|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |
MADISON, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- Ron Dayne celebrated his final homecoming with 167 yards rushing and two scores, leading 18th-ranked Wisconsin to possibly its most dominant performance ever, a 59-0 rout of Big Ten Conference foe Indiana. Dayne, trying to re-establish himself as a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy, did all of his damage on 17 carries in the first half as the Badgers (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) raced to a 38-0 lead. He had a three-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and rumbled 57 yards to the end zone 1:54 before halftime. With 5,583 career rushing yards, Dayne must average 174 over the final four games to pass Ricky Williams as the NCAA's all-time leading rusher. He needs just 15 rushing yards to tie Charles White for third all-time. "Ron's got a bad finger and I thought it would be foolish for us, just for yardage sake, to put him in the (second half)," Badgers coach Barry Alvarez said. "I just didn't feel that was the proper thing to do." Asked about the condition of his finger, which he injured last week's win over Minnesota, Dayne replied, "Against Minnesota, I guess I jammed or dislocated it. I was out there playing and it felt pretty good until I landed on it." Alvarez, coaching from the press box as he continues to recover from knee surgery, moved into a tie with Phil King as the winningest coach in Wisconsin football history with 65 victories. He watched from above as the Badgers amassed 705 yards of offense, shattering the previous school record of 632, set in 1994, also against Indiana. Wisconsin also recorded the most lopsided victory in school history as it shut down Hoosiers star quarterback Antwaan Randle El, who ran for just 28 yards on 18 carries. Randle El, who was on the verge of entering the Heisman race, completed just 10-of-25 passes for 153 yards. "I was really pleased with our defense," Alvarez said. "Randle El is a great player and they've got some weapons. For our guys to contain him like they did is very impressive." "They challenged us defensively more than anyone has challenged us this year and we didn't respond well," Hoosiers coach Cam Cameron said. "I'm impressed with this Wisconsin football team." Sophomore Michael Bennett showed Wisconsin fans that all may not be lost with the departure of Dayne following this season. Bennett spelled Dayne in the second half and needed just six carries to gain 114 yards and score two touchdowns. No matter what Bennett does in his next two-plus seasons at Wisconsin, he will not be able to match Dayne's four straight 1,000-yard campaigns with the Badgers. Dayne reached 1,020 for the year, joining Amos Lawrence, Tony Dorsett and Denvis Manns as the only players in NCAA history to rush for at least 1,000 in four different seasons. Freshman Brooks Bollinger completed 9-of-10 passes for 162 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown toss to Chris Chambers that got the Badgers on the board. Bollinger ran for 36 yards and a score before leaving in the second quarter with a bruised hip. "This Brooks Bollinger is going to be a guy who is going to give this league problems in the next few years," Cameron said. "He makes all the difference in the world if you look at their team throughout the course of this season." The Hoosiers (3-4, 2-2) lost to the Badgers for the fifth straight time. Vitaly Pisetsky extended his streak of consecutive field goals made to 10, booting a 27-yarder during the Badgers' 24-point second quarter. Chad Kuhns contributed a five-yard TD run 6:21 before the intermission. While Bennett did all of the scoring in the third, Marc Carpenter capped the outburst with a four-yard run to the end zone early in the fourth. "I think teams start to divide at this point in the season. You either get better or get worse," Alvarez added. "I think we have a lot of upside and that's what I wanted to see today and I thought I saw it."
|
