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Arizona Wildcats running back Ka'Deem Carey (25) runs the ball through a huge hole during fourth quarter play. He finished with 154 yards rushing. Arizona defeated Utah 34-24 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Scott Sommerdorf, The Salt Lake Tribune)
This story is courtesy of the Arizona Daily Wildcat

People should know Ka'Deem Carey's name by now.

Arizona's starting running back is rewriting the UA record book, and he's still not getting as much national attention as he deserves.

After running for a Pac-12 record 366 yards and five touchdowns against Colorado last week, Carey was named the National Player of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards. He also earned Honorable Mention Running Back of the Week from the CFPA for his 204-yard performance in Saturday's 34-24 win against Utah.

"People know my name," Carey said on Tuesday after practice. "Not like they haven't, but they're starting to say it."

Not often enough.

On Nov. 9, 10 semi-finalists were announced for the Doak Walker Award, which is annually given to the nation's best running back.

Alabama's Trent Richardson won last year.

Here's the list of the backs included:

- Montee Ball, Wisconsin

- Kenjon Barner, Oregon

- Le'Veon Bell, Michigan State

- Giovani Bernard, North Carolina

- David Fluellen, Toledo

- Johnathan Franklin, UCLA

- Stefphon Jefferson, Nevada

- Venric Mark, Northwestern

- Joseph Randle, Oklahoma State

- Stepfan Taylor, Stanford

Carey is noticeably absent, and there's really no excuse.

With his ridiculous 570 rushing yards in the last two weeks, Carey catapulted past Jefferson as the nation's rushing leader.

His 19 touchdowns are tied for third among running backs with Barner, one behind Jefferson and seven behind Lousiana Tech's Kenneth Dixon, who isn't a finalist either.

Barner and Franklin are often cited as the top running backs in the Pac-12, but Carey also has nine more touchdowns than Franklin, and Barner had five games of less than 100 yards — Carey had three.

Franklin has been held scoreless in six games, Barner in four and Carey in just one.

Sure, Oregon and UCLA are having better seasons than Arizona.

But, the Wildcats also have the same record as North Carolina, Nevada and Wisconsin, and Michigan State is just 5-6.

MSU's Bell has 65 more carries than Carey, but 203 fewer yards and nine fewer touchdowns.

UNC's Bernard gets an impressive 6.8 yards per carry, but on a much smaller sample size, at 157 carries to Carey's 250.

Head-to-head, Carey has taken on Barner, Fluellen, Franklin, Randle and Taylor, and outperformed all except Franklin.

- In Arizona's 24-17 win against Toledo in week one, Carey had 147 yards and a touchdown to Fluellen's 72 and a score.

- In a week two upset against OSU, Carey had 126 yards and three touchdowns, Randle had 123 yards and no scores.

- In a 49-0 blowout loss to Oregon on Sept. 22, Barner and Carey came out about even, as Barner gained 86 yards to Carey's 79.

- In a tightly contested 54-48 loss to Stanford on Oct. 6, Taylor outgained Carey with 142 yards to 132, but the Arizona back had three touchdowns and Taylor two.

That's not to say Carey should win the award by any means, I'd probably give it to Ball or Barner, but it doesn't make much sense that Carey is not even a semifinalist.

The process for selecting the candidates is as follows, according to Phil Steele:

- In October, each Division I-A university is given the opportunity to nominate a candidate.

- Throughout the season, statistical updates are compiled and released to the media and National Selection Committee, which includes sportswriters, television commentators, analysts, radio sports personalities and former All-Americans and NFL All-Pro football players.

- In mid-November, the PricewaterhouseCoopers SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors reviews the achievements of all candidates and votes to select 10 semifinalists for the award.

By virtue of releasing the semifinalists on Nov. 9, a fair assumption would be that the committee made its selection in the days prior.

Carey ran for 366 yards and six touchdowns on Nov. 10, and then 204 more on Nov. 17.

Even before Carey exploded in the last two weeks, he still had 1,015 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, and was on pace for 1,353 yards and 17 touchdowns excluding a potential bowl game.

Still, maybe the committee should have waited until closer to the end of the season.

2 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
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    JoJoN2sanAZ wrote...
    Ka'Deem's Snubbing
    The lack of national recognition that the NATION'S LEADING RUSHER in college football is receiving is bizarre. It makes you wonder what the vendetta is, because there obviously must be one. Someone(s) in high places has(have) something against the University of Arizona and/or Rich Rodriguez, there is just no other logical conclusion to come to. For Ka'Deem Carey not to even be named a finalist for the Doak Walker Award is a travesty and a crime. There's just no excuse for it. What a bunch of cr*p!
  • Abuse
    JoJoN2sanAZ wrote...
    Hoax Walker Award
    When the Nation's leading rusher isn't even considered a contender for the Doak Walker award, something is terribly wrong.
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