Ka’Deem Carey now No. 2 in Arizona Wildcats career rushing charts

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In Arizona’s 31-26 loss against UCLA on Saturday night, junior running back Ka’Deem Carey continued the pace necessary to reach Trung Canidate’s school career rushing mark.

Carey also had one rushing touchdown to draw closer to Art Luppino’s career rushing touchdown mark.

Carey gained 149 yards on 28 carries against the Bruins.

He has 40 career rushing touchdowns in only 32 games. Luppino scored a school-record 44 rushing touchdowns from 1953-56.

Carey passed Ontiwaun Carter tonight in career rushing yards to move to No. 2 on Arizona’s career charts behind Canidate. Carey has 3,575 rushing yards. Carter is now No. 3 with 3,501. Carey is 249 yards from reaching Canidate at 3,824.

Entering today’s game, Carey needed to average 99.8 yards and 1.3 touchdowns to reach Canidate and Luppino, respectively, in the regular season. Now that Arizona (6-3) is bowl eligible, the averages will slightly be reduced if the Wildcats receive an invitation.

Carey has reached 3,575 career rushing yards in basically his second full season. He had only 91 carries for 425 yards as a freshman in 2011. His nation’s-best 1,929 rushing yards last season put him in the position to break Canidate’s record without having to play his senior season if he opts for early entry into the NFL draft.

Carey has 1,221 rushing yards in 316 attempts (5.9 yards per carry) in eight games after missing the season-opener against NAU and the opening quarter against UNLV for disciplinary reasons.

Here’s a breakdown of where Carey stands now with three regular-season games:

Career rushing yards: Canidate gained a school-record 3,824 yards from 1996-99. Carey now has 3,575. He needs 249 yards to reach Canidate. That means he must average 83 yards per game to reach Canidate.

Career rushing touchdowns: Luppino “The Cactus Comet” scored a school-record 44 rushing touchdowns from 1953-56. Carey now has 40. He needs four to reach Luppino. That means he must average 1.3 touchdowns a game in the next three regular-season games.

ARIZONA TOP 10 CAREER RUSHERS

WILDABOUTAZCATS.net publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report, Lindy’s College Sports and TucsonCitizen.com.

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