Wayne

Taulapapa

Taulapapa (5'9/210) spent the first four years of his college career at Virginia, accruing 266 carries for 1,192 yards, 4.5 YPC and 19 touchdowns for the Cavaliers. He transferred here in the offseason and has really taken the initiative in a wide-open RB room now that new HC Kalen DeBoer has opened up every job to competition. He shared first-team reps with Nebraska transfer Will Nixon while spring standout Aaron Dumas has yet to take a rep with either the first or second team. Right now it looks like the Taulapapa/Nixon tandem is scheduled to lead the Huskies against Kent State on September 3 in their season opener.

Taulapapa (5'9/200) was the lead back in an offense that rarely ran the ball. The Cavaliers finished 2021 with the third-highest pass play percentage in the country and quarterback Brennan Armstrong led the team in carries the past two seasons. He will be immediately eligible to play as a grad transfer

Virginia will be without its starting quarterback and running back Saturday night, as Taulapapa (5'9/200) and QB Brennan Armstrong have both been ruled out. With Taulapapa down, Devin Darrington and Mike Hollins will see an increase in reps at the running back position.

Taulapapa left the win over BYU on Oct. 30 due to a head injury. He and starting QB Brennan Armstrong are both questionable at the moment for the Irish on Saturday.

Taulapapa (5'9/210), who missed the Wake Forest game earlier in the season due to a head injury, appeared to get targeted by not one, but two players. He grabbed his head on a fumble and didn’t even attempt to recover the ball. Taulapapa was limited to four runs for 32 yards and one catch for nine yards before departing, and he had the lost fumble. He’ll have two weeks to recover, as the Hoos are on a bye before welcoming Notre Dame to Charlottesville Nov. 13.

Taulapapa (5'9/210) missed Virginia’s last game against Wake Forest, with the backfield posting just 10 combined carries in the lopsided 37-17 loss. Much of the lack of carries can be attributed to game script, as UVA was down 20-3 at halftime, but Taulapapa’s steady hand and exceptional pass blocking acumen was clearly missed. He appears set to play this Thursday against the Miami Hurricanes.

Virginia didn’t get much from its run game last season, and the struggles were such that some quarterbacks even got into the mix. Taulapapa (5'9/210) was the leader amongst the Cavaliers’ “traditional” running backs, as he accounted for 395 rushing yards. With Mike Hollins (a 2020 opt-out) and Indiana transfer Ronnie Walker Jr. in the fold, Virginia won’t lack for options this fall. “Any of those three could be our starter,” Mendenhall told The Athletic. “But all three are playing more competitive and fierce football and productive football than before because the competition is so tight. So I’ve already seen it affect our run game in the spring, and I would go back to whatever I told you a year ago and I hope this year, with those three all in place and healthy and competing, that the same message actually comes to fruition.”

According to Mendenhall, seniors Wayne Taulapapa (5'9/200) and Ronnie Walker Jr. (5'11/210), and sophomore Mike Hollins (5'9/200) are the three players competing for the starting job. Taulapapa is the most experienced of the trio, and in 2020 he recorded a 88-395-5 rushing stat line while also catching 12 passes for 65 yards. Walker appeared in just four games last season, rushing for 66 yards on 23 carries. As for Hollins, he did not play at all last season but rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries in 2019. The Cavaliers won’t lack for depth at running back, and they can also use some of their quarterbacks (most notably Keytaon Thompson) in that role on occasion.

Taulapapa was clearly the bellcow in the UVA offense on Saturday; doubling the carries of Shane Simpson’s eight. The 5-foot-9, 219-pound tailback had a long gain of “just” 19 yards, so he was consistently churning out four-to-five yard plays against a decent Duke defense. His first touchdown was a one-yard plunge, and he added a 10-yard trip to paydirt in the fourth. Taulapapa did nothing to suggest he shouldn’t be the top tailback in the Cavaliers’ offense, but he might find the sledding tougher next Saturday against Clemson.

Taulapapa may be salivating over this matchup, as in last year’s blowout of the Blue Devils he rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. How well the junior performs will have an impact on how deep into the backfield rotation the Cavaliers go. HC Bronco Mendenhall said on Monday that Taulapapa’s performance will determine if Virginia relies on him as their workhorse, or if there’s a rotation that includes Shane Simpson and Perris Jones.