Cat Tracks: Arizona falls short in bid for road upset vs. Washington

The Arizona Wildcats were outmatched in their conference opener Saturday in Seattle, losing 31-13 to the No. 16 Washington Huskies.

Though using their standard high-octane rushing attack in rainy conditions at Husky Stadium, Rich Rodriguez’s Wildcats were ultimately unable to overcome a pair of turnovers and three turnovers on downs.

Running back Ka’Deem Carey once again led the way on offense, picking up 132 yards on 30 carries for the visiting Arizona squad, scoring his lone touchdown at the end of the first half. Carey now has 431 rushing yards and five touchdowns in the three games he’s played for the Wildcats this season.

Carey also led his offense in receiving, picking up 49 yards on four catches, including a 24-yarder. Freshmen wide receivers Nate Phillips and Samajie Grant both caught three passes for 25 and 22 yards, respectively.

Quarterback B.J. Denker, meanwhile, ran for 56 of yards of his own, picking up 33 on a fourth down conversion near the end of the first half, which set up the Carey touchdown to get Arizona on the board. The senior quarterback completed just 14 of his 35 passing attempts in the game, however, accruing 119 yards in the air — an average of just 3.4 yards per pass. Denker threw two interceptions in the game to make matters worse.

For Washington, running back Bishop Sankey was the hero, picking up 161 yards and a touchdown on an incredible 40 carries. The Huskies turned to their back throughout the game, setting up a semi-effective passing attack for quarterback Keith Price, which yielded 165 yards and two touchdowns on 14 completions.

Washington also used a first quarter safety to help their cause.

The Good:

After being held out of the first game and a quarter of the season, Ka’Deem Carey has looked every bit the running back he was expected to be in 2013, turning in his third consecutive 100+ yard rushing performance, this time against a quality, in-conference opponent and top-25 team in Washington.

The Bad:

With just over five minutes to play in the third quarter, Rich Rodriguez’s team pulled within five points of their opponent, the score at 18-13. But they allowed Washington to score on the following drive, giving way to the 31-13 routing that would stand by the end of the game.

Coming Up Next:

The Wildcats (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) will head to USC a week from Thursday, on October 10, to play the Trojans at the Los Angeles Coliseum.