For the Arizona football team, the Achilles’ heel so far has been the inability of the rushing game to consistently produce, but taking into account the recent play of true freshman running back Ka’Deem Carey, there may be a solution.

“He’s only going to grow,“ Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Littrell said on Monday. “He still has a lot to learn in this offense and to learn what college football’s all about.”

“I’ll tell you he’s determined, and he’s done a great job studying and he’s getting better. We expect good things out of him.”

So far this season, Carey has rushed for 151 yards on 33 attempts. Against Oregon, he ran for 48 yards on 12 carries.

“It was great going out there, just following behind the front line,” Carey said. “I got to get a taste of what they were pushing.”

The transition from the speed of high school to the college level of play is always a tough for incoming players to deal with, but Carey says that after four games he’s been able to find his stride.

“The more you’re in the game, you’re just going to get more experience out there and feel comfortable,” he said. “I think I’m feeling very comfortable with the game and the speed and everything.”

Carey has also proved to be an asset for the Wildcats on special teams after he was able to accrue 197 yards on kickoff returns against Oregon.

His longest return of the night was 39 yards, but in many cases, he was only one or two tackles away from breaking loose and crossing the goal line.

“You just always get that feeling (that you’re going to score),” he said. “It’s there sometimes, you feel if you just break that one then maybe you could have made a big play for your team.”

The Wildcats head to southern California this weekend for a Saturday contest with the USC Trojans, and despite USC having that program name reputation, Carey says that the Wildcats aren’t going to be intimidated.

“USC’s just another one you’ve got to come out ready, stay focused, and play their game,” Carey said.

Looking forward, Carey is ready to take on whatever role the team needs of him and is positive about the Wildcats’ future.

“We got a lot of games to play,” he said. “This is the where we start the south, and this is where it matters, so we just got to buckle down and play our game.”

Coaching staff testing different run schemes

In an attempt to combat the low rushing numbers, the Arizona coaching staff has implemented a full house backfield set into its run game.

The play set, which features Nick Foles in the shotgun, flanked by two backs, with a third back behind him, is intended to give the offense more options after they line up and see what the defense is showing.

“We’re trying to simplify things for the quarterback and the run game,” head coach Mike Stoops said.

“(As an opposing defense) you’re either going to take away the run, or you’re going to take away the pass,” he added. “If they’re going to keep seven (in the box) then you have to be able to run the ball, or play action, or whatever you need to do.”

As the blockers keep improving, Stoops intends to run the scheme more and more.

“We’ve got to get some physical play out of (H-back) Taimi Tutogi and (tight end) Drew Robinson,” he said. “They’ve got to give us some physical presence at the line of scrimmage that we need to get our backs started.”

“If we can do that, these backs can make something happen.”