Dayne, as in Train

To get an idea of the speed and brute force his players would encounter when they faced Wisconsin tailback Ron Dayne Friday, UCLA Coach Bob Toledo jokingly said he had the Bruins practice tackling pickup trucks.

He should have pitted them against a runaway freight train.

“Ron, if you let him get a little head of steam, where do you grab him?” Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez said.

The Bruins had no answer to that question and were nearly helpless against Dayne’s combination of power, speed and determination.

“Their coach made jokes about tackling trucks,” Dayne said, “but trucks don’t move from side to side.”

He moved side to side, north to south, east to west and into the end zone four times. Aided by alert and effective blocking from the Badger offensive line, Dayne tied a modern Rose Bowl record with four rushing touchdowns in Wisconsin’s 38-31 victory over UCLA and put to rest any doubts about his durability or the character of a supposedly limited Badger offense.

“I looked early and saw four touchdowns was the record,” Dayne said, “and I went up to my linemen and told them, ‘It’s time to go out and do what we’ve got to do.’ ”

He did it the easy way on his first touchdown, a 54-yard run in which he was untouched, and he did it the hard way on his third, running past Tony White and into the end zone to tie the score at 21. With 246 rushing yards in 27 carries, Dayne was one yard short of tying the Rose Bowl record set in 1980 by Charles White of USC. He shrugged off that lost bit of immortality as easily as he shook off Bruin defenders all afternoon.

“Some of the time I had to run over guys and run through them, but that’s what I can do. I’m just glad we came out and did what we had to do,” said Dayne, a 5-10, 253-pound New Jersey native. “I’m not worried about records now. I just tried to do what I had to do.”

That he did it while in constant pain makes his performance all the more remarkable.

A muscle tore away from Dayne’s shoulder during Wisconsin’s final Big Ten game against Penn State on Nov. 21 and took with it a fragment of bone; Alvarez held him out of contact drills the past week as a precaution. He took himself out several times in the first quarter Friday and appeared sweaty and in pain on the bench, but he attributed that to nerves.

“I was so excited after my first touchdown I threw up,” he said.

He couldn’t stomach the excitement. The Bruins couldn’t stomach his bowl-’em-over style.

“He runs with strength and courage. He’s a great man,” Bruin flanker Freddie Mitchell said. “He runs out there with real strength and you’re not going to tackle him the first time.”

Few opponents have caught him on the first try. According to statistics kept by the Badgers, 2,372 of the 4,845 yards he had gained before Monday’s game were gained after contact, a total that would rank him eighth in school history for career rushing yards. No total was kept on his second and third efforts Monday, but the yardage was considerable.

“It was a great performance. He’s had a lot of great performances, but given the magnitude of the situation, this has to be his most special performance,” said Brian White, Wisconsin’s running backs coach. “He was relentless today. We told our players before the game we wanted them to be reckless in terms of being aggressive, and he was.”

“I just wanted to play as hard as I could and as long as I could,” said Dayne, who bought sneakers for his linemen to reward them for their work. “It was my first contact in three weeks and it’s still a little sore, but I’m ready to go out and have some fun.”

The real fun might come next season. Dayne, a junior, has announced he will return for his senior season.

“This feels great,” Dayne said. “Our goal was to come to the Rose Bowl and we’ve just got to get together next year and hopefully make it back.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

