Ranking the Top 20 Running Backs in Wisconsin Badgers History

2. Ron Dayne (1996-99)

No Badger running back will ever have the impact that Ron Dayne had or put up the raw statistical totals that he amassed. It’s literally impossible. He changed the entire culture and self-esteem of the Wisconsin football program. But it’s true that no runner will ever subject himself to four seasons of that many carries again. His legacy is safe and secure as the most synonymous name associated with Wisconsin Badgers football.

No Badgers running back will ever have such an amazing bowl game history either. Three bowl wins, three games with at least 200 yards rushing, two Rose Bowl victories, a plethora of touchdowns… we could go on and on.

The peak of “The Great Dayne’s” illustrious career, to us, was his dominance in the 1999 Rose Bowl. People said no one, not even Dayne, would be able to run on UCLA’s top rated run defense. Even less thought the Badgers would be able to take home their second Rose Bowl trophy.

Dayne made sure everyone was proven wrong with a 246 rushing yards and record four rushing touchdown performance. That game forever changed Wisconsin’s program and launched his 1999 Heisman Trophy campaign.

He was Wisconsin’s second ever Heisman Trophy winner, the first and only in the definitive modern era (including the BCS and now Playoff Era). He is NCAA’s all-time leading rusher (with bowl stats included, because, duh) and his 71 touchdowns were as hard-earned as any in college football history.

Dayne was surprisingly fast and nimble, but it was his size and his downhill running that brought him fame. He just looked bigger than everyone else on the field, even if he wasn’t. Dayne had a unique ability to bounce off tacklers, defenders just slipped off of him.

He was the pride of head coach, Barry Alvarez. As much as we adore Barry, he may not have a statue outside of Camp Randall without Dayne’s contributions to the program. His number 33 is retired at Wisconsin and is, arguably, the most iconic number in Wisconsin history.

He led the Big Ten in rushing three times in his career and rushing touchdowns twice.

If another statue ever goes up, it’s Dayne that deserves it. Plus, it needs to be mentioned that his Badgers went 4-0 against Minnesota. Just look at the awards below. It’s almost inconceivable that any back could be ranked ahead of him in Badgers history. His 28 career NFL touchdowns pale in comparison to what he did in Madison.

Dayne has stats and records that will never be touched in Madison. He is the only player to rush for 1,400+ yards in four consecutive seasons. The same goes for scoring 15+ touchdowns in four consecutive seasons. That not only takes immense talent, but rare durability, too.

Heisman Trophy Winner (1999); AP Player of the Year (1999); Doak Walker Award Winner (1999); Walter Camp Award Winner (1999); Maxwell Award Winner (1999); Consensus All-American (1999); Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (1999); Member of the College Football Hall of Fame

But yet, one man rose above.

1. Jonathan Taylor (2017-19)

First, I’d like to say that we never, and I mean never, thought there could ever be an argument for a running back to be listed ahead of Dayne on such a list. But this is the reality.

Jonathan Taylor: The best running back in the history of “Running Back U” — that says it all.

Unprecedented strength, surprising speed, obvious intelligence. Those are just a few of the elite attributes that JT possessed for the Wisconsin Badgers. Humility is, perhaps, his most famous attribute.

Like Melvin Gordon, there is absolutely nothing Taylor couldn’t do at an elite level for his position. However, Taylor had even better patience and balance than Gordon. Taylor wasted zero motion with the ball in his hands, never making the wrong decision. Many of his best runs and highlights are under-appreciated because he always picked the right hole, waited for his blockers, and took the perfect angle en route to the distant end zone. It was as if big runs just, somehow, happened when Taylor was on the field; it’s hard to describe exactly why he was so dominant.

He did everything so great that no individual aspect of his game looked great.

Taylor was more consistent in his three year career than Gordon and yes, even more consistent than the legendary Great Dayne himself. True, Taylor didn’t win the Heisman Trophy like Dayne or Alan Ameche. Yes, he didn’t set all-time yardage or touchdown career records like Dayne or Montee Ball. He didn’t have a purely dominant single-season like Gordon or a complete four-year career of excellence like Dayne.

