We are 33 Days Away From College Football Kickoff! It is Monday, the last Monday in July. The Summer has absolutely flown by. Today, we have two Heisman winners, Tony Dorsett and Ron Dayne. We hope you enjoy their stories. Be sure to check back tomorrow for #32 in our countdown to kickoff. Enjoy!
Tony Dorsett (33) Days Away From College Football Kickoff
Tony Dorsett won Pittsburgh’s first Heisman Trophy and set the NCAA career rushing record, which lasted for 22 years. Along the way, he set or tied 18 collegiate rushing records, more than any other college football player.
In 1973, as a freshman, Dorsett rushed for 1,586 yards, the most ever by a college freshman, and became the first Pitt player to have a 1,000-yard season. He helped Pitt finish the regular season 6-4-1 and earn a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.
Early in his sophomore year, during his 15th game, Dorsett broke Marshall Goldberg’s Pitt career rushing record of 1,957 yards. That season, he rushed for 1,004 yards.
As a junior in 1975, Dorsett rushed for 1,544 yards in the regular season. This included a standout 303-yard game against Notre Dame.
During the last seven games of his senior year, as Pitt aimed for the national championship, Dorsett averaged 215 rushing yards per game and led the nation with 1,948 yards. After finishing fourth in the Heisman voting as a junior, he became Pitt’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 1976. He received 701 out of 842 first-place votes.
Dorsett set the NCAA all-time career rushing record with 6,082 yards, a record that lasted 22 years. Including three bowl games, his total at Pitt was 6,526 yards.
Dorsett was the first major college running back to have four 1,000-yard seasons. He also became the first freshman consensus All-American since 1944.
Dorsett was picked by Dallas in the first round of the 1977 NFL Draft. He played 11 seasons with the Cowboys from 1977 to 1987, then finished his career with the Denver Broncos in 1988. When he retired, he was the NFL’s second all-time leading rusher with 12,739 yards.
Dorsett was the first football player to win the Heisman Trophy, a college national championship, and a Super Bowl, and to be inducted into both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame. He received both Hall of Fame honors in 1994.
Another Great #33, Ron Dayne, Wisconsin
Ron Dayne joined Alan Ameche as a Wisconsin Heisman winner after setting the NCAA career rushing record. A record that stood until 2016, when Donnel Pumphrey of San Diego State broke it. However, if bowl stats were factored in, then Dayne would remain on top.
Most schools recruited him as a fullback, but Wisconsin saw him as a primary ball carrier. He signed to play for the Badgers in the spring of 1996.
Dayne made an immediate and major impact. Nicknamed the “Dayne Train,” he carried the ball 1,220 times in college and became the workhorse of Wisconsin’s ground game. He rushed for 1,863 yards as a freshman, 1,421 as a sophomore, 1,325 as a junior, and 1,834 as a senior.
Dayne is one of only five players to rush for over a thousand yards in four straight years. He finished his college career with 6,397 rushing yards, which is still the most in FBS history and broke Ricky Williams’ record from 1998. Including bowl games, his NCAA rushing total rises to 7,125 yards.
Dayne led Wisconsin to back-to-back Rose Bowl victories in his final two seasons. In those games, he rushed for a combined 446 yards in wins over UCLA and Stanford. He’s the only Big Ten player in history to win back-to-back Rose Bowl MVP awards.
Dayne was selected 11th overall by the New York Giants in the 2000 NFL draft.
Editor’s Note: The countdown to college football kickoff has been a series on the Last Word on College Football social media platforms for the past 9 years. They consisted of a photo and a small blurb for each player, with the jersey corresponding to the number of days until kickoff. The rank of the players is sourced from articles by Bleacher Report, Fox Sports, and The Athletic. There are also some favorite players of the Last Word on College Football writers. Their bios are sourced from multiple online sources, including but not limited to the College Football Hall of Fame, their Heisman profiles, and school websites.
Main Photo: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
