Arizona vs. Washington recap: Is a Heisman candidate emerging in Tucson?

There really isn't a whole lot to say about Arizona's 52-17 performance last night. They completely dominated every facet of the game, and they did so against one of the Pac-12's more talented teams.

Looking back on it, the Huskies really only had one legitimate touchdown drive, and that didn't come until the second quarter. Take away Matt Scott's unlucky interception with just seconds remaining in the first half and UW only scores 10 points last night.

Keith Price, who some believed was the best quarterback in the conference not named Matt Barkley at the start of the year, was continually rushing out of the pocket and did not look comfortable. For a team that had been gashed by opposing running backs in recent weeks, UA held Bishop Sankey to just 87 yards on 19 carries.

Scott ended his night completing 14 of his 22 pass attempts for 256 yards and four touchdowns. In an encouraging sign, it appeared his injured hip was not bothering him as much while running the ball eight times for 43 more yards and a score.

Ka'Deem Carey should begin to receive Heisman trophy talk in the coming days. He rushed for 172 yards and another touchdown last night against a solid UW front-seven. Carey probably won't receive much national attention, but here's an astounding fact:

KaDeem Carey rushing stats (842, 11TD) would rank him #1 RB in ACC,Big12,BigEast+SEC. Also 1 or 2 in TDs in every BCS conf. #arizonawildcats

— Jody Oehler (@jodyoehler) October 21, 2012

Not too bad, eh? Now if only Ka'Deem played east of the Mississippi somewhere...

Finally, let's talk about Arizona's defense. They are so young, so inexperienced and so undersized that it almost feels criminal to criticize these guys week after week. Last night, they simply stepped up and turned in the best defensive performance I've seen from a Wildcats team since 2010.

Were there mistakes made? Absolutely. I think Austin Seferian-Jenkins just caught another pass as I typed this sentence. But as a whole, there was very little to complain about.

The results may not always be there, but it's pretty clear defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel's unit has taken a big step forward this season.

Now we see if the Wildcats can become "relevant" once again, as Rich Rodriguez would say. The USC Trojans come to town next weekend and a win would push the 'Cats into the polls with four winnable games left on the slate. It'll be a big game to say the least, and one I think Arizona has a chance to win.