“Some years we have a dilemma of deciding which Buckeye to celebrate,” Jerry Emig, a spokesman for Ohio State, wrote in an email. “And that’s a good thing! Waiting until season’s end allows this decision to be decided at the grass roots/playing field level.”

Last December, for instance, Ohio State sent out a poster extolling Dwayne Haskins, its quarterback, on the day after the Big Ten championship game. The piece noted that Haskins had been the game’s most valuable player — and included a dig or two at Kyler Murray, the Oklahoma quarterback, and Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama’s quarterback, who were the Heisman favorites. (Murray won, followed by Tagovailoa and Haskins.)

This year, Wisconsin began mapping its strategy for Taylor by early June, when a group of athletic department employees convened to discuss parallel conundrums: how to help a tailback make a splash for an award that has, at least in the 21st century, tended to go to quarterbacks, and how to differentiate Taylor from other rushers.

Wisconsin officials called a handful of national reporters to hear their views of Taylor and to seed the university’s arguments, which compare the junior’s statistics to those of other celebrated tailbacks, including Dayne and Herschel Walker.

In meetings and memos, Wisconsin staff members discussed Taylor’s strengths: “video game-type numbers,” name recognition and personality. Their goals were explicit: “Position him as a Heisman front-runner,” and “break through all the hype surrounding quarterbacks.”

They settled on a plan that called for a blend of public and private efforts. While there would be a snazzy website, Wisconsin officials concluded, there would also be formal interviews, a few pull-aside meetings at Big Ten media days in Chicago and news conferences after games at Camp Randall Stadium. They believed their message needed to resonate in media markets beyond the Big Ten, knowing that people familiar with the conference had spent years watching Taylor hustle through defenses.

Their goal was to reach the Michigan game, on Sept. 21, with Taylor still in the discussion and hope that his performance would let his candidacy take greater shape. He rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns that day and has been seen as a contender ever since.