Arizona All-Quarter-Century Team: Running Backs
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So far in the Brent Brennan era of Arizona football, the Wildcats have had their struggles on the road with four-straight losses dating back to last year. UA has lost those games by an average of 28 points and have fallen behind by double-digits in all four games.
Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) was able to get things going early by striking quickly as quarterback Noah Fifita hit receiver Tre Spivey for a 70-yard touchdown pass, which seemed to set the tone early for the offense.
Despite the fast start, Arizona found itself trailing 21-14 to Houston (6-1-,3-1) at the half thanks to defensive struggles in the second quarter. And once again, the Wildcats lost the middle eight of the game, which resulted in a Cougars 31-28 win over the Wildcats.
Although Arizona fell on Saturday against Houston and has lost two-straight games, the program is clearly moving in the right direction and has improved drastically from a season ago.
Now with the Wildcats in the bye-week, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have decided to roll out our All-Quarter-Century Team breaking down the top players at every position over the last 25 years of Arizona football.
Today we are taking a look at the running back position and naming our two players over the last 25 years.
Top Two Running Backs
RB No. 2 - Nick Wilson (2014-17)
- Perhaps the most successful freshman season for a running back goes to Nick Wilson, who totaled 1,375 rushing yards while scoring 17 touchdowns as the featured back for a Rich Rodriguez offensive unit.
- That season, Wilson was a critical piece in UA’s 10-4 season where the team won the Pac-12 South and finished the year in the Fiesta Bowl.
- Unfortunately, Wilson’s career was plagued with injuries and he would never reach the 1,000-plus yard mark again.
- Still, Wilson finished with 3,038 rushing yards, which is best for seventh in program history. The impressive part of his career is that he found the end zone 34 times best for second-most among running backs in UA history.
RB No. 1 - Ka’Deem Carey (2011-13)
- Every fanbase loves the story of a local kid, who became a legend in the Cities’ university and that’s exactly the story of running back Ka’Deem Carey, who went to CDO High School and picked the Wildcats over ASU on the recruiting trail.
- After a solid freshman season where he posted 425 yards, Carey had the two greatest seasons a running back has put together at Arizona. During his sophomore and junior year he totaled 1,929 yards and followed it up with a 1,885 yards season.
- Carey wasn’t just a local or UA legend, he was making national headlines and even got close to receiving an invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Although he never won the Heisman, he was named an All-American twice and won the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year during the 2013 season.
- Overall, Carey destroyed the program rushing record with his 4,239 yards and is the all-time rushing touchdown leader as well with 48 TDs on the ground and 52 total in his career.
- In the world of college sports we live in today, it wouldn’t be the least shocking if Carey’s program records were broken one day with the way the game has become offensive minded. However right now, I don’t see anyone on the current roster that will come close to those numbers.
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Troy Hutchison grew up attending Arizona athletic events, which gave him a unique perspective and knowledge of the athletic department's rich history. He attended UA and began covering the Wildcats in 2018. As the Arizona Wildcats Beat Writer on SI, he is set to deliver wall-to-wall coverage to give fans an in-depth perspective.
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