But still, Taylor is the greatest running back in Wisconsin Badgers history. His NCAA record 13 separate 200+ rushing performances speak for themselves. As does his record for most ever yards after three collegiate seasons (passing Herschel Walker).

Plus, like Dayne, he showed incredible durability during his time in Madison. Obviously he didn’t get the ability to show it for four full seasons, but he never missed a game while at Wisconsin.

Are you coming around to our way of thinking on our choice for No. 1 on this all-time list? Not yet? No worries, check these out.

These Facts Say Everything:

1. Taylor was the first back in Badgers history to finish top 10 in Heisman Trophy voting three times, the first with two top 10 finishes since Alan Ameche (1953-54). Dayne and other backs never accomplished that.

2. He was the first Badgers back to rush for 1,900+ yards in three consecutive seasons. In fact, he was the first Badgers back to rush for even 1,500+ yards in three consecutive seasons. That’s how much more productive and consistent Taylor was than every other fantastic runner in this program’s history.

How about this? No other Badger has ever ran for 1,900+ yards in two consecutive seasons. Again, Taylor did it three seasons in a row. Taylor’s touchdowns increased in all three of his seasons, too. From 13 as a true freshman, to 16 as a junior and 26 (so far) as a junior.

3. Taylor is one of just two Badgers with at least five receiving touchdowns in a single season (with Montee Ball). Unlike some of the other great Badgers runners, Taylor wasn’t one dimensional as just a running threat in the backfield. Ball had a much better quarterback throwing to him (Russell Wilson).

4. Amazingly, Taylor was named a Consensus All-American twice, in consecutive seasons, joining Montee Ball as the only back to have done that in Badgers history. Ball was never a unanimous selection, unlike Taylor who was in 2018 and 2019.

In fact, Taylor was the first two-time Unanimous Consensus All-American in Wisconsin football history. No other player in any position has ever accomplished that feat, except for Taylor.

5. On top of that, he was the first two-time Doak Walker Award winner in program history (an award that’s been around since 1990).

6. He won the Big Ten’s Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year Award in back-to-back seasons, joining Montee Ball as the only back to do that in program history (an award that’s been around since 2011).

Does anything more need to be said? Well, Dayne should get a some credit for having his freaking name on the Big Ten Running Back of the Year Award. Seriously, it took a lot of sincere contemplation to place JT ahead of the Great Dayne on this list.

And Taylor shouldn’t get all of the credit, but his Badgers did go 8-1 in rivalry “trophy games” while in Madison, including 3-0 in his final season with the program. In Taylor’s freshman year he helped lead Wisconsin to its first ever 13 win season, breaking Adrian Peterson’s all-time freshman rushing record. Although, unofficially, we all know Dayne had a better statistical freshman season including his bowl game yardage.

Just like Dayne, Taylor led the Big Ten in rushing three times and rushing touchdowns twice. Although he did that in just three seasons in Madison.

If Taylor helps lead the Badgers to a Rose Bowl victory (after helping them win an Orange Bowl) his case will be even stronger for the No. 1 place on this all-time list. All we have to do is sit back and watch! There is no limit to how dominant he could be in the NFL, again, all we have to do is watch.

Doak Walker Award Winner (2018, 2019); Consensus All-American (2018, 2019)

Taylor is a future College Football Hall of Fame inductee, book it.

“No Really, how the hell is Taylor ahead of Dayne?” You angrily ask…

Okay, so you’re still not sold. You believe the raw stats accumulated by Dayne, and his overall impact including the Rose Bowl victories, just put No. 33 in the No. 1 spot in Wisconsin history — no questions asked.

Let us explain… using some cold hard numbers.

But before we jump into it, lets reiterate that Taylor is the only two-time Unanimous Consensus All-American and only two-time Doak Walker Award winner in Wisconsin history. Now, with that information seared into your brain, lets move onto the numbers that support our claim.

Dayne’s average season: 305 carries for 1,781 rushing yards, 18 rushing touchdowns, 76 receiving yards, 0 receiving touchdowns. 5.8 yards per rush and 18 total touchdowns. 9.25 team wins per year.

