Carey again thinking big as Arizona visits Colorado

By foxsports
Published

TUCSON, Ariz. -- It was a good day for the offensive line, the quarterback and, oh yeah, Ka'Deem Carey.

Last year against Colorado, the Arizona running back had a day to remember, racking up a Pac-12 record 366 yards on the ground.
 
"I just remember there was a lot of running that day," Carey said of last year's game in which the Wildcats literally ran over a bad Buffaloes team 56-31 in Tucson.

"Holes trucks could go through," Carey said of his running lanes.

Could he do it again Saturday?

"That's the goal stepping on the field every time," Carey said. "I tell the linemen, 'Let's go chase it.' We're going to try to win, but not only win but win big. Make a statement that Arizona is here."

Colorado (3-3, 0-3 Pac-12) changed coaches in the offseason, bringing in San Jose State resuscitator Mike MacIntyre. And MacIntyre pointed out this week that the Buffaloes weren't the only ones who had trouble last year with Carey, who led the nation in rushing yards.

MacIntyre called Carey a "beast of a runner."

Most every team had trouble. Colorado just had it the worst, allowing four runs of 30 yards or more, including two of more than 60 yards.

"I get a headache the more I watch him on film," MacIntyre said. "He’s an incredible player. The thing that amazes me about him -- everybody knows his ability to cut and all that -- is he is extremely tough and physical. When he doesn’t have a place to go, he tries to punish the guy trying to tackle him.

"If there is a better running back in America, I would like to see him. He’s the best I’ve seen in a long, long time."

MacIntyre went as far as to joke that the only way to slow Carey down is to hope he sprains his ankle getting off the bus, adding, "I wish we were playing Jim Carey (the comedian) and not Ka'Deem Carey."

The numbers back up MacIntyre's praise. Just last week, Carey ran 39 times for a season-high 236 yards, and he appears to be every bit the player he was last year. He again leads then country in rushing, averaging 160.2 yards per game for the Wildcats (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12).

Last week, after a couple of strong practices, the junior said he expected a big day against Utah. And that's exactly what happened, as he posted his season high in yards. In what might be a bad omen for Colorado, Carey really liked Tuesday's practice this week, too.

And that wasn't the first prediction from Carey. Prior to last year's game against Colorado, he said he'd had a dream that something great would happen. The Pac-12 rushing record probably qualified.

"Hopefully, I can wake up that morning and have that same feeling," Carey said of Saturday.

There will be differences, of course. Arizona's offense has been a little less explosive overall this year year given the up-and-down play at quarterback, and perhaps more relevant to this game, Colorado has a new coach, a new defensive coordinator, new schemes on defense and some new personnel.

"Some starters from last year are now backups," Rodriguez said. "There's a few new personnel. I thought they've played hard (last weekend in a win). They played hard last year. Things just snowballed on them, and they couldn't recover."

Or stop Carey.