Wayne Taulapapa: RB · Washington · #21.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Wayne Taulapapa
Hits the crease and outruns the angle. Played for two head coaches at two programs in five seasons: Bronco Mendenhall and Kalen DeBoer. One game to point at: 126 rushing yards and 9 receiving yards against Washington State — Week 13, 2022.
Play style
Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 22.4% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 10.8% of his carries. 4 carries for 25 yds vs California; 13 for 126 vs Washington State.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
35.7% of carries overall (137/384) → 17.9% of Q4-with-lead carries (17/95) — 76.5% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
13 of 18 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (72.2%). 13 of the team's 43 inside-the-5 carries (30.2%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Washington | 140 | 882 | 6.3 | 11 | 57 |
| 2021 | Virginia | 62 | 324 | 5.2 | 2 | 27 |
| 2020 | Virginia | 88 | 395 | 4.5 | 5 | 19 |
| 2019 | Virginia | 116 | 473 | 4.1 | 12 | 31 |
| 2018 | Virginia | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 406 | 2,074 | 5.1 | 30 | 57 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Washington | 24 | 225 | 9.4 | 1 | 34 |
| 2021 | Virginia | 11 | 62 | 5.6 | 1 | 17 |
| 2020 | Virginia | 12 | 65 | 5.4 | 0 | 16 |
| 2019 | Virginia | 5 | 23 | 4.6 | 0 | 10 |
| 2018 | Virginia | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 52 | 375 | 7.2 | 2 | 34 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 45-20vs Kent State | 11 | 57 | 5.2 | 1 | 28 | |
| Wk 2 | W 52-6vs Portland State | 12 | 94 | 7.8 | 1 | 24 | |
| Wk 3 | W 39-28vs No. 11 Michigan State | 12 | 36 | 3.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 4 | W 40-22vs Stanford | 13 | 120 | 9.2 | 1 | 34 | |
| Wk 5 | L 32-40@ UCLA | 10 | 48 | 4.8 | 0 | 15 | |
| Wk 6 | L 38-45@ Arizona State | 12 | 51 | 4.3 | 1 | 18 | |
| Wk 7 | W 49-39vs Arizona | 10 | 18 | 1.8 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 8 | W 28-21@ California | 4 | 25 | 6.3 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 10 | W 24-21vs No. 24 Oregon State | 8 | 27 | 3.4 | 2 | 12 | |
| Wk 11 | W 37-34@ No. 6 Oregon | 10 | 70 | 7.0 | 1 | 16 | |
| Wk 12 | W 54-7vs Colorado | 11 | 107 | 9.7 | 2 | 57 | |
| Wk 13 | W 51-33@ Washington State | 13 | 126 | 9.7 | 1 | 40 | Season-high 126 yds |
 Bowl | W 27-20vs No. 21 Texas | 14 | 103 | 7.4 | 1 | 42 | |
| Total | 140 | 882 | 6.3 | 11 | 57 |
Bowl · 2022
W 27-20
vs Texas · neutral site
103 rush yds (14 car) · 1 TD · 3 rec · 17 yds
A close one, won by 7 at a neutral site.
With M. Penix Jr. — 287 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · J. McCallister — 39 yards per punt · 3 punts · 2 inside the 20
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
57%125 carriesFumble rate
1.4%2 of 140 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds6.3 yds/carry on 140 carries · 17% explosive (10+ yds) · 57% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 65.6 | 5.7 | 1.0 |
| Road5g | 64.0 | 6.4 | 0.6 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 65.9 | 5.4 | 0.6 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 71.0 | 7.2 | 1.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kalen DeBoer
Pass share
59.5%
572 pass / 390 run
Plays / game
74.0
13 games
Team sack rate
1.2%
596 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2022
140 carries and 24 catches in 13 games, about as many touches a game as a typical FBS running back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #22 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons, at Virginia and Washington, 2,074 rushing yards — the college career is complete.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2018–2022
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Bronco Mendenhall and Kalen DeBoer.
