Profile by G F Gunderson.

This article was written on the heels of Ron Dayne being named the last Heisman Trophy winner of this century, and rightly so. Arguably, Dayne has meant more to his college team than another other athlete during the last four years. Below is an in-depth look at our Big Ten stud pick at the running back position.

The Numbers:
1996 att 325 yrds 2,109 ave 6.5 td 21 / rec 14 yrds 133 ave 9.5 td 0
1997 att 263 yrds 1,457 ave 5.5 td 15 / rec 10 yrds 117 ave 11.7 td 0
1998 att 295 yrds 1,525 ave 5.2 td 15 / rec 6 yrds 45 ave 7.5 td 0
1999 att 303 yrds 1,834 ave 6.1 td 19 / rec 1 yrds 9 ave 9 td 0

The Scoop:
Ron Dayne came charging onto the college football scene in 1996 with excitement and power setting the stage for his storied career. He piled up an amazing 21 touchdowns as a true freshman and finished with a total of 70 in his career. What’s more is the fact that Dayne is college football’s all-time leading rusher with 6,925 total rushing yards. In 1999 he was second in the nation for rushing yards (1834) and never had season with less than 1400 yards. These numbers were accomplished despite the fact that teams knew Dayne would get the ball game in and game out.

Dayne’s fabulous career has not been without criticism, however. Analysts around the country claimed that much of Dayne’s success came while playing weak football teams and that he often vanished in big games. Dayne silenced the critics in 1999 by churning out big yardage while playing an extremely difficult schedule which included 5 nationally ranked teams. The most impressive showing came during a 214 yard performance against a highly regarded Michigan State defense.

Dayne leaves college football with a host of accolades including the Doak Walker Award, the Maxwell Award, Rose Bowl MVP, First Team All-Big Ten, as the all-time leading rusher and Heisman Trophy winner. He is truly one of football’s greatest players.

STRENGTHS: Is an absolute load. Excellent size to speed ratio. Has very nifty feet especially near the goal-line. Patient to the hole and then bursts through with speed and power. Can and does run over people.