x.■ • .***.. *S'~ v ....
M
It would be a great award.
I’m just happy to be
mentioned in the top two or
three or four.”
RonDayne
/» T . • T T * Wisconsin tailback
favored to win Heisman -
NEW YORK (AP>-When Peter Warrick i
stumbl&d on the road to the Heisman Trophy,
Ron Dayne kept going, and going-antTgoing: -
Dayne, Wisconsin’s record-setting tailback,
arrives at the Downtown Athletic Club for
Saturday’s Heisman presentation as the favorite
to receive college football’s most glamorous
individual award.
Even the competition has all but conceded.
“Pretty much everyone is handing it to
Dayne, but you never know,” said Georgia Tech’s
Joe Hamilton, one of four quarterbacks who
joined him as finalists.
^ “Ron Dayne broke the rushing record. It’s
going to be tough to beat him,” said Marshall’s
Chad Pennington.
“I think everyone is deserving in a way, but
Ron Dayne has done a lot What he’s meant to
his team is beyond anything what a lot of us have
done,” added Purdue’s Drew Brees.
And Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick, the first
freshman invited to a televised Heisman cere
mony, was just happy for die trip to New York.
“It means a lot but I do feel it’s for upper
classmen, and Dayne... he had a great season,”
Vick said.
With so much support, counting the 921
Heisman ballots - plus a frat-time one vote for
fans — appears to be a formality. However, there
have been Heisman “upsets,” the most recent
occurring in 1997 when Michigan comerback
Charles Woodson won over Tennessee quarter
back Peyton Manning.
^ Others included Gino Torretta of Miami
winning over Marshall Faulk of San Diego State
in 1992, and Pat Sullivan of Auburn beating Ed.,
Marinaro of Cornell in 1971.
Dayne moved into the clear favonte s
role when Florida State’s Warrick was
suspended for two games at midseason
after his arrest on charges of felony
grand theft. J
At the time, Warrick’s dazzling I3
play receiving, running, returning \
punts and even passing, seemed to be
more popular than Dayne’s assault
on the Division I-A rushing record.
But the 5-foot-10, 254-pound
Dayne revved up for a final push at
Ricky Williams’ record. Williams
broke Tony Dorsett’s 22-year-old
mark last season and went on to
win the*Heisijian.
✓ Dayne topped 200 yardsln ;
three of the final four games as
he led the Badgers (9-2) to the
Big 10 Conference title and a
second-straight Rose Bowl
berth. He ran for 214 yards in an
easy win over Michigan State,
which entered the game with the
lation’s top rushing defense, and broke
Williams’ record with a 216-yard day in a 41-3
win over Iowa in the regular-season finale.
His career totals are 1,115 carries for 6,397
>rards and 63 touchdowns. For the season, Dayne
was the nation’s second-leading rusher with
1,834 yards - 6.1 yards per carry - and 19 TDs.
Winning the Heisman was not one of the rea
sons the media-shy Dayne passed on the NFL to
stay in school. He wanted another year of being
with his 2-year-old daughter, Jada, and his girl
friend, Alia Lester, a senior at Wisconsin. Also,
bis sister, Onya, was an incoming freshman.
Winning games, not the
Heisman, was his first order
oi iooioau Dus mess.
“It would be a great
award,” said Dayne, from
Berlin, NJ. “I’m just happy to
be mentioned in die top two or
three or four. It would help die
program here. You don’t get
that unless you’re doing some
thing good.”
Dayne’s numbers this season
are impressive, especially when
he sat out the second halves of
blowouts against Murray State,
Ball State and Indiana, but so are
those of the other finalists.
Hamilton, 5-10 and 189
pounds, was the nation’s sec
ond-rated passer with
3,060
yards
and 29 TDs in leading the Yellow Jackets to an 8
3 season. He was spectacular even in defeat. In a
41-35 loss to Florida State, he completed 22-of
25 passes for 387 yards and four TDs and ran for
another score.
Pennington led the Thundering Herd (12-0)
to a perfect regular season by throwing for 3,799
yards and 37 TDs.
Brees threw for 3,531 yards and 21 TDs in
leading Purdue to a 7-4 record.
