ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Courtney Taylor's biggest play fit the type of season he had perfectly. The Auburn receiver didn't score or even catch a pass, two things he's done far less frequently than anticipated this season.<br>
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Instead, Taylor's most memorable moment came when he alertly recovered a key fumble late in the seventh-ranked Tigers' come-from-behind win at Georgia. The recovery came at the tail end of Devin Aromashodu's long reception on fourth down to set up the winning field goal with six seconds left.<br>
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``It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life, probably,'' Taylor said. ``Being in the right place at the right time.''<br>
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He hasn't been in that right-place, right-time situation too many times as a receiver this season. The preseason All-Southeastern Conference pick enters Monday's Capital One Bowl meeting with No. 21 Wisconsin still seeking his first touchdown catch, a huge dropoff from his six-TD sophomore performance.<br>
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Taylor has just 20 catches for 264 yards. Last season he gained 737 yards on 43 receptions.<br>
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The mediocre season is partly due to an ankle injury sustained against Ball State in Game 3, which kept him out of one game and bothered him most of the season after that. In fact, Taylor said he didn't return to full strength until the Georgia game.<br>
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Even still, it didn't show up on the stat sheet for that game either he had one 10-yard catch.<br>
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``It's been real tough for me this year but hopefully I'll score in the bowl game or something,'' Taylor said.<br>
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That, at least, would stop the merciless teasing over his scoring goose egg.<br>
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``I hear it from my parents, my teammates, everybody,'' Taylor said. ``My Dad will joke around and be like, 'Yeah, he can't even score.'''<br>
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Taylor was only the team's fourth-leading receiver behind seniors Ben Obomanu, Aromashodu and Anthony Mix in a veteran receiving corps without a bona fide star. He opened the season with six catches for 80 yards against Georgia Tech, numbers he didn't approach in any of the next 10 games.<br>
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``I felt like I was having a pretty decent season leading up to that injury,'' Taylor said. ``I felt like it was a setback, but at the same time I just never really got back into a rhythm. I probably wasn't myself until late in the season, probably the Georgia game.<br>
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``Being a receiver is all about rhythm. You've got to have that rhythm. I just had a tough time trying to find it.''<br>
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Like many juniors, Taylor has filled out the paperwork for evaluation of his NFL draft stock. But he knows this past season didn't exactly provide much of a launching point.<br>
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``I want to be a first round guy,'' Taylor said. ``I feel like that I have the talent to be a first round guy, in my opinion. I'm going to work my tail off to get in the first round.<br>
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``From this season, I don't feel like I'm a first-round guy. I'd probably be third, fourth or maybe even undrafted.''<br>
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Taylor did have a hand in one touchdown this season. The high school quarterback threw a 28-yard scoring pass to Aromashodu against Mississippi.<br>
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But the only other time he's had the ball in the end zone was when he fell on the ball after Aromashodu lost it on his 62-yard catch.<br>
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The Tigers wound up getting the ball at the spot of the fumble. And Taylor was still left hearing and talking about his TD drought.<br>
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``I know he wants to get in the end zone,'' quarterback Brandon Cox said. ``He's always talking about it. But he's a team player and he goes out there to do what we need him to do.''<br>
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(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
