SPORTS
Speeding from the Arizona backfield
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Also by Drew Hansen:
- Wisconsin stuns No. 12 Maryland (December 1, 2004)
- Bo's Badgers roll in 2004 opener (November 22, 2004)
- Wisconsin prepares for Maryland's athleticism (November 30, 2004)
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- Trying to be 5-0 (September 19, 2002)
- UW must mend ways (September 20, 2002)
- Badger's offense fast becoming a Shakespearian tragedy (September 20, 2004)
- Defense gets well-deserved break (September 26, 2002)
- Lewis makes statement against Arizona (September 23, 2002)
by Drew Hansen
Thursday, September 19, 2002
The first thing you notice about Arizona tailback Clarence Farmer is how fast he is physically. Secondly, you notice how fast he talks. Farmer talks so fast he almost sounds overly anxious, no doubt to get out on the practice field and show off that foot speed. He even uses adjectives making reference to speedy things like racecars when talking about the Wildcats’ upcoming game against the Badgers.
“It’s a high-octane game, and it’s a big one. I don’t know if it is for Wisconsin, but this is just as big as any PAC-10 game for us,” said Farmer.
And Farmer has reason to be anxious. Opposing defenses have really keyed in on Farmer this season, and Farmer would really love to return to last season’s form against a nationally ranked program such as the Badgers this weekend.
Last season, as a sophomore, Farmer led the Pac-10 conference in rushing with 1,229 yards, averaging 5.9 yards-per-carry and totaling 11 touchdowns. Those statistics were good enough to earn Arizona’s MVP award. Despite Arizona’s end-of-season record of 5-6 in a very tough Pac-10 conference, Farmer made a great showing against some highly ranked and well-regarded teams last season. In 2001, Farmer averaged 148 yards against ranked teams, totaled three rushing touchdowns and added one on the receiving end.
This season, opponents have made it their top priority to contain the speedy Texan who has only totaled 149 yards in two games against Northern Arizona and Utah, both of which are much smaller than Wisