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'Amazing' Canidate crushes ASU's defense Brad Lang of the State Press UofA tailback Trung Canidate was simply unstoppable Friday evening as ASU defenders Mitchell Freedman (13) and Ryan Reilly (95) can attest to. Canidate finished with 288 yards rushing and three touchdowns. By Nick Piecoro State Press TUCSON-- UofA quarterback Keith Smith knew exactly why the Wildcats beat ASU on Friday night. "Trung Canidate was absolutely amazing," Smith said. Was he ever. The junior tailback carried the ball only 18 times but still amassed 288 yards rushing, a McGwire-like shattering of the 25-year record. Jim Upchurch held the UofA single-game rushing mark (232 in 1973). "Eighteen carries for 288 yards-- I've never heard of that," Wildcats head coach Dick Tomey said after his team's 50-42 victory. "He's just a real home run hitter as a running back." The junior now has 1,220 yards for the season, which all but clinches the Pac-10 rushing crown. Canidate also leads the nation in yards per carry (7.3). Canidate scored touchdowns on carries of 80, 66 and 48 yards, with the biggest coming with only 4:02 left to put the Wildcats up by 15. His ability to break long runs, along with similar contributions by UofA's other quarterback, Ortege Jenkins, helped make up for the Wildcats' passing game. Other than a big first quarter by Smith, UofA's air attack was inconsistent. Little-known wide receiver Brad Brennan, who rested in anonymity behind fellow wide receivers Jeremy McDaniel and Dennis Northcutt, had a career-high 111 yards receiving and scored the Cats' first touchdown of the night, a 72-yarder. On UofA's second possession of the game Brennan, a junior out of Redwood City, Calif., found himself wide open down the right sideline-- a familiar blunder by the ASU secondary -- and 72 yards later, the Wildcats were ahead 7-3. Brennan also caught a 19-yard pass to the ASU 1, setting up a Jim Wendler touchdown Jenkins was also able to scramble free for large chunks of yards, which is one reason why Tomey stuck with him for the majority of the second half. Whether Jenkins was forced to scramble or a draw was called, it was something that seemingly worked all night for the Wildcats. "ASU didn't bring the safety down and it was just great blocking by Kelvin Eafon (UofA's starting fullback) and Trung Canidate," Jenkins said. "It was just wide open. Every time. A couple of times, it wasn't even planned. I just dropped back and ran." Jenkins converted three third downs with scrambles, including a 13-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.