THE GREATEST DAYNE

By HELENE ELLIOTT

Dec. 29, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

If he needed to be sure he had made the right decision, if there was the smallest reason for Ron Dayne to wonder if he should have chosen to skip his senior season at Wisconsin next fall and gone for a big NFL payoff, he got his affirmation with one glance at the happy face of his 13-month-old daughter, Jada, on Christmas.

“We opened our presents on the 24th,” Dayne said. “The next day she woke up early and climbed down the steps and tried to open the other presents.

“Being a father, there’s a lot more responsibilities. It makes you want to go out and do your best in whatever you do because I know I have to take care of her.”

For Dayne, that means staying in Madison to be near his daughter--whose name is tattooed on his biceps and written on his wrist bands--and her mother, Alia, his girlfriend and a fellow Wisconsin student. It means keeping together the family they have made--unlike the family he was born into, which splintered when his parents separated when he was 14 and he went to live with an uncle who is a pastor.

His decision to finish his college career also will keep together a team he has come to regard as his family. Just as his teammates and coaches trusted him to carry the ball 268 times for 1,279 yards in leading the Badgers to a 10-1 season and a Rose Bowl berth Friday against UCLA, the 5-foot-10, 253-pound junior tailback trusted them to counsel him as he pondered the biggest decision of his life.

Since the day he arrived from Overbrook High in Pine Hill, N.J., Dayne had never let them down. He gave more than they knew he had when he set an NCAA record for freshmen with 2,109 yards in 325 carries and 21 touchdowns, even though he didn’t start until the fifth game of the season. He gave them more than he should have in his sophomore season, carrying the ball 263 times for 1,457 yards and 15 touchdowns despite neck, shoulder and knee injuries that cost him 12 quarters.

They owed him the same effort in presenting every factor that might have influenced his choice, and they took the responsibility seriously.

Aaron Gibson, the 6-7, 370-pound offensive lineman who is among Dayne’s closest friends, said he and Dayne did some soul searching.

“He asked me, ‘Do you regret staying for your senior year?’ and I said, ‘No,’ ” said Gibson, a finalist for the Lombardi Award and the Outland Trophy. “I told him it was good for me and he made his decision.”

In the end, Dayne will stay as much for his teammates as for himself, for what they can do together more than for the records he can break. He will stay so he can become a better father and football player; if the rewards follow, he will accept them but not brag about them.

“I wasn’t really surprised he decided to stay,” said Badger Coach Barry Alvarez, who has become close to Dayne. “He and I talked earlier this year and I said, ‘Don’t worry about this now. When the season’s over, we’ll look at all the facts,’ and that’s what he did.

“He wasn’t worried about it during the season. The information we received indicated he would be better off staying another year, and he still had some goals he wanted to achieve. . . . I’m obviously pleased he decided to come back.”

Said Dayne: “It wasn’t a real difficult decision. Money wasn’t a problem. I just wanted to see where guys [NFL scouts] had me and I talked to Coach Alvarez. I’m happy and I just can’t wait to play this game.

“I was having a lot of fun in college and I wasn’t ready to leave my daughter yet. Her mother is staying for her senior year and I wanted to see my daughter and I wanted to see her.”

So much is within Dayne’s grasp, so many possibilities to be realized. A powerful runner with surprising speed and a low center of gravity--Gibson once said being hit by Dayne “feels like being hit by a small car”--Dayne faces the future with a calm but purposeful attitude. He’s reluctant to say much about himself, simply eager to carry the ball over, around or through the obstacles before him and reach the next level of excellence.

He is already the top rusher in Wisconsin history with 4,563 yards, which places him in position to break the NCAA record of 6,279 set this season by Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams of Texas. Williams was 37th in career rushing yards before this season; Dayne is 19th. His three-year total is the third-highest in NCAA for players after their junior year, behind the 5,259 yards Herschel Walker ran for at Georgia and the 4,589 Marshall Faulk compiled for San Diego State.

“He’s made more yards after first contact than any back I’ve seen. I’d venture to say half his yards were after first contact,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “He’s big, strong and fast.”

Although Dayne rushed for fewer yards this season than as a freshman or sophomore, he had eight games of 100 yards or more and outrushed the opposing team in seven of the 10 games he played. He has eight games of 200 or more yards rushing in his career.

“Ron could have probably had two or three more 200-yard games but there were games where he didn’t play in the fourth quarter,” said Brian White, the Badgers’ running back coach. “He could have broken the record for 200-yard rushing games. When it’s 45-7, to expose someone of his talents to that situation makes no sense. He’ll break the records in the context of the game.”

But never will he spike a ball or show up a defender. He puts the focus on the team, not on himself, and he is quick to show his gratitude toward those who help him.

To his offensive linemen, whose blocking was instrumental in his superb freshman season, he gave T-shirts with the words, “O-line, My Kind of People, My Kind of Guys.” Two years ago, when the Badgers were away at Christmas to prepare for the Copper Bowl, he didn’t have the money to buy a present for Alvarez and so gave of himself--an autographed, framed picture of himself that expressed his thanks.

Although he doesn’t say much, what he says is heartfelt. He has put his fame to good use, serving as a spokesman for the Dane County, Wis., Humane Society and appearing with a pack of Great Danes in public service announcements and posters with the slogan “Humane Treatment of Animals--Not Linebackers.” When he appeared at a fund-raiser for a new Humane Society building, he got top billing over the other speaker, Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.

“He’s a guy that deflects attention,” Alvarez said. “Awards and records and all those things have no meaning for him. He’s been given a load of awards and he gives them away.”

He hasn’t given White any of those plaques or trophies, but he doesn’t have to.

“The only thing he’s given me is a chance to coach a guy who gives you a chance to win every game, and I feel lucky,” White said. “He gave me his best gift when he decided to come back for a fourth year. I’m able to sleep at night.”

Dayne isn’t losing any sleep over his decision to stay at Wisconsin, nor over the challenges he will face Friday as the focal point of the Badger offense. He insisted UCLA’s defense is good and downplayed the 299 yards rushing Miami’s Edgerrin James had against the Bruins. “That’s one guy that did that,” Dayne said. “I just want to go out and play hard. They’ve got a good team.

“It doesn’t put so much pressure on me. These guys know we’ve got to go out and play hard. I know they’re kind of disappointed they’re not playing in the number one bowl and I can understand where they’re coming from.”

Where the Bruins are coming from may be less interesting than where Dayne is going.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

DAYNE AT A GLANCE

Career Statistics

*--*

Year G No. Yards Avg. TD 1996 13 325 2,109 6.5 21 1997 11 263 1,457 5.5 15 1998 10 268 1,279 4.8 11 Totals 34 856 4,845 5.7 47

*--*

NCAA Active Rushing Leaders

Bowl games not included

Player: Yards

Ricky Williams, Texas: 6,279

Denvis Manns, New Mexico State: 4,692