USD Football 1997

RUNAWAY DAYNE CON T I N UED

your nose and go after him the next time." Syracuse defensive coordinator Norm Ger– ber is most impressed with Dayne's quick– ness. "His speed is what makes him an exceptional back," said Gerber. The Orangemen had the unenviable task of taking on Dayne and the Bad– gers in this year's Kickoff Classic, held annually at Giants Stadium. Playing in the Big East has exposed the

Dayne's freshman numbers were slow in coming as he emerged from the bench, but once he got rolling he was virtually unstoppable.

Avg.

TD

Yards

All.

Opponent Eastern Michigan Nevada-Las Vegas Stanford

6.6 6.9 6.3 5.4 3.1 5.0 5.4 5.9 3.6 7.0 9.4 8.1

53 90 75

8

1 0 2 0 1 0 2 3 0 4 4 3

13 12 24 21 28 15 30 50 17

129

Penn State Ohio State Northwestern Michigan State Purdue Minnesota Iowa Illinois

65

139

81

244 297

62

289 339 246

41

36 30

"I wouldn't trade him for any other football player in America." Wisconsin running backs coach Brian White

year's squad, including Reisman hopeful QB Donovan McNabb - the Bad– gers face a list of oppo– nents that had a com– bined '96 record of 62- 66. Even though there 9-3

consin, which fea– tured a unit aver– aging over 300 pounds per player, lost seven fifth-year seniors at the point of attack. Even though the 1997 unit will lack valuable

Orange to quality ball carriers. Last year alone SU ranked second in rushing defense, allowing an average of 101.6 yards per game while facing the likes of Amos Zereoue of West Virginia, Omari Walker of Boston College and non-league foe Antowain Smith of Houston. Gerber, who has been coaching for 40 years, the last 14 at Syracuse, compares Dayne favorably with former Pitt stand– out Craig "Ironhead" Heyward. Accord– ing to Gerber, Dayne has the same size, vision and footwork that the former Fal– cons and current St. Louis Rams back has, but he feels the bruising Badger has better speed. Heyward finished fifth in the Reisman balloting in 1987. As a 250-pound back at Overbrook High School in Pine Hill, Dayne earned consensus All-America honors after rush– ing for 1,785 yards and 24 touchdowns in his senior season. Dayne was also on the track team and broke his own state dis– cus record and captured the Penn Relays shot put title in 1996. He chose Wisconsin because several former Overbrook players attended the Madison university and had a favorable opinion of the program. Plus, it didn't hurt that Alvarez recruited the two-sport star to play running back rather than fullback, as most schools had. Skeptics point out that Dayne will no longer benefit from the veteran, mammoth line that he ran behind last year. Wis-

are five '96 bowl teams on the slate, there are also six teams that finished with four wins or fewer. With Northwestern (Oct. 4) facing a rebuilding season, it is conceivable that Wisconsin will be undefeated heading into its Nov. 8 meeting with Iowa. Dayne is seeking to become the first sophomore to win the Reisman. Only three sophomores in the 62-year histo– ry of the award have ever finished sec– ond: Notre Dame's Angelo Bertelli, Army's Glenn Davis and Georgia's Her– schel Walker. All three eventually won the award. For a back who has already rewritten so many chapters in the history books, becoming the first sophomore to actual– ly win college football's most prized indi– vidual award does not seem that difficult. "I wouldn't trade him for any other football player in America," said White. It's tough to argue with that. IOI

game experience, size and strength will not be an issue. Wisconsin will once again feature an offensive front that resembles a line of major kitchen appli– ances, tipping the scales at 6-5 and 319 pounds per position. Included in that group is converted tight end Aaron Gib– son (6-7, 390). "They've got a solid group coming back," Gerber said. This season, instead of Dayne bene– fiting from his offensive line, it is the line that will benefit from Dayne. Call it a reversal of fortune . "I think blocking for a guy like Ron will allow our offensive line to mature a lot more quickly than they would if someone else was back there," White said. "Will Ron achieve the same things he did last year? I don't know, but only time will tell. " Even with all his natural physical tal– ent, Dayne and Wisconsin will benefit this year from a very favorable schedule. After the opener against Syracuse - a team that returns 12 starters from last

PETER HAYES is themanaging editor of College & ProFootball Newsweekly, anational publicationthat extensively covers college andpro football year-round.