Before the AdvoCare V100 Bowl, Arizona tailback Ka'Deem Carey talked about how the matchup actually was two games -- Arizona against Boston College and Carey against BC tailback Andre Williams.
Both were a rout.
Carey, the nation's No. 2 rusher, ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries Tuesday as the Wildcats ripped the Eagles, 42-19, in Shreveport, La. Williams, the nation's leading rusher, was held to 75 yards and a TD on 26 carries.
The game wasn't even as close as the final score might suggest: Arizona (8-5) led 42-6 before BC (7-6) scored twice in the fourth quarter, including a TD with 35 seconds left.
Carey, a junior who had said he will make his decision on turning pro after the bowl game, went into the game averaging 156 yards per game. Tuesday's outing meant he rushed for at least 119 yards in all 12 games he played this season (he was suspended for the opener against FCS program Northern Arizona), and it also was his sixth game with at least 150 yards and fifth with at least two rushing touchdowns.
Williams came in averaging 175.2 yards per game, and Tuesday's performance was the fourth time this season he was held to fewer than 100 yards. The flipside: He had five 200-yard games, including four contests with at least 263 yards.
Williams finishes the season with 2,177 yards, fifth-most all-time in FBS history, behind only Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders (2,628 in 1988), UCF's Kevin Smith (2,567 in 2007), USC's Marcus Allen (2,342 in 1981) and Iowa State's Troy Davis (2,185 in 1996). Bowl stats didn't count in 1988, and Sanders ran for 222 in a Holiday Bowl rout of Wyoming; that performance gave him 2,850 yards in 12 games (237.5 yards per game).
As well as Carey played, Arizona's star was senior quarterback B.J. Denker, who threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 51 yards and a score.
Boston College senior wide receiver Alex Amidon went out with a strong game. He had 10 receptions for 129 yards and finished his career with a school-record 191 catches.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.