Dayne isn't one to mull records

Ron Dayne needs only 33 yards Saturday against UNLV to break Wisconsin's career rushing record of 3,709 yards set by Billy Marek from 1973 to 1975.

But if you think the powerful 5-10, 258-pound junior All-American tailback from Berlin, N.J., is losing any sleep over that record, think again.

"I don't even know what the record is," Dayne said this week. "It will probably set in more when I do it."

After all, when you already have set 24 school and five NCAA records during your career, what's another one?

"In all honesty, what it probably means to Ron is what you saw," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said. "He didn't even know there was a record out there."

Besides, if Dayne, who has been slowed by ankle and shoulder injuries the past two seasons, can stay healthy this year, he just might get an even more impressive record.

Dayne, who burst on the college scene two years ago with 2,109 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns his freshman year, could possibly break two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin's Big Ten career rushing mark of 5,589 yards with another big season this year.

Griffin accomplished that feat in four seasons. Dayne, who has 3,577 yards going into Saturday's game, could do it in three.

"There's no question that Ron is special," Alvarez said.

"Now, here's a young man within reach of being the leading rusher in the history of (the Big Ten). With all the great rushers that have come out of this conference, he could conceivably break Archie Griffin's record. And it took Archie four years to do it and Archie played in a bowl in every one of those years. And Ron can do it in three. That's the type of individual you're talking about.

"Now, when I go any place in the country, people want to talk to me about Ron. He's a special young man. There aren't many backs that big that can do what he can do."

Alvarez won't have any trouble convincing UNLV about that. After all, it was Dayne who came off the bench to rush for 90 yards on 13 carries (6.9 avg.) and score a touchdown in Wisconsin's 52-17 victory over the Rebels at Sam Boyd Stadium in 1996. That was only Dayne's second game as a collegian.

"I just remember him being real big and real physical," UNLV defensive end Talance Sawyer said. "You've got to make sure you wrap him up because if you don't he'll just run right over you."

"We all know what they're going to do, try and run the ball down our throat," UNLV coach Jeff Horton said.

"The key on a guy like Dayne is to try and bounce him outside and not let him get running downhill. When he does that, he's very tough to stop."

The bad news for the Rebels is that Dayne, who sat out Wisconsin's season-opening 26-14 win at San Diego State with a sprained ankle and played just a little over a half in last week's surprisingly easy 45-0 rout of Ohio, should be full strength this weekend. That's probably the last thing UNLV, which ranks 108th nationally in rush defense (276.5 yards per game), needs.

"I was about 95 percent (against Ohio)," Dayne, who had 111 yards and three touchdowns, said. "I went out and gave it all I had. My ankle was kind of sore but I still played."

On his first run of the season, Dayne lowered his shoulder and ran over Ohio safety Nick Toth.

"I ran over that guy and I felt like I was back," Dayne said. "I still love running over guys."

Now the question is will Dayne be around for his senior year at Madison?

There were strong rumblings after last season that the powerful running back and Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer were going to mount a legal challenge against the NFL and its draft rules, which require a player to have completed his junior year of college before becoming draft eligible. That challenge never materialized, however.

Alvarez is sympathetic toward Dayne and others in his position.

"If you have a great player and he has two or three great years for you, and you look at all the information and all the facts, and it says he's going to be a high draft pick and that's what he wants to do, I'd encourage him to do it --- as long as you leave school the proper way so you can come back and pick up your degree.

"If you're a marginal player, and somebody's put it in your head that you're going to be an early pick and that's not the case, then I think it would be foolish to leave, because you lose your scholarship and you're not going to make much money."

There seems little doubt that Dayne, a cross between Jerome Bettis and Christian Okoye, would be a high first-round pick if he were to come out after his junior campaign.

"We'll see what kind of year he has," Alvarez said. "Let the year play out, let's not be concerned whether he's coming or going."

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