Taylor’s average season:* 302 carries for 2,027 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns, 122 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns. 6.7 yards per rush and 19 total touchdowns. 10.33 team wins per year.

However, Taylor (41 games played) played more games per season due to the Big Ten Conference Championship being added since Dayne played at Wisconsin (47 games played in his career). That has to be noted.

So a more fair way to look at the stats is on a per-game basis.

Dayne’s per-game average: 152 rushing yards, 1.51 total touchdowns and 158 total yards per game. 5.7 yards per attempt.

Taylor’s per-game average: 152 rushing yards, 1.37 total touchdowns and 161 total yards per game. 6.7 yards per attempt.

Identical rushing yards per game! How insane is that? Yes, Dayne got the ball in the end zone at a higher rate, but he also got more rushing attempts per game.

But who would have thought that a Badger back would ever be able to top Dayne’s total per game yardage?

However, it should be noted that Dayne kept us his ridiculous pace for four straight seasons, that consistency cannot be understated. But also, Dayne got to touch the ball more than Taylor on a per-game basis, so that helped his overall numbers, too.

For some additional context, the amazingly explosive Melvin Gordon averaged 114 total yards per game as a Badger. In his two seasons as the primary starter, Gordon averaged 161 total yards per game. Taylor sustained that exact level of production for three consecutive years.

Montee Ball topped Gordon’s career average with 117 total yards per game, while averaging 148 total yards per game in his final two electrifying seasons.

P.J. Hill put up 116 total yards per game in his three season career with the Badgers. John Clay averaged 94 total yards per game while in Madison, while putting up 121 total yards per game during his dominant 2009 season. Brian Calhoun, in his one season in Madison, averaged a whopping 170 total yards per game. But again, that’s just one season, not an entire career.

At least we can see the context of where the other great backs fit in this equation and how far above Dayne and Taylor’s careers were above theirs.

Lets Look At Career Totals:

Dayne’s total career stats including his Bowl Games stats: 7,125 rushing yards and 71 total touchdowns.

Taylor’s total career stats including a projected senior season: 8,205 rushing yards and 76 total touchdowns.*

*This is assuming 2,000 yards rushing and just 20 touchdowns in his senior season as well as 125 yards and just one touchdown in the upcoming Rose Bowl. Which is a conservative estimate considering his strong, but sustainable junior season success, his work ethic and yearly upward trajectory.

Sure Taylor would end with just a handful of more touchdowns, but also a thousand more rushing yards (due to the ability to play more games per season, yes, but it’s the reality of the situation).

When making this comparison between these two special runners it’s important to note, again, that no running back will ever again be able to play four full seasons the way Dayne did. With how the game has changed and how running backs careers are shorter than ever in the NFL, a player would never have three such seasons and not go pro following their junior campaign. Thus, we cannot, or at least should not, hold the lack of a senior season against Taylor. We can only project what his stats would have been, an imperfect metric, yes, but it’s all we have.

Furthermore, Dayne never caught a touchdown pass in his college career. Did he need to? No. But in his junior season, Tayor went and caught five touchdowns. This versatility shown is a bonus for Taylor’s case as the greatest running back in Wisconsin Badgers history. He was just the complete package from top to bottom.

But again, Dayne will forever be the most important running back in Wisconsin Badgers history and we’d argue the most influential, too. He’ll always be the man with the most career rushing yards and, likely, the most Rose Bowl MVPs. 

This really is a situation where it’s a 1A and 1B when it comes to these two runners. Although we felt you, the reader, deserved a firm stance and Taylor’s unbelievable production for three consecutive years just pushed him over the top as the best running back in program history.

Jonathan Taylor won’t ever quite have the impact or legacy that Ron Dayne had. It’s just a nature of the circumstances. Even so, Taylor is the greatest running back in Wisconsin Badgers history.

For now, that is.

Okay, so we’ve named the top 20 (OK, technically we named the top 21) Wisconsin Badgers backs of all-time.

Do you think we got it right? Either way it’s an incredible history at the running back position. I’m sure we can all agree on that.

Thanks for reading! Go Bucky!

#OnWisconsin