

That run into the north end zone of Camp Randall Stadium, according to Guerendo, was "definitely an emotional thing, because it's been a long time coming for me."

"Just the journey of battling through injuries, and then finally getting that first touchdown, it's a lot more than a lot of people would think," Guerendo said, "but it was a special thing."

The effort now registers as the eighth-longest touchdown run in program history, as noted in UW's postgame notes, and it helped propel him to a career-high 92 yards rushing in the non-conference contest.

BadgerBlitz.com asked some of the players for their perspective on the energetic rush. That included quarterback Graham Mertz, offensive linemen Tyler Beach and Joe Tippmann, running backs Jalen Berger and Chez Mellusi and, of course, Guerendo himself.

“The really simple breakdown of it is Isaac’s fast as hell," Mertz began to explain after the game. "Let’s get him on the outside and let him go score.”

Mertz, the redshirt sophomore quarterback, recalled his apparent self-fulfilling prophecy.

"It's funny. We were in the huddle, and I looked at all the guys and I was like, 'Why not make it a quick one?'" Mertz said. "Then it was funny because Isaac took off and I'm like, 'Holy crap. Did I just jinx that, or did I call it? Is he gonna get caught, or is he gonna score?'"

Wisconsin lined up in 21 personnel -- two running backs, one tight end and two wide receivers -- with Mertz under center. Fullback John Chenal lined up not in an I-formation position right behind Mertz and in front of Guerendo, but rather to the outside of Beach's left tackle position.

Guerendo and Beach noted the call was an outside zone run, but there appeared to be a tweak to it. The offensive line and tight end Jake Ferguson stated "they were going to knock off the edge so I could get outside," according to the back.

Mertz handed the ball off to Guerendo, who took the ball to the right side. Ferguson and the line certainly held up their end of the bargain in allowing the redshirt junior to quickly get near the sideline.

Beach said the modification of that outside zone play came after seeing something from the Eastern Michigan defense.

"We changed it up a little bit, and it worked," Beach said. "I mean, we busted a huge one on the right side. 'Brusser' [Logan Bruss] and 'Nellie' [Jack Nelson] frickin' destroyed the dude, and the tight end did, too."

Guerendo hesitates slightly at about the 25-yard line. A defender takes on the block of wide receiver Jack Dunn and disengages from the sixth-year Badger. However, he also slips when aggressively pushing away.

First down already in hand, Guerendo proceeded to turn on the after burners, eluding a diving attempt by defensive back Myles McNeal and out-sprinting another member of the secondary in junior Jarrett Paul.

Guerendo admitted he "had a little sense of feeling in my back left corner, so I was like, I gotta turn it on."

Beach looked at the play as a whole when everyone's 1/11 is executed.

"We had a great backside combo," Beach said. "We cut the guys off, and it was one of those plays where all 11 guys are doing the right thing on the field, and that's when that happens. Everybody's blocking the right guy and the ball just goes flying downfield. I'm running down field, waving my hands in the air, I'm so excited."

Mellusi, Berger and running backs coach Gary Brown all watched from the Wisconsin sideline as the play developed. That said, the Clemson transfer -- who carried the ball 20 times for 144 yards and a touchdown of his own -- and new UW assistant had a premonition about the outcome.

"The crazy thing is me and coach Brown called it before it even happened," Mellusi said. "We were like, if he hits the edge, he's gonna go all the way.

"I'm just happy for him. I was saying earlier, it’s one of those things where a lot of us on the team know what he's capable of, and we were all just like, finally. The whole world gets to see this is what he does."

As Guerendo began to fly down the sidelines to paydirt, Berger saw what was coming.

"Once I saw it was a foot race, I knew it was over because no one in the stadium's gonna catch him," Berger said.

A screaming student section awaited Guerendo as he sprinted toward and eventually across that goal line on the north end zone. Moments prior, that particular section of the stadium lit up brightly with cell phones while singing to "Fireflies" by Owl City.

Is there anything going through his head besides getting into that end zone?

"It just seemed like everything was falling into place, because like I said, it's been a long time coming for me," Guerendo said. "So it just almost felt like it was just meant to be. That situation, that moment, so it was really special to me."

Guerendo played in only 11 games in three years entering this season, with the 2019 and 2020 campaigns hampered by hamstring injuries. He accumulated 12 carries for 37 total yards prior to 2021, and his big splash of potential came against Minnesota in November 2019 on a reverse he took 49 yards off a kickoff return.

His early performance so far during this 2021 campaign bears hope for more contributions. Guerendo ran for 56 yards on 13 carries in the season-opening loss to Penn State on Sept. 4, and he nearly achieved going over the century mark against Eastern Michigan.

"Me and Isaac are good friends, and then just seeing all this stuff that he's gone through with injuries and what not," Tippmann said. "Starting last week, he was running over dudes, having awesome runs. Just seeing all this come together for him, and him to just be able to finally get out there and just completely run. He's a very fast dude and he's a physical dude, too, which you don't get that combination too often."