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Saturday, October 23 Updated: October 24, 9:08 PM ET Five alive in Heisman race ESPN.com |
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We're one Saturday away from November. That means it's time to trim the list of Heisman hopefuls to the select few who still have a chance to earn that invitation to the Downtown Athletic Club. Ron Dayne lumbered into the lead on the strength of his 214-yard performance against Michigan State's top-ranked run defense. Going into the game, the Spartans had given up 279 rushing yards in seven games. Wisconsin rushed for 301. Dayne's pursuit of Ricky Williams' rushing record also heated up. The big Badger needs 161 yards per game over his final three contests (at Northwestern, at Purdue, vs. Iowa) to break Williams' record of 6,279 yards. If Dayne sets the record, it'd be very hard not to reward him with the Heisman. As for last week's leader Joe Hamilton, what the gods of fortune give, they also take away. Hamilton jumped into the No. 1 spot after Peter Warrick was suspended. This week, he rescinded the top spot because he had the misfortune of having a bye on the same Saturday that Dayne came up big. Warrick returned with an 11-catch, 121-yard day but even extended highlight-reel time won't be able to offset the loss of two games' worth of statistics, nor will it erase the stigma of his off-the-field problems. Here's a look at our top five following Saturday's action:
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