Ka’Deem Carey cruises in for the second of his two first-half touchdowns. Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Wildcats jumped on UNLV early, boosted by Ka’Deem Carey’s return from suspension, and getting two scores on defense in a 58-13 rout at UNLV.
Arizona, which rushed for 397 yards, improved to 2-0.
Carey ran 16 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns, the bulk of his work coming in the second quarter. The Cats led 45-6 at halftime and were content to run the ball most of the second half.
Linebacker Jake Fischer and safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant each returned interceptions for touchdowns.
Arizona returns home to play Texas-San Antonio (1-1) next Saturday night at Arizona Stadium.
* * *
Arizona gets to 58 points with a 3-yard TD run by Kylan Butler with 2:50 to go. The program-high under Rich Rodriguez is 59 against Oklahoma State last year.
* * *
UNLV might want to give more carries to Shaquille Murray-Lawrence, who had a long TD run last week and just ripped off a 79-yarder against UA backups with 8:21 to go.
* * *
So, USC lost at home to Washington State 10-7 and Texas gave up 550 rushing yards — yes, 550 rushing yards — in a loss to BYU. Remember when those powerhouses played for the national title?
* * *
Jake Smith knocks through a 30-yard field goal for a 51-6 lead with nine minutes to go. Arizona has reached the 50-point mark in one-third of the Rich Rodriguez-coached games (five of 15).
* * *
Javelle Allen comes into the game with about 11:30 to go, and there are a lot of backups in the game.
* * *
Going to the fourth quarter. RichRod is sticking with B.J. Denker at quarterback.
* * *
B.J. Denker has the butterfingers on the handoff exchange, fumbles and then loses the ball to UNLV, committing his first turnover of the season. It’s late in the third quarter, and RichRod should kick the tires on Javelle Allen for the next possession.
* * *
So, UNLV tries a fake punt on fourth-and-4 from its 40. Why not? Can’t blame the Rebels … but Arizona stuffs punter Logan Yunker for a loss of 2.
* * *
The lack of a deep passing game will continue to be a topic of discussion.
* * *
Tra’Mayne Bondurant making a case for consecutive back-to-back Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week awards. In addition to his interception return for a touchdown, he comes up with a sack of Caleb Herring.
* * *
Jake Smith goes to 2 for 3 on field goal attempts, hitting from 29 yards on Arizona’s first drive of the second half. That pushes the score to 48-6 for the Wildcats.
Just putting it out there: The school record for points is 74, set in 1921 vs. the school now known as UTEP.
* * *
Apparently, the teams will bother to play the second half.
* * *
Ka’Deem Carey has rushed for at least one touchdown in each of his past 10 games. He has rushed for at least 100 yards in nine of those games (the exception being last year’s game at UCLA when he was pulled out early in the Bruins’ rout).
* * *
Arizona lets the clock run out on the first half, up 45-6 at UNLV. The Cats have two defensive scores and 291 yards of offense, including 110 on nine carries from Ka’Deem Carey.
“It’s OK,” coach Rich Rodriguez said of his offense at the halftime interview on CBS Sports Network. “We left another three or four drives out there.”
* * *
Arizona taking advantage of Nick Sherry’s INT problems, returning another pick for a touchdown. This time, safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant — who scored last week on a pick-six — goes 52 yards, untouched, into the end zone.
UA has created the same amount of turnovers as points allowed this season — six.
The Cats are up 45-6 late in the first half. The school record of 49 points in the half — vs. Idaho in 2008 — is within reach.
* * *
Former Arizona pitching ace:
Holy blowout Arizona!!!! #beardown
— Kurt Wolfgang Heyer (@KurtHeyer) September 8, 2013
* * *
It took Ka’Deem Carey eight rushes to go over 100 yards — 106 to be exact, with four minutes left in first half.
* * *
Jake Fischer shows off some wheels, stepping in front of a pass and zipping down field, spinning out of a tackle around the 10, before getting into the end zone on a 49-yard score. Arizona’s defense has now scored twice this season, allowing only one TD.
Arizona is up 38-6 with 6:59 to go before half. Yikes.
* * *
Ka’Deem Carey didn’t need any special skill to score his second touchdown of the quarter, this one coming on third-and-5 from the 12. He took a handoff to the left, strolled through a huge hole, ate a sandwich, and then went across the goal line.
Yes, it’s fair to say the rout it on. It’s Arizona 30-6 with 8:37 to go before half.
Just 21 more rushing touchdowns for Carey to match last season’s school record 23.
* * *
Remember what UNLV defensive end Jordan Sparkman said about “dominating” Ka’Deem Carey? If not, scroll to near the end of this article.
* * *
The wait was worth it. Ka’Deem Carey’s first touch of the season is an inside handoff, with Carey picking his way through traffic at the line of scrimmage and then breaking out for a 58-yard touchdown. How do you like that?
Cue the Heisman campaign?
Arizona is up 24-6.
* * *
Ahahahaha … sorry, Arizona fans. Yeah, I was a big fat jinx. One play after I mention UA’s five consecutive scoreless quarters, Nick Sherry connects with WR Devante Davis on a 69-yard catch-and-run, beating Jonathan McKnight across the field.
The PAT is no good, though, thanks to a bad snap, continuing UNLV’s special teams woes from last week. It’s Arizona 17-6 one play into the second quarter.
* * *
The first quarter ends. Hey, that’s five scoreless quarters for the Arizona defense this year. (Sorry, is that a jinx?)
* * *
There’s a Ka’Deem Carey sighting with just over two minutes left to play in the first quarter. Arizona fakes a handoff to him on his first play.
* * *
The Arizona defense is making a statement. The competition is questionable, but the Cats come up with another big play, stuffing Nick Sherry on a QB sneak on fourth-and-inches at the UNLV 34.
* * *
Arizona’s defense forces a fumble from UNLV QB Nick Sherry, and linebacker Marquis Flowers scoops up the ball and threatens to score before being tripped up at the 9 at the end of a 36-yard return. Two plays later, B.J. Denker keeps and scores on a 4-yard run for a 17-0 lead late in the first quarter.
I figured Sherry’s turnovers could be a big factor, but I was thinking interceptions not fumbles.
* * *
RichRod is a go-for-it kind of coach, so the decision to go for it on fourth-and-7 from the UNLV 37 is not a big surprise. It doesn’t work this time, though, as B.J. Denker is sacked for a loss of 4 yards. The real problem was that receiver Clive Georges was called for a false start on third-and-2.
* * *
Sometimes you’re good, sometimes you’re lucky. UNLV’s Nick Sherry overthrows a wide-open Devante Davis deep down the middle of the field. Sherry is now 1 of 8 for 16 yards as the Rebs have to punt for the third time in three drives.
* * *
While it’s reasonable to have doubts about B.J. Denker’s ability to make all the throws, he definitely has wheels. Denker pulls off a nice fake on a read-option, taking off around right end and racing 35 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead with 8:10 to play in the first quarter.
He went 30 yards for a TD last week.
* * *
Rich Rodriguez making Ka’Deem Carey wait a little longer. Daniel Jenkins comes out at running back for UA’s second possession. In fact, Jared Baker is the second running back in the game.
* * *
Arizona’s SWAT team defense has done its job on its first two third-and-long opportunities. On the second one, defensive end Derrick Turituri emerged from a three-man rush to pressure Nick Sherry out of the pocket and into an intentional grounding penalty.
* * *
Daniel Jenkins gets the start at running back, not Ka’Daeem Carey, as Rich Rodriguez had promised. Jenkins rushes four times for 27 yards on UA’s opening drive, helping to set up a 41-yard field goal by Jake Smith with 11:33 to go. Arizona leads 3-0.
* * *
Johnny Jackson, not Nate Phillips, is back to return the first punt. So, that answers one personnel move for Rich Rodriguez.
* * *
Arizona won the toss and will defer to the second half.
* * *
Lets go @ArizonaFBall!! Good luck to @CoachRodAZ and the rest of the football staff. #BearDown
— Coach Andy Lopez (@CoachAndyLopez) September 8, 2013
* * *
Arizona is wearing blue helmets, white jerseys and blue pants tonight. The team last wore that combo in the painful 54-48 loss at Stanford last season on Oct. 6. In fact, that was the last time, UA wore blue helmets.
