Wildcats lose in Seattle

Arizona Wildcats Football


Quarterback B.J. Denker handed the ball off to Ka'Deem Carey 30 times in Arizona's 31-13 loss in Seattle tonight to the Washington Huskies.

And that wasn't near enough.

Carey rushed for 132 yards in his 30 chances, another 15 or 20 attempts and maybe things would have been different. Too many offensive plays by the Wildcats came up empty as Denker unleashed 35 passes, but only 14 of them found an Arizona receiver. Two passes were intercepted and 21 in all were off target.

I know you can't rush the ball on every down, but my goodness Carey averaged 4.4 yards every time he ran the ball and he also caught four passes for 49 yards -- averaging 12.3 yards every time he caught the ball.

Give Carey the ball! Especially on a night when it's raining cats and dogs and you have the top rusher in the country in your backfield.

I know, I sound like a frustrated Wildcat fan.

The game was a pain to watch from the get-go, unless you were a Husky fan. Who in their right mind would want to live in Seattle, Washington? Does the sun ever shine there?

Every conceivable way to score points in a football game occurred in the first half, except an extra point. The score was 11-6 at intermission as Washington scored a touchdown, missed the extra point, recorded a safety and booted a field goal. Arizona scored a touchdown (a 3-yard run by Carey in the second quarter), but the point-after was wide left.

Arizona did manage to score a touchdown after the intermission on a 7-yard run by Denker with 5:14 left in the third quarter.  Jake Smith booted the PAT and that was it for the Wildcats. The Huskies put up 14 in the third quarter and six more in the fourth (they missed an extra-point, too).

The Wildcats rushed for 199 yards (and, of course most of those came from Carey) and passed for 119. The Huskies did a little bit better with 244 yards rushing and 165 through the air. Ironically, both teams ran 86 plays. What was even more frustrating was the Huskies' conversions on third down. Time and time again, Washington converted.

The big headline on the sports pages in the Seattle papers in the morning will document the Huskies running back Bishop Sankey for his performance against the Wildcats. Sankey carried the ball 40 times (a school record) for 161 yards and a touchdown.

Undoubtedly, the Seattle sports reporters will say Sankey over shadowed Carey.

Now, what if...what if Carey had the 40 carries? The 16th-ranked Huskes might have still won, but it seems to me the ball should be in the hands of your top performer. Carey is not in the doghouse, he's now on the field of play. Give him the ball!

Arizona falls to 3-1, while the Huskies improve to 4-0. The Huskies move to the top of the Pac-12, while the Wildcats fall to the bottom.