ROSE BOWL RESULTS

1999 Wisconsin 38, UCLA 31

1998 Michigan 21, Washington St. 16

1997 Ohio St. 20, Arizona St. 17

1996 USC 41, Northwestern 32

1995 Penn St. 38, Oregon 20

1994 Wisconsin 21, UCLA 16

1993 Michigan 38, Washington 31

1992 Washington 34, Michigan 14

1991 Washington 46, Iowa 34

1990 USC 17, Michigan 10

1989 Michigan 22, USC 14

1988 Michigan St. 20, USC 17

1987 Arizona St. 22, Michigan 15

1986 UCLA 45, Iowa 28

1985 USC 20, Ohio St. 17

1984 UCLA 45, Illinois 9

1983 UCLA 24, Michigan 14

1982 Washington 28, Iowa 0

1981 Michigan 23, Washington 6

1980 USC 17, Ohio St. 16

1979 USC 17, Michigan 10

1978 Washington 27, Michigan 20

1977 USC 14, Michigan 6

1976 UCLA 23, Ohio St. 10

1975 USC 18, Ohio St. 17

1974 Ohio St. 42, USC 21

1973 USC 42, Ohio St. 17

1972 Stanford 13, Michigan 12

1971 Stanford 27, Ohio St. 17

1970 USC 10, Michigan 3

1969 Ohio St. 27, USC 16

1968 USC 14, Indiana 3

1967 Purdue 14, USC 13

1966 UCLA 14, Michigan St. 12

1965 Michigan 34, Oregon St. 7

1964 Illinois 17, Washington 7

1963 USC 42, Wisconsin 37

1962 Minnesota 21, UCLA 3

1961 Washington 17, Minnesota 7

1960 Washington 44, Wisconsin 8

1959 Iowa 38, California 12

1958 Ohio St. 10, Oregon 7

1957 Iowa 35, Oregon St. 19

1956 Michigan St. 17, UCLA 14

1955 Ohio St. 20, USC 7

1954 Michigan St. 28, UCLA 20

1953 USC 7, Wisconsin 0

1952 Illinois 40, Stanford 7

1951 Michigan 14, California 6

1950 Ohio St. 17, California 14

1949 Northwestern 20, California 14

1948 Michigan 49, USC 0

1947 Illinois 45, UCLA 14

1946 Alabama 34, USC 14

1945 USC 25, Tennessee 0

1944 USC 29, Washington 0

1943 Georgia 9, UCLA 0

1942 Oregon St. 20, Duke 16

1941 Stanford 21, Nebraska 13

1940 USC 14, Tennessee 0

1939 USC 7, Duke 3

1938 California 13, Alabama 0

1937 Pittsburgh 21, Washington 0

1936 Stanford 7, SMU 0

1935 Alabama 29, Stanford 13

1934 Columbia 7, Stanford 0

1933 USC 35, Pittsburgh 0

1932 USC 21, Tulane 12

1931 Alabama 24, Washington St. 0

1930 USC 47, Pittsburgh 14

1929 Georgia Tech 8, California 7

1928 Stanford 7, Pittsburgh 6

1927 Alabama 7, Stanford 7

1926 Alabama 20, Washington 19

1925 Notre Dame 27, Stanford 10

1924 Navy 14, Washington 14

1923 USC 14, Penn State 3

1922 Wash. & Jeff. 0, California 0

1921 California 28, Ohio St. 0

1920 Harvard 7, Oregon 6

1919 Great Lakes 17, Mare Island 0

1918 Mare Island 19, Camp Lewis 7

1917 Oregon 14, Pennsylvania 0

1916 Washington St. 14, Brown 0

1902 Michigan 49, Stanford 0

WISCONSIN LOG

FINAL RECORD 11-1

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OPPONENT RESULT SCORE at San Diego State Won 26-14 OHIO Won 45-0 NEVADA LAS VEGAS Won 52-7 NORTHWESTERN Won 38-7 at Indiana Won 24-20 PURDUE Won 31-24 at Illinois Won 37-3 at Iowa Won 31-0 MINNESOTA Won 26-7 at Michigan Lost 27-10 PENN STATE Won 24-3 UCLA (Rose Bowl) Won 38-31

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BOWL HISTORY

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YEAR BOWL RESULT 1953 Rose Bowl USC 7, Wisconsin 0 1960 Rose Bowl Washington 44, Wisconsin 8 1963 Rose Bowl USC 42, Wisconsin 37 1981 Garden State Bowl Tennessee 28, Wisconsin 21 1982 Independence Bowl Wisconsin 14, Kansas State 3 1984 Hall of Fame Bowl Kentucky 20, Wisconsin 19 1994 Rose Bowl Wisconsin 21, UCLA 16 1995 Hall of Fame Bowl Wisconsin 34, Duke 20 1996 Copper Bowl Wisconsin 38, Utah 10 1998 Outback Bowl Georgia 33, Wisconsin 6 1999 Rose Bowl Wisconsin 38, UCLA 31

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