MADISON, Wis. -- There was a time when Ron Dayne would have dreaded this.

The shy freshman from New Jersey who broke into college football in 1996 would have been intimidated by the scope of the task awaiting him at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.

He was 99 yards from breaking the major-college rushing record in his final home game at Wisconsin, with the Big Ten title on the line and the Heisman Trophy possibly waiting.

There was also the incessant attention, everyone wanting a piece of him during the week leading to the big game against Iowa.

It all would have been too much.

But it isn't now.

"I had to learn how to deal with all of this," Dayne said before rushing for 216 yards and surpassing Ricky Williams' career record with another scintillating performance. "When I first got here, I didn't know what it would be like."

So he handled the requests for interviews and autographs with aplomb. He spent his spare time with his daughter, Jada, and his girlfriend, Wisconsin student Alia Lester. And he slept soundly at night, even the night before the game.

"Ron really enjoyed the whole week," offensive coordinator Brian White said. "He's enjoyed every second of it, and I knew that he was going to play an outstanding game."

Dayne finished his regular season with 981 yards in the final five games, his best five-game output since his freshman year. As he slowly closed in on the mark Saturday, the buzz at the stadium grew.

Dayne broke Williams' record by running 31 yards on a play called '23 Zone,' one of Wisconsin's many rushing schemes that rely on Dayne to find a hole, knock down whoever is in his way and run as far as possible.

The record run was vintage Dayne: He took the handoff from Brooks Bollinger, dodged safety Shane White, cut outside, blew past cornerback Joe Slattery and headed for the sideline, where Tarig Holman finally dragged him down.

His teammates surrounded him and wanted to celebrate, but they said Dayne merely smiled and went back to work.

He finished the day with 6,379 career yards, 118 more than Williams. He averaged 5.72 yards per carry in his four-year career, helping Wisconsin to 36 wins and two Big Ten championships, including the one the Badgers clinched with their 41-3 win over the Hawkeyes.

And he snatched the record that Williams took from Tony Dorsett just last year.

"I would anticipate that this record will last a long time, for a number of reasons," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said, citing the trend toward passing offenses and the paucity of top players remaining in school for four full seasons.

Even though he's talking more than ever, it still doesn't take much to make Dayne speechless. Saturday's events took whatever words he might have had.

In a postgame ceremony, the school hung Dayne's name and No. 33 on the stadium facade, while the crowd spontaneously held up 70,000 souvenir towels inscribed with 33, turning Camp Randall Stadium into a white and red crater.

Dayne took the microphone, and for a moment, all he could do was shake his head.

"He deserves the Heisman Trophy," White said. "It's not even worthy of the debate. He's the best college football player in America, period."

Dayne thinks otherwise. All season he has said he would vote for Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick for the Heisman. And he said so again Saturday.

"I'd be a strong second," he said.

With the early end to Wisconsin's season, the Badgers have seven weeks to prepare for the Rose Bowl, where they'll face Stanford, Washington or Oregon. If Wisconsin can defeat its Pac-10 opponent, the Badgers will become the first Big Ten team to win back-to-back Rose Bowls.

During that time, Dayne will go to class. He'll do a photo shoot with GQ magazine on Tuesday. He'll study film of the Badgers' opponent and he'll practice as hard as ever.

He will spend as much time as possible with Jada, knowing his work in the NFL will limit his parenting in the months and years to come.

He might also take a trip to New York, and he might bring a trophy back to Madison.

"This is the best," Dayne said. "I couldn't imagine it being better."