University of Wyoming Athletics

UW This Season: One of the top running backs in the nation, Valladay will lead an experienced group of backs this season, as he will look to work up the all-time running back records in Cowboy football history.

2020: Xazavian Valladay ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West and No. 16 in the nation in rushing yards per game, averaging 110.0 yards per game and 5.6 yards per carry on the seasons.  Valladay also ranks No. 3 in the Mountain West and No. 27 in the nation in all-purpose yards per game, averaging 131.00 yards.  His single-game rushing totals for 2020 include: 163 rushing yards vs. Hawai'i; 147 at Colorado State; 94 at UNLV and 87 at Nevada. Valladay's single-game all-purpose yardage totals for 2020 include: 195 vs. Hawai'i; 147 at Colorado State; 131 at Nevada, 94 at UNLV and 88 vs. Boise State.  His season totals for the five games he has played this season include: 99 carries for 550 rushing yards, 13 pass receptions for 105 receiving yards and 112 total plays for 655 yards of all-purpose yardage. Valladay accounted for 21 explosive plays of 10 or more yards in five games in 2020, including: 17 runs of 10 or more yards for 336 total yards and 4 pass receptions of 10 or more yards for 81 yards.  Against Nevada, Valladay had four rushing plays of 10 or more yards for 47 yards and had two pass receptions of 10 or more yards for 26 yards.  He ended the day with 87 rushing yards, 44 receiving yards and 131 all-purpose yards.  Versus Hawai'i, he had six rushing plays of 10 or more yards for 85 yards and had one pass reception of 10 or more yards for 26 yards.  On the day, he rushed for 163 yards, had 32 receiving yards and 195 all-purpose yards.  At Colorado State, Valladay had three runs of 10 or more yards for 85 yards.  He concluded the day with 147 rushing yards and 147 all-purpose yards.  At UNLV, the junior recorded a 78-yard TD run and despite being injured in the first quarter and missing the remainder of the game still accounted for 94 rushing yards and 94 all-purpose yards.  His injury against UNLV forced him to miss the entire New Mexico game on Dec. 5.  Valladay came back from injury in the season finale against Boise State to have three rushing plays of 10 yards or more and one pass play of 29 yards and ended the day with 59 rushing yards and 88 all-purpose yards.

2019: Valladay was not only one of the best running back in the Mountain West, but he established himself as one of the best in the nation. He earned First Team All-Mountain West honors. He was named to the Associated Press All-Bowl Team. Valladay was named the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl Offensive MVP after rushing for 204 yards and one touchdown while averaging 7.8 yards per carry.  He also had three receptions for 91 yards and caught an eight-yard touchdown pass while averaging 30.3 yards per reception.  Among his big plays were runs of: 13, 55 and 62 yards; and pass receptions of 20 and 63 yards.  Valladay ended the game with 295 all-purpose yards. For the season, Valladay ended the season with 1,265 rushing yards to lead the Mountain West and rank No. 22 in the nation.  His 105.4 rushing yards per game average also led the conference and ranked No. 18 nationally.  He concluded the season with 1,489 all-purpose yards and averaged 124.08 all-purpose yards per game to rank No. 1 in the conference and No. 25 among all FBS players. He rushed for a career-high 206 yards in a contest against Nevada. In that contest, Valladay also added two receptions for 74 yards with a touchdown. He finished the season with 11 catches for 211 yards and two touchdowns. He had seven 100-yard rushing games for the season including six in the last seven games of the season.

2018: Xazavian Valladay played in all 12 games for the Cowboys, rushing for 396 yards on 71 carries and averaging 5.6 yards per carry.  He concluded his freshman season with his best game, rushing for 192 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-3 win at New Mexico.  Valladay is also remembered for coming up big in clutch situations as a freshman.  He kept the game-winning drive alive against Wofford when on a fourth down and four play he made a shoe-string catch for 10 yards, taking the ball down to the Wofford nine-yard line and setting up the winning TD two plays later.  Against Air Force in a similar critical situation, the Cowboys were trailing the Falcons 27-21 and faced a fourth down and nine play.  Valladay caught a pass from UW quarterback Tyler Vander Waal and ran for 12 yards to keep the game-winning drive alive.  With the Pokes up 28-27 later in the Air Force game, Valladay scored the game-clinching TD on a 27-yard scamper.

2017: Valladay redshirted in his first season with the program.

High School: Xazavian Valladay earned Special Mention All-State honors from the Chicago Tribune as a senior.  He was ranked by 247 Sports as the No. 75 overall recruit in the state of Illinois in the 2017 recruiting class. Valladay helped lead Brother Rice High School a No. 8 seed in the 2016 Illinois Class 8A State Playoffs, before losing in the first round.  Class 8A is the largest classification in the state of Illinois.  Brother Rice High began the season with a perfect 8-0 start before ending the season with a 9-3 record.  Twice during his senior season, Valladay was named his team’s Offensive MVP of the Week.  He played for head coach Brian Badke. Valladay was also recruited by Purdue.

Personal: He is majoring in American studies at Wyoming.