And then there’s Vick, who led the nation in
passing efficiency and was college football’s
surprise player of the year. The redshirt fresh
man threw for 1,840 yards and 12 TDs and ran
for 585 yards and eight scores in leading No. 2
Virginia Tech (11-0) to a national championship
game against No. 1 Florida State in the Sugar
Bowl on Jan. 4.
No freshman or sophomore has won the
Heisman, which has been presented since 1935.
The freshman with the most points was
Georgia’s Herschel Walker, who had 683 in fin
ishing third in 1980 behind George Rogers
(1,128 points) and Hugh Green (861). Walker
won the Heisman in 1982 as a junior.
The closest Heisman vote was in 1985, when
Auburn’s Bo Jackson edged Iowa’s Chuck Long
by 45 points. The largest was in 1968, when
Southern California’s O.J. Simpson beat
Purdue’s Leroy Keyes by 1,750 points.
MattHaney/DN
—-—- _<:>
NU runs out of gi i
BASKETBALL from page 14
to redshirt. That’s absolute. You can
put it in your book and stop asking us
because it’s over,” Nee said
The Huskers held the lead again
early in the second half, as Danny
Walker’s second straight 3-pointer
put Nebraska up 46-43. Walker hit
four 3.-^pointers in the contest to
account for all of his 12 points. -
It was the next five minutes that
would prove to be the turning point,
though.
Creighton used several 3-point
ers of its own to begin a run, and by
the 13-minute mark, the Bluejays
were m control, $1-52. Although the
Huskers attempted to mount several
runs late in the contest, Creighton
answered and even poured iton indie
waning moments, much to the
delimit of the 9377 fans dud packed
the Auditorium.
Nee gave credit to his coaching
counterpart Dana Altman and his
team.
“Creighton played at an extreme
ly high level tonight, both offensive
ly and defensively,” Nee said. “I real
ly liked the way thgy played. Dana
really had his kids ready to go
tonight.”
Nee said CU freshman Tyrrell
-Taylor, who scored a game-high 21
points, including 8-10 from the field
and 3-3 from beyond the 3-point line,
was a surprising difference for the
Bluejays.
“Terrell Taylor -1 didn’t even
know uho he was until a little over 24
hours ago, and he just played excep
tional for them tonight,” Nee said.
The Nebraska coach and his
injured star both blamed the
Buskers’ lack of execution for the
loss, too. They both said the Buskers’
death knell was exactly what it had
been all year - turnovers. Nebraska
committed 24 in the game.
Despite playing at a high level for
a half and shooting 54 percent from
the floor for the game, Nee wasn’t
anxious to give any credit to his
team, mainly because of the miscues.
“It’s hard to evaluate (the first
half) without taking the whole game
into account,” he said. “I thought we
sucked Twenty-four turnovers is
never going to beat anyone good.”
Belcher put much of the Marne
on his own shoulders, citing his six
turnovers as “the difference in die
game.” He said he was frustrated
with his inability to use his right
hand but hoped to be ready to go :
against Pittsburgh on Saturday.
“I’m probably going to play
again,” he said. “Tb£ wrist is sore as
always, but I hope lobe ready to pay
by Saturday. I need to play for the
team.”
Injured senior a key
to Creighton’s win
CU from page 14
“I know how much these guys
around here wanted it; and I know
how much I wanted it,” Taylor said.
. “I could just imagine how much
they wanted it being from the
Midwest. We reaHy wanted this
game because they kind of did us
wrong last year. They did a few
thing* that were kind of disrespect
ful.”
Taylor repeatedly took the CU
offense under his belt and brought
defensive intensity with his four
steals and a bloek of NU guard
Cookie Belcher. TayTor made a l
pointer as time expired in die sec
ond half and basked in the moment
as CU rushed the court. Altman
likes what he sees in his young phe
nom.
“The young man doesn’t lack
for confidence,” Altman said. “That
was an outstanding performance
from a freshman. He is starting to
recognize his mistakes, and that
shows his progress as a player.
“I don’t know if he can have that
kind of production all the time, but
his athleticism sure does give us a
boost.”
Taylor said all the right things
afterwards and showed maturity in
putting the game into perspective.
“There are a lot more tilings we
need to accomplish than beating
Nebraska,” Taylor said. “I under
stand it is a big rivalry, but it is just
one more game in our book.”