* * *
This will be a much different test for the Arizona defense, which will be facing a passing spread team in UNLV, which was good skill position players. The Rebels attempted 50 passes last week at Minnesota. Can UA get UNLV into third-and-long so it can unleash its SWAT team defense?
* * *
About 2 1/2 hours before kickoff:
About to bring some more "sin" to this city. What happens here will not stay here #Beardown #BeatUNLV
— BJ Denker (@VanillaV1ck7) September 7, 2013
* * *
Arizona quarterback B.J Denker attempted only 13 passes, completing nine for 87 yards, in last week’s 35-0 victory over NAU.
Denker and the Wildcats didn’t have to do much more in the passing game that night, limited to 47 plays by a time-eating NAU offense and by their own attack, which scored on runs of 30, 61 and 91 yards.
Last season, the Arizona coaches were wary of using quarterback Matt Scott too much in the run game, not only fearing injury but knowing Scott could make all the throws. This season is different. Denker isn’t the franchise like Scott was, and the jury is out regarding Denker’s ability to push the ball vertically down field.
UNLV was not strong against the run last season, ranking 76th nationally by allowing 149.1 yards per game, and had trouble with the quarterback run game in last week’s opener at Minnesota. Gophers quarterback Philip Nelson ran 12 times for 83 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown.
Arizona has a lot more offense to show than what it did last week, but coaches will first test the Rebels’ ability to stop all aspects of the ground attack.
* * *
UNLV defensive end Jordan Sparkman sounds eager to face Arizona running back Ka’Deem Carey, the nation’s leading returning rusher.
“He’s big, he’s a fast guy, he’s a good player,” Sparkman said in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We see that every day in practice. Practicing against Tim Cornett gives us the same look. Nothing to be fearful about. (Carey’s) a good player; we’re a good team.
“We’re going to dominate him, I mean every play. We want him to get no yards. Not saying that if he gets yards, it’s OK because he’s a good player, but my mission is he’s getting no yards. We’ll shut him down on the defensive line and the whole defense. He’s definitely the top guy. Let’s cut the head off the snake, and the snake should die.”
OK, then.
Read more of the game preview from the Review-Journal.
* * *
Expect to hear some name-dropping tonight as the sons of two superstar athletes will be on opposite sides.
Arizona features redshirt freshman receiver Trey Griffey, who is on the fringe of the playing rotation. UNLV has Jerry Rice Jr., a graduate transfer from UCLA. Rice didn’t play much as a walk-on with the Bruins, but he caught six passes for 35 yards for the Rebels last week at Minnesota.
* * *
TucsonCitizen.com blogger Javier Morales, who operates WildAboutAZCats.net, is running a “Beat the Experts” contest on his website. Shouldn’t be too hard considering the experts are me and veteran Tucson sportswriter Steve Rivera.
Check it out at WildAboutAZCats.net.
* * *
Always interesting when a team goes on the road for the first time, and UNLV has been reasonably good at home (for a team that has won a total of six games in the past three seasons).
So, this isn’t a gimme, and the Wildcats don’t figure to dominate as they will continue to ease into their offense with a new quarterback and young receivers. Arizona’s defense could be sneaky good this season, though, and a couple of big plays on that side of the ball will go a long way.
UNLV sophomore Nick Sherry is a big, intriguing player in his second season as the starter, but he has been turnover-prone, intercepted 19 times in 13 career games. Paging Tra’Mayne Bondurant.
The Cats will score on defense and leave Las Vegas with a 34-24 win.
Pregame reading:
–Arizona-UNLV: Five things to watch
–SWAT duty: Arizona’s new third-down defense answers the call
–Q&A with CBS’ Aaron Taylor: On RichRod, Arizona-UNLV, Scooby and more
–Brad Allis of WildcatSportsReport is no longer on the Arizona radio pre- and postgame shows on 1290-AM (KCUB), but he has posted a pregame podcast breaking down the game.
–Greg Hansen’s Mr. Football column at the Arizona Daily Star