No one is firing up any Heisman campaigns for the 5-foot-11, 214-pound Taylor just yet, but he has given UW's offense, largely devoid of big plays since Melvin Gordon took his talents to the NFL, a huge boost in its two victories to open the season.

"He certainly has talent and he's gotten himself off to a good start, but there's a long way to go," coach Paul Chryst said. "I think he potentially can give us some big plays that we haven't had a lot of necessarily in the running game."

Saturday, Taylor staked UW to a 14-0 lead with two dazzling touchdown runs, the 64-yarder and a 29-yarder on the next series were five Owls defenders had a shot at him, including one behind the line of scrimmage, and none of them could keep him out of the end zone.

Taylor's impact didn't end there. Filling in for injured starter Bradrick Shaw on a day where UW made just enough mistakes to keep Florida Atlantic in the game, the freshman from New Jersey was the difference. He averaged 8.6 yards per carry, including eight runs of 12 or more yards. In the opener a week earlier, Taylor broke off a 41-yard run and had a 13-yard touchdown run in UW's 59-10 victory over Utah State.