Indiana sophomore cornerback Reese Taylor suffered a hand injury that limited him in the first few games of the season and was also "banged up" for the Michigan State game. While he was injured, his other young teammates – sophomore Jaylin Williams and freshman Tiawan Mullen – made their marks in the Indiana secondary.
Now, Taylor has made his mark after an interception agains tMaryland and is making himself a mainstay within the cornerback rotation.
Sophomore cornerback Reese Taylor was always going to move to the defensive side of the ball in college. That was the plan after he signed with Indiana in 2018, but that plan took a sudden detour when transfer quarterback Brandon Dawkins chose to retire from football before the 2018 season.
Taylor, who was a star Class 6A state champion quarterback at Ben Davis and Indiana’s 2017 Mr. Football, saw his time at quarterback extended a season longer than anticipated, as he shored up the room behind Mike Penix and Peyton Ramsey.
That was just a year ago that Taylor was juggling the workload and necessary adjustments to college football as a true freshman. Last week, though, in what could be one of the most significant games in the Tom Allen Era so far, Taylor sealed Indiana’s win at Maryland with a fourth-quarter interception.
“After, I gave him a huge hug, man,” head coach Tom Allen said to the media Monday. “I’m just so proud of him. He's such a great person, works so hard.”
Taylor has put himself into plenty of positions to make plays on the field as he works his way back from a hand injury and a subsequent injury that limited him through the first few games and kept him out of the Ball State and Michigan State games. From the interception at Maryland to back-to-back kickoff stops against Rutgers after a penalty negated the first play.
But while young cornerbacks like sophomore Jaylin Williams and true freshman Tiawan Mullen have begun to find first-team reps and anchor spots in the rotation of the secondary, Taylor has found himself playing catch-up after getting healthy from his injuries. Both Mullen and Williams have their snap counts above 200, while Taylor is at 95.
“I hate missing games and hate missing practice,” Taylor said about the frustration he was feeling while injured. “I just had to make sure that I was 100 percent, but I’m back now. I’m ready to play.”
Taylor is in the rotation, and no game felt his presence more than the Maryland game, where he recorded a career- and season-high 30 snaps at cornerback. That isn;t purely based on taylor’s performance, as several younger defensive backs got into the game – and even started the game – as the younger talent continues to improve throughout the season.
But much like Williams made his season debut with a crucial interception against Ball State and Mullen made his with stringing some plays together before smothering Michigan State No. 1 wideout Darrell Stewart Jr., Taylor made his first contribution in the form of delivering the ball to his coaches and making his impact in a role several around his Ben Davis program might not have expected two years ago.
“I do anything the coaches ask me – offense, defense, special teams,” Taylor said. “I’ll go wherever they need me, but to be on that defense on that last play, it was just a big celebration.”
Taylor brings a perspective that some of his other cornerback teammates didn’t have coming into the program. He can read quarterbacks and understand their processes and why Indiana is playing the coverages it is playing from first-hand experience. That’s something that cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby and safeties coach Kasey Teegardin have both noticed about the way he plays defensive back.
He and his teammates adjusted to the late coverage change that Allen said he and his staff made on defense at Maryland, and Taylor said he was in position because he trusted his coaches – something he said he’s had to pair with his athleticism and knowledge of the quarterback position during his time in college in order to make the growth he’s made so far.
With that trust and his athleticism, he’s forced the Indiana staff to include him in the cornerback rotation, with Mullen, Williams, senior Andre Brown and junior Raheem Layne, despite his setbacks early in the season.
“I just see him continuing to grow in his performance and execution and just being comfortable out there at corner,” Allen said. “He's one of our elite players, in my mind, in terms of quickness and change of direction, and he's got a toughness to him.”
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