Record for Dayne, Rose Bowl for Badgers

Ron Dayne’s four-year run at history is over, and his reward is another bouquet of roses.

On the biggest day in Wisconsin football history, Dayne broke the major-college career rushing record as the No. 9 Badgers claimed the outright Big Ten title and earned a return trip to the Rose Bowl with a 41-3 rout of Iowa Saturday.

Dayne broke Williams’ record with 4:32 left in the second quarter on a 31-yard run toward the Wisconsin sideline. He finished the game with 216 yards rushing and a touchdown in 27 carries, giving him 6,397 yards for his career, or 118 more than the 6,279 Williams gained at Texas.

“The record was broken because we looked at it as a team goal,” Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez said. “A lot of people had to do their job for him to have a chance to achieve that.”

The Badgers, 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten, finished their regular season by winning seven consecutive games and clinching a return trip to the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. Wisconsin, which beat UCLA, 38-31, in Pasadena last Jan. 1, will be playing in consecutive Rose Bowls for the first time in school history.

Dayne needed 99 yards to pass Williams, who broke Tony Dorsett’s 22-year-old record last season. Dayne gained only 39 yards in his first 12 carries but ended up with the 11th 200-yard rushing game of his career, tying the record held by Williams and USC’s Marcus Allen.

“I tried to do everything I usually do,” Dayne said. “It seemed like a normal game.”

That is, until the postgame ceremony, when the school unveiled his name and No. 33 on the press box at Camp Randall Stadium. While not an official number retirement, it was close.

“I didn’t know what to say,” Dayne said. “I was amazed and dazed. I was happy and grateful. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.”

Wisconsin led, 27-3, at halftime and was never challenged by the Hawkeyes (1-9, 0-7), who lost their seventh in a row. Chris Chambers caught two touchdown passes, and quarterbacks Brooks Bollinger and Matt Kavanagh rushed for touchdowns.

After the game ended, the sellout crowd stayed for its traditional Fifth Quarter and roared as Dayne and the Badgers were honored at midfield. The crowd held up 70,000 white signs with Dayne’s No. 33 written in red.

Even Alvarez, who has been coaching from the press box since undergoing knee surgery six weeks ago, hobbled down to the field with 11 minutes remaining in the game. He grabbed Dayne in a joyous bear hug before watching the rest of the game on crutches.

“The first time I met him, I hugged him, so I think it was only appropriate that I hugged him when he broke the record,” Alvarez said. “I’ll never forget that big smile of his. He just lit it up.”

Dayne was most excited about the Badgers’ second consecutive conference title. He and the Badgers accepted their Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl invitation after the game.

“You get a ring for that,” Dayne said. “I just got my name in some books for breaking a record.”

Shortly after the game began, the final score from Michigan’s upset of Penn State was flashed on the scoreboard, drawing a huge cheer from the crowd. Wisconsin had a half-game lead on Penn State in the conference race before Saturday’s games.