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CATCH UP ON THE COUNTDOWN BY VISITING: ARIZONA’S TOP 100 INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
Only 41 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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Had he stayed for his senior season in 2014, Ka’Deem Carey was on pace to score 69 touchdowns in his career. The Pac-12 record is 60. Carey finished with a school-record 52.
ARIZONA MOST TDS IN CAREER
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No. 41
Most Touchdowns Scored, Career: 52, Ka’Deem Carey, 2011-13 (36 games, 48 rushing, 4 receiving)
Pac-12 record: 60, Ken Simonton, Oregon State, 1998-2001 (46 games, 59 rushing, 1 receiving)
NCAA record: 83, Montee Ball, Wisconsin, 2009-12 (49 games, 77 rushing, 6 receiving)
Ka’Deem Carey’s school-record 52 touchdowns in his career snapped the 47-year mark of 48 held by the “Cactus Comet” Art Luppino from 1953-56.
More of an indictment on Arizona’s offensive execution than anything else, nobody came close to Art Luppino’s school record of 48 career touchdowns until Ka’Deem Carey came on strong in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
In a span of three seasons, Carey’s 48 rushing touchdown and four receiving scores enabled him to top Luppino’s mark. Before that, the closest player to Luppino’s record was Vance Johnson with 32 from 1981-84.
If junior running back Nick Wilson stays throughout his career and remains healthy, he can threaten Carey’s record. Wilson has 25 touchdowns through his first two seasons, including 17 from his highly successful freshman year two seasons ago. He was beset by injuries last season.
Wilson is only five scores away from becoming only the seventh Arizona player to reach 30 career touchdowns in the history of the program.
Other Carey records at Arizona listed before in this countdown:
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.
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