Columnist Steve Guiremand: Horton getting up-close look at Dayne

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Nov. 12, 1999 | 9:10 a.m.

Steve Guiremand's college football column appears Friday. Reach him at 259-2324 or steveg@vegas.com

Sometime during Saturday's contest with Iowa, Wisconsin tailback Ron Dayne will probably gain his 99th yard of the game and break Ricky Williams' NCAA career rushing mark of 6,279 yards.

Sold-out Camp Randall Stadium, a.k.a. Mad City, will erupt. And one of the first people to congratulate Dayne will be a fellow named Jeff Horton.

Horton, fired last November as head football coach at UNLV after compiling a 13-44 record and one Big West championship in five years, is now the quarterbacks coach at Wisconsin. And he'll be standing on the sidelines with one of the best views in the house of Dayne's record-breaking run.

"Today, CNN, ESPN, ABC ... they were all out here for practice," Horton said from his Madison, Wis., office following practice on Wednesday night. "I guess it's the most media requests they've ever had for a game here. The whole town is really pumped up. All the tickets are long gone."

Although most believe Dayne should have little trouble getting to the 99-yard barrier before halftime -- much less the end of the game -- against the woeful 1-8 Hawkeyes, Horton is taking a more cautious approach.

"He's still got to go out and do it," Horton said. "One thing I've learned this year is the margin of victory is very small in the Big Ten. Iowa is a big battle up here. The two states border each other and, until recently, they had won 17 in a row against us. And you know they don't want to have Dayne break the record on them. So they'll be fired up and ready to play."

Horton said Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez, who will finally have his long-awaited knee replacement surgery on Tuesday, is calling the game probably the biggest in school history.

"So much is riding on the game," Horton said. "Not only is Ronnie going for the record, but if we win, we're assured of a share of the Big Ten championship and back-to-back Big Ten titles. And Penn State still has to beat Michigan and Michigan State to get a tie."

Representatives of three BCS games -- the Rose, Fiesta and Orange Bowls -- will also be on hand.

Horton, who has played a key role in the Badgers' success with his grooming of redshirt freshman quarterback Brooks Bollinger, said there's no doubt in his mind that Dayne deserves to win the Heisman Trophy this year.

"What more do you want the kid to do?," he said. "He'll finish his career ranked in the top three in all the major categories ... touchdowns, yards rushing, average per game. He came back to play his senior year when he could have gone to the NFL last year. And he's a tremendous individual off the field, too. He's very unassuming. Talking to him you wouldn't knows he's accomplished all the things he has. He's very down-to-earth and not flamboyant. That might have hurt him some in terms of national publicity."

Horton says he still keeps close tabs on UNLV.

"The first thing I do every night when I get back after our game is check the ticker or call up their score on the Internet," Horton said. "I'm excited to see them getting some wins, including that big win at Wyoming. Hopefully, they can get a few more before the year is over. I'm very happy for all those kids there."

Once around the MWC

AIR FORCE: Jackson Whiting has hit all 11 of his field goal attempts and all 16 PATs to tie for the conference lead in both categories. Dating back to last season, Whiting has hit his last 12 field goals.

BYU: Cougars (8-1, 5-0) can clinch the inaugural MWC title outright with a win at Wyoming (5-3, 2-2) Saturday. The two teams haven't played since the 1996 WAC title game at Sam Boyd Stadium when BYU scored a 28-25 overtime victory.

COLORADO STATE: Rams (6-3, 3-2), who have a bye this week, are already lobbying for a Las Vegas Bowl berth. Plans are being made to offer students buses to Las Vegas for the Dec. 18 contest if CSU is chosen. Rams face Air Force next Thursday and end season on Nov. 27 at UNLV.

UNLV: The state's top defensive prospect, Cheyenne High School lineman Lynn McGruder (6-2, 295), visited Rebel practice again this week. McGruder is taking an official recruiting trip to Wisconsin this weekend and said he also plans to visit Texas and Notre Dame.

NEW MEXICO: Free safety Brian Urlacher leads the Lobos in tackles, fumble recoveries, punt return average and touchdowns. Other than that, he hasn't done too much. Urlacher also leads MWC in tackles witha 13.4 average per game.

SAN DIEGO STATE: Starting quarterback Jack Hawley suffered a shoulder injury in Aztecs' 30-7 loss to BYU and could miss next week's game at UNLV. Redshirt freshman Lon Sheriff will likely see action against the Rebels regardless of Hawley's health.

UTAH: Utes were held to just 45 yards rushing last week by Wyoming. That's the same Cowboy defense that UNLV carved up on the ground for 186 yards a few weeks earlier in Laramie.

WYOMING: Opportunistic Cowboys have come up with 23 turnovers in eight games --- 12 interceptions and 11 fumble recoveries. Those 23 turnovers have led to 13 touchdowns and three field goals.

Once around the nation

ACC: Strong rumors are circulating that North Carolina coach Carl Torbush will be fired at the end of the season.

BIG EAST: No. 2 Virginia Tech (8-0, 4-0), which hosts Miami (5-3, 3-0) on Saturday night, has blocked more kicks --- 63 --- than any other Division I team in the nation in the 90's.

BIG TEN: Minnesota senior strong safety Tyrone Carter had eight tackles in Gophers' 24-23 upset of Penn State, making him the NCAA Division I all-time leader for defensive backs with 483.

BIG 12: Nebraska cornerback Ralph Brown has guaranteed a victory over Kansas State in this Saturday's Big 12 showdown in Lincoln. Brown has a school-record 45 pass breakups in his career.

BIG WEST: Nevada-Reno quarterback David Neill has thrown 188 straight passes without an interception going into Saturday's game at Arkansas State. Speculation is mounting that Wolf Pack coach Jeff Tisdel could be on the hotseat because of his team's 3-6 record.

CONFERENCE USA: Southern Miss (6-3, 5-0) clinched at least a share of the league title with its 20-5 win over Memphis. The winner of next week's game between the Eagles and Louisville (7-3, 4-1) will earn a trip to the Liberty Bowl to face likely Mountain West champ BYU.

MAC: Worst of the 114 Division I football teams? How about Buffalo (0-9, 0-7), which lost at home to Division I-AA Hofstra, 20-13, last week.

PAC-10: Finally a little good news for USC fans (No, athletic director Mike Garrett hasn't been fired ... yet.). Chris Howard (6-1, 195) of Banning High in Wilmington, Calif., considered by many scouts as the top running back prospect on the West Coast this year, committed to the Trojans last week.

SEC: Tennessee (7-1, 4-1), which travels to Arkansas (5-3, 2-3) on Saturday, is an amazing 54-2 in November games since 1985.

WAC: Remember back in September when Hawaii owned the nation's longest losing streak (19 games) and was shellacked by USC, 62-7? Well, Rainbows (6-3, 4-2) can earn a share of the conference title with a win over first place Fresno State (7-3, 4-1) on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.