LEADING MEN

RON DAYNE

Running Back, Wisconsin

The envelope, please. “My offensive line, the fullbacks and tight ends . . . all had great games,” said Dayne after a performance that reinstated him as the leading man to win the Heisman Trophy. Well, it was a good thing that Dayne wasn’t making an acceptance speech for an Oscar or he would have been stopped in his tracks, something a not-so-Spartan Michigan State defense couldn’t do.

Saturday: 34 carries, 214 yards, 2 TDs

Season: 209 carries, 1,234 yards, 15 TDs

Next: at Northwestern, Saturday.

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PETER WARRICK

Wide receiver, Florida State

Apparently, Warrick never saw the reruns of “Baretta”--that off-the-wall mid-’70s TV detective with the cockatoo on his shoulder whose show started with the lyrics, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” Warrick won’t be serving any jail time on a theft charge, though he has to give up to charity those department store designer threads he got on an easy payment plan. Said John Kenny, Warrick’s lawyer: “He’s not wearing stripes, he’s not in jail.” Yikes, stripes. What kind of look would that be?

Saturday: 11 receptions, 121 yards in helping to settle Bowden family feud.

Season: 47 receptions, 629 yards, 4 TDs.

Next: The shirt off his back, then at Virginia, Saturday.

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JOE HAMILTON

Quarterback, Georgia Tech

It was once asked on one of those beer commercials, “Where’s the love, man?” Here’s the answer: “Guys are always talking about how they have a small town, but it’s probably not smaller than where I’m from [Alvin, S.C.],” wrote Hamilton in a diary for ESPN.com. “I think being from a small town means you have more love, means you have more opportunities to give back.”

Saturday: Probably listening to Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra during Georgia Tech’s open date on the schedule.

Season: 102 for 151, 1,671 yards, 14 TDS; 86 carries, 380 yards, 6 TDs.

Next: North Carolina State, Saturday.