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WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Ticker) -- Ron Dayne waived goodbye to Tony Dorsett and Drew Brees on his way to Ricky Williams. In a game billed as a battle between Heisman candidates Dayne and Brees, the Wisconsin running back rushed 32 times for 222 yards and a touchdown en route to a 28-21 Big Ten Conference victory over Purdue. Dayne passed Dorsett for second place on the NCAA all-time rushing list, increasing his total to 6,181 yards, just 98 shy of Williams' Division I-A record. "The line made some great blocks," said the humble Dayne, who should break the record next week against Iowa in his last regular-season game. "As long as we win, the yards will come." Brees completed 36-of-64 passes for 350 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. He also rushed 18 times for 85 yards and a pair of scores. Cornerback Jamar Fletcher returned one of the interceptions for a TD, giving Wisconsin (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten) a 28-14 lead with 4:43 to play. It was his second interception return for a score against Brees in as many seasons. That helped the Badgers move a half-game ahead of Penn State for first place in the Big Ten with only Iowa left on their slate. The Nittany Lions still have to play Michigan and Michigan State. Purdue (6-4, 3-4) has lost two straight at home and four of six overall since a 4-0 start. Brees drew the Boilermakers within 28-21 with 2:24 left on his second one-yard TD run and Purdue appeared to recover an on-side kick, but Wisconsin wrestled the ball away from wide receiver Randall Lane. Dayne and his teammates had no problem running out the clock, as the Boilermakers were without a timeout. The 250-pound star sealed the win with an 11-yard run on 2nd-and-9. "Dayne is a great running back," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "I'm really impressed with him. It seemed like he turned it up in the fourth quarter, which great football players do." There were stars on both sides, and Fletcher was one of them. The former high school option quarterback recorded his 14th interception in 70 games and fifth for a touchdown. The game was tied at 14-14 when Dayne busted away down the right sideline against a nine-man front for a 41-yard TD. Dayne got to the outside and outraced linebacker Jason Loerzel to the end zone. Dayne recorded his 12th career 200-yard game and 31st of at least 100 yards. "I think No. 33 really made a statement today," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said. "He ran very well today as he has all season." Brees had kept Purdue in the game, with a one-yard TD run to tie it at 7-7 in the second quarter and an 11-yard scoring toss to tight end Tim Stratton, which knotted it at 14-14. Stratton finished with 10 catches for 126 yards and Chris Daniels added 12 for 77, setting a single-season Big Ten record for receptions with 108. Before Stratton's TD, Nick Davis had stolen the show from Dayne and Brees. He followed Brees' first TD run by returning the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a score and a 14-7 lead. A sophomore, Davis has three punt returns for TDs and two kick returns for scores in two seasons. "We're trying to make something happen with the return game," Davis said. "It was a big win for us. It's a building block, which we'll hopefully use to carry us through the bowl game." Badgers redshirt freshman Brooks Bollinger accounted for the game's other score, a three-yard pass to tight end Dague Retzlaff, as Wisconsin improved to 6-0 with him at the helm. Bollinger completed 7-of-11 passes for the Badgers, who had just 288 yards of total offense to 494 by Purdue, but took advantage of three interceptions. "It really came down to two things, turnovers and what you do with them," Tiller said. "We didn't do a great job with our turnovers and they did. "The other thing is the kicking game when you play a team like Wisconsin. It seems to always play a factor and we came up short."
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