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CATCH UP ON THE COUNTDOWN BY VISITING: ARIZONA’S TOP 100 INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
Only 37 days separate us from the start of Rich Rodriguez’s fifth season, when the Arizona Wildcats football team plays Brigham Young on Sept. 3 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.
As is customary on this Web site, we will count down the days with an interesting element associated with each day. This year the topic is the top 100 individual records in Arizona’s storied football past.
In past years, we have counted down the top games and highlighted players and some of the top plays in Arizona Wildcats football history. A couple of years ago in our top 100 countdown, we showcased the 1914 team that was responsible for Arizona becoming the “Wildcats”.
Back to this year’s countdown of the top 100 individual records in the 117 years of Arizona football:
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Ka’Deem Carey’s career rushing total from 2011 to 2013 of 4,239 yards stands as an Arizona record while ranking seventh in Pac-12 history.
ARIZONA CAREER RUSHING LEADERS
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No. 37
Most Rushing Yards, Career: 4,239, Ka’Deem Carey, 2011-13 (743 rushes)
Pac-12 record: 6,245, Charles White, USC, 1976-79 (1,147 rushes)
NCAA record: 6,397, Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, 1996-99 (1,115 rushes)
If Ka’Deem Carey stayed for his senior season in 2014, he could have challenged USC’s Charles White for the most rushing yards in a career in the Pac-12 (White finished with 6,245 from 1976 to 1979).
Ka’Deem Carey’s seventh entry in this countdown is one of conviction that he was the best running back in Arizona history. It’s also one of what-could-have-been. He could have established himself as the running back with the most yards in Pac-12 history if he stayed for his senior season of 2014 instead of leaving to the NFL early.
Carey finished his career as the only Arizona running back who eclipsed the 4,000-yard barrier with 4,239 yards from 2011 to 2013. He finished 2,006 yards shy of Charles White’s conference record of 6,245 yards with USC from 1976 to 1979.
It was not too far out of the realm to believe Carey could catch White. He gained 1,929 yards in 2012.
RECORD WATCH: Arizona junior running back Nick Wilson is on pace for 4,222 yards in his career — only 17 yards off the trajectory to catch Carey — after rushing for 2,111 in his first two seasons. Following Wilson’s freshman season in which he rushed for 1,375 yards, he was on pace for 5,500 yards. He gained only 736 yards through an injury-riddled season last year. If Wilson stays through his senior season and the Wildcats play 26 games (12 regular season games and a bowl game) the next years, he would have to average 81.8 yards rushing a game to catch Carey’s career mark.
Other Carey records at Arizona listed before in this countdown:
41. Most Touchdowns Scored, Career: 52, 2011-13 (36 games, 48 rushing, 4 receiving)
58. Most Games Gained 100 Yards Rushing, Career: 22, 2011-13 (36 games)
59. Touchdowns Scored, Game: 5, vs. Colorado, 2012, tied with Art Luppino, vs. New Mexico St., 1954
60. All-Purpose Yards Gained, Career: 5,483, 2011-13
73. All-Purpose Yards Gained, Game: 400, vs. Colorado, Nov. 10, 2012
80. Most Rushing Attempts, Game: 48, vs. Oregon, Nov. 23, 2013
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
