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"You deserve the Heisman," Brees told Dayne during their embrace.

To which Dayne responded, "Tough win."

In the end it was a tough 28-21 victory for the No. 10 Badgers, but that had little to do with Dayne.

After a slow start, he piled up 43 yards on four carries during the Badgers' final possession of the first half and then ran wild after the break (145 yards on 19 carries), including a 41-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter that gave the Badgers a lead they never surrendered.

His 222 rushing yards gave Dayne 6,181 for his career and put him past Tony Dorsett for second place on the all-time Division I-A career-rushing list. Dayne goes into next week's game against Iowa 99 yards from breaking Ricky Williams' record.

Will he be denied that record?

"Nah, not really," Dayne said in probably his most boastful statement he's made about the record to date.

But Badgers coach Barry Alvarez wasn't as reserved about his star player.

"I don't think there's ever been a player that's meant more to a program," he said of Dayne. "He's what our program's all about -- blue-collar, hard, tough-nosed, not doing it the easy way, just going out and doing what you have to do to win.

"He jumped on the scene as a true freshman. Everybody in the country knew about him, and people made a big fuss and he's been the center of attention for four years, and he's handled it extremely well. I couldn't be more proud of how he's handled himself and how he's grown and matured.

"I think No. 33 really made a statement today."

Like Brees said, Dayne for Heisman.

"He's a great, great running back. He had a great day today, and I think he deserves the Heisman," said Brees.

In reality, there's little doubt he will win college football's MVP.

Drew Brees gives Ron Dayne his vote for the Heisman Trophy. (AP)

Quarterback Joe Hamilton's Georgia Tech team lost to Virginia on Saturday. Virginia running back Thomas Jones remains only a dark-horse candidate for the award. And the other prohibitive favorite, Brees, lost it in a mano-a-mano battle with Dayne.

Although Brees' statistics again were impressive -- 36-of-64 for 350 yards and a touchdown pass, plus another 91 yards and two touchdowns on the ground -- he also threw two costly interceptions, one of which was returned for the winning score by defensive back Jamar Fletcher with 4:43 remaining.

"We have nothing but the utmost respect for Drew Brees and Purdue's offense," Alvarez said. "They create a lot of problems. But we got some turnovers and took advantage of them."

Early on, it looked like Dayne might not be able to take advantage of the Boilermakers' often porous defense and would need a monumental effort at home next Saturday to surpass Williams and nail down the Heisman.

Because of the Badgers' inability to get hold of the ball in the first half (the Boilermakers ran 47 plays to the Badgers' 26), Brees actually had more rushing yards (45) and carries (10) than Dayne, who had 34 yards on nine attempts with a little less than 4 minutes remaining in the second quarter.

But Dayne finally got his chances at the end of the half and again after the break -- and ran with them.

"Dayne is a great running back," Boilermakers coach Joe Tiller said. "I'm really impressed with him. It seemed like he turned it up in the fourth quarter, which great football players do; they get stronger as the game goes on. I admire his competitiveness."

Now it's just a matter of time before the ultimate competitor, Dayne, will take his place in the record book -- and, with it, very likely a piece of hardware for his mantle.

"I can't wait," said Dayne, who also caught his first pass of the season against the Boilermakers. "As long as we're back home, in front of the fans."