Thursday, September 16, 1999UC braces for Great Dayne
Wisconsin back is Heisman hopeful
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati EnquirerAt his current rate, Wisconsin tailback Ron Dayne will break the NCAA's career rushing record when he appears in a bowl game or, should the Badgers fall short, the first week of his NFL career. Only thing is, it doesn't work like that.
The NCAA does not include bowl results in its official statistics, and the NFL is a whole other ballgame. So that means Dayne enters Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game against the Cincinnati Bearcats (1-1) at Nippert Stadium a bit behind schedule.
Which is just what UC needs to face: a hungry, great Dayne.
“We can expect Ron Dayne right and Ron Dayne left,” said UC coach Rick Minter. “You've got a running back that's up for the Heisman, up for the all-time rushing record of all time. With Michigan down the road, don't think they're not going to try their best to get him some yards.”
A senior, Dayne packs 250 pounds (at least) on a 5-10 frame. UC defensive tackle Mario Monds, a 300-pounder himself, is impressed by how swiftly such a wide load can move. “The speed of a guy that big — I've seen him really run in the open field,” Monds said, “and he has more speed than I thought.”
He has been flattening defenders since his initial college season, when he gained 2,109 yards, although this is the first time he's been completely healthy since that freshman year.
“The thing I noticed is how patient he is,” said Ball State coach Bill Lynch. “He trusts his offensive linemen, and when the seam pops, he finds it.”
Dayne claims he can't go anywhere in Madison without being without being reminded
of the record pursuit, which in many ways is preferable to being hounded through the autumn about his candidacy for the Heisman Trophy.
Whereas succeeding Ricky Williams as the Heisman winner will require prevailing in a dubious, subjective popularity contest, surpassing Williams as the NCAA's career rushing leader demands only this: 1,424 yards in nine games.
There is a large billboard in front of the stadium counting down the yardage necessary, and in town there are handmade signs of the same sort. There has been one place on campus, though, where that record has been put aside. That would be Camp Randall Stadium, where Wisconsin played its first two games against Murray State and Ball State.
Those were supposed to be games in which Dayne took a serious chunk out of Williams' lead, so that consecutive meetings with Michigan (Sept. 25) and Ohio State (Oct. 2) might not severely impede his progress. Instead, he carried only 51 times and gained 293 yards and was removed by coach Barry Alvarez each time with nearly two full quarters to play.
“I understand that coach makes the decision, and I won't argue with that,” Dayne said. “I understand the decision. The record is not what I'm worried about. I just want to go out and win. That's the main thing. It'd be nice to get the record, but it's not the main thing.”
Dayne stands 11th on the NCAA's rushing list with 4,856 yards. He could pass Texas A&M's Darren Lewis and reach No. 6 with an average game this week. That would make Dayne only the seventh Division I player to reach 5,000 yards and put him within a block or two of Ohio State's two-time Heisman winner, Archie Griffin (5,177).
But if he's to really have a shot at Williams, Dayne needs to have a bigger game against UC. And his Badger teammates on defense and special teams could probably help to tone things down a bit.
“Another thing that's hurt his chances is his team's doing too well,” Minter said. “The defense is scoring, the special teams are scoring. They're getting interceptions and returning it to the 20, so he only has 20 yards to make rather than 80 yards. He's not getting the ball in enough opportunity spaces for him to do his normal thing and amass yards. He's always on a short field.”
Dayne is enough of a baseball fan to have followed and enjoyed Mark McGwire's pursuit of the home run record last summer. So the mania surrounding his chase does not surprise him.
Once it is apparent a record such as this is in reach, the countdown becomes as much a spectacle as the running, blocking and (lack of) tackling required in the assault.
“I kind of knew it was going to be a big focus,” Dayne said. “Getting to watch other guys, like Mark McGwire — I kind of wanted him to do it, too. I can understand why people want me to break it, are always looking at it.”
You can hear the same sorts of things from Dayne as McGwire was saying last year. He mentions that Badgers flanker Nick Davis had 227 all-purpose yards in last week's Ball State game, but that was ignored because of the fixation on his flagging record pursuit.
Dayne still is uncomfortable as a public figure, even after three full years as a college football star, but he chose to return for a season of full-blast coverage rather than enter the NFL draft. He has a girlfriend who is a student at Wisconsin with one year to graduation, and they have a baby girl, and he did not want to spend the next year apart from them.
“I don't talk about myself around people,” Dayne said. “I don't brag about what I'm doing, say, "You know, I'm doing this and this and this.' If I do, it's to my daughter, and she doesn't really understand anything.”
STEPHENS OUT: UC defensive tackle Paul Stephens was supposed to join Mario Monds in being promoted to the first-team defensive line. Instead, he's following linebacker Antwan Peek to the operating table.
Stephens, who participated in 55 plays the first two weeks, suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice this week, making him the fourth UC regular to go down for the year with an injury.
Peek hurt his shoulder in Saturday's loss to Troy State and had surgery Wednesday. Stephens will have reconstructive surgery soon to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
They are on the sideline along with cornerback Blue Adams and offensive linemen Ken Biggs, who were injured before UC opened the season. The good news was that wideout LaDaris Vann was back in practice Wednesday after it was feared a knee injury would end his season.
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