Wisconsin football has an established culture of producing dominating running backs. Who are the 10 best running backs since Ron Dayne at Wisconsin?
Ron Dayne helped put Wisconsin football on the map with his play in the late 90’s. He became a legend and is somebody still brought up today as one of the greatest players in college football history. Since his time in Madison, the Badgers have had a steady flow of dominant running backs in the backfield.
If there’s on thing you can be certain about, the Badgers will have a devastating ground attack that will be able to keep them in any game. Wisconsin hasn’t traditionally had the athletes to play the spread game like most modern college teams. Instead, they continue to develop monsters on the offensive line and put running backs on the field that run for 1,000 yards like it’s a habit.
Wisconsin has been very spoiled in this regard. The success at running back has been a huge part of the Badgers’ success this millennium. Since Dayne’s time in Madison, the Badgers have only finished with a losing record once and haven’t missed a bowl game since 2001. Wisconsin has been one of the most stable programs in all of college football. And it’s all because of the commitment to the running game.
It’s hard to tell where Wisconsin would be without its ability to produce incredible running backs. It’s very likely the Badgers aren’t as prestigious of a program. The great seasons throughout the years led by great backs may never have happened. But lucky for us, not so much for the rest of the Big Ten, they did.
We have a long period of time to look back on, and a lot of backs to sort through. Here are the ten best running backs to suit up for the Badgers since Ron Dayne last played in 1999.