Defense aware of Dayne-ger

Ian Gold has always been a little undersized for his position. At 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, the Michigan inside linebacker's frame seems more suited for playing running back - the position at which he began his Michigan career.

But Gold makes up for his lack of size with fierce intensity and an uncanny nose for the ball. And while he may be on the small side, Gold hasn't been seriously outweighed by any opposing ballcarriers.

Until now.

On Saturday, Gold and the rest of the Michigan defense will be faced with the task of bringing down the Badgers' Ron Dayne, one of the largest running backs in the country. Tipping the scales at 252 pounds, the 5-10 Dayne is a bruising back that runs through opponents as often as he runs around them.

AP PHOTO The Michigan defense must prepare to meet 252-pound Ron Dayne, who broke Archie Griffin's Big Ten career rushing record last Saturday.

So an arm tackle is out of the question.

"He's got about 30 pounds on me, so I've got to take out his legs," Gold said. "That's the name of the game."

And if Gold and the rest of the defense are going to stop Dayne, they are going to have to do it before the Badger bowling ball gets a full head of steam.

"We're going to have to come up and hit him before he gets downfield," Gold said. "Once he gets going, he's a struggle to bring down."

The Michigan defense never let Dayne get going in last year's meeting between the two schools, holding him to a season-low 53 yards on 16 carries in Michigan's 27-10 victory in Michigan Stadium. Dayne was held to under 100 yards just one other time last season, gaining 93 against Penn State.

"It was a tough loss last year," Dayne said. "We are focusing on doing what we can do this week to play well Saturday. We know what we have to do against Michigan."

One of the things Wisconsin has to do is use its mammoth offensive line to open some holes for Dayne to run through. Although they lost mammoth tackle Aaron Gibson, the Badgers return four other starters on the line, giving them one of the conference's best units.

"They've always had a big offensive line, and our front seven has to step up and stop the run against them," Michigan defensive lineman Eric Wilson said. "We like the challenge that they want to run the ball down our throats."

And Dayne is the perfect back to do just that. Although he is nimble for a back his size, Dayne is most effective when he is running between the tackles. Of his 2,109 yards last season, over half of them were gained after contact. The fact that Wisconsin even keeps track of this statistic is a testament to Dayne's punishing running style.

Michigan coach Lloyd Carr uses a fairly big back himself in 225-pound Anthony Thomas. But Thomas is nowhere near the size of 'The Great Dayne.'

"Ron Dayne is a sledgehammer while Anthony Thomas is more like a flyswatter," Carr said. "But Dayne is a sledgehammer that you can swing a lot faster because he's got great feet."

It's those great feet that makes Dayne such a double-edged sword. With most would-be tacklers bracing for impact and trying to avoid getting run over, Dayne often nimbly sidesteps them and keeps running."

"The key is to keep your feet moving," Michigan free safety DeWayne Patmon said. "I have to use all the power I possibly can, and hopefully the other players will help out so I won't have to make too many solo tackles."

Patmon and the rest of the secondary haven't had to make too many solo tackles against running backs this season. The Michigan defense has been effective against the run, yielding 95.7 yards per game. No opposing player has rushed for over 75 yards against the Wolverines this season.

But the soft-spoken Dayne remains non-committal about Michigan's defensive unit.

"They may be the best defense around," Dayne said. "But I'm not real sure because we haven't played everyone yet."

09-21-99