As bad as the weekend was for the Badgers, both on and off the field, Saturday’s game nonetheless saw Wisconsin extend its impressive streak of 10 consecutive seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher when sophomore tailback Anthony Davis surpassed the millennium mark in the second quarter.
Davis’ 37-yard performance against Iowa gave him over 1,000 yards for the second time in his career at UW. He is the second Wisconsin back to go over the 1,000-yard mark multiple times while playing for the Badgers during the streak.
When Barry Alvarez came to UW 13 years ago he turned to the running game to accomplish the task of building Wisconsin into a respectable program. Running the ball is exactly what Badger backs have done since then.
The Big Ten’s best streak of consecutive years with a back over 1,000 yards began in 1993 when an upstart Badger team that had improved in each of its three previous seasons earned a trip to the Rose Bowl behind a strong running game that was led by Brent Moss who ran for 1,637 yards and 16 touchdowns. Moss was named Big Ten offensive player of the year as well as Big Ten MVP.
The following year Terrell Fletcher, who had been used in tandem with Moss during the two previous seasons, took charge in the UW backfield, putting up impressive numbers of his own by running for 1,476 and 12 touchdowns. Fletcher led the Badgers to eight victories including a win over Duke in the Hall of Fame Game. It was Wisconsin’s second consecutive win in a January bowl game.
Highly touted Carl McCullough took the reigns of the Badger running game in 1995 and did not disappoint from a yardage standpoint accumulating 1,038 on 236 carries. However, the Badgers missed out on postseason play finishing the season 4-5-2 in a frustrating season. It was a low point for a young Badger team that would show just how far UW could go with a great running game in years to come.
Five games into the 1996 season McCullough was displaced as the starting tailback at Wisconsin. The player that took his place in the UW backfield was 250-pound freshman tailback Ron Dayne. Although starting only seven games during his freshmen year, Dayne ran for an NCAA freshmen record of 2,109 yards and a Copper Bowl win. It would be the beginning of an incredible career that saw Wisconsin power its way to two Rose Bowl titles.
The 1,000-yard mark was easily surpassed each of the next three years while Dayne continued to pummel opponents on his way to being named league MVP, offensive player of the year and collecting a Heisman trophy during his senior season. During his sophomore, junior and senior seasons Dayne rushed for 1,457, 1,525 and 2,034 yard, respectively. He finished as the most-storied player in Wisconsin history and the leading rusher in NCAA history with 7,125 total rushing yards.
Dayne moved on to the NFL after the 1999 season, and the Wisconsin 1000-yard rusher streak stood at seven consecutive seasons. In 2000, junior Michael Bennett left little doubt whether the streak would continue. While his predecessor had been the most-bruising Wisconsin back ever, Bennett may have been the most explosive. With world-class speed Bennett flashed and dashed his way to 1,681 yards before leaving the program for a home with the Minnesota Vikings after starting only during his junior season.
Bennett was just the latest Wisconsin back to find a way into the NFL. Including fullbacks and non-1,000 yard rushers, there are currently five Badger backs making a living in the NFL.
The streak surely looked to end before during spring practice in 2001. Badger tailback Broderick Williams had looked good and was slated to start before a knee injury ended his designs on starting the 2001 campaign. Then along came current tailback Anthony Davis. The rich Wisconsin rushing tradition continued during his freshman season as he impressed opponents around the Big Ten and the country, tallying a league-leading 1,466 yards for a team that missed a bowl game for the first time in seven seasons. This season Davis has rushed for 1,001 yards in 10 games.
The streak shows no signs of stopping at ten seasons either. Davis has two more years of eligibility left. But the Badgers have more than Davis waiting for 1,000 yards in the backfield.
True freshman Dwayne Smith has looked every bit the prototypical Wisconsin rusher during his first season at Wisconsin. Currently, Smith has 410 yards on the ground and, with Davis possibly missing time after being stabbed Saturday, Smith could see 1,000 yards in the Wisconsin backfield a whole lot sooner than anyone could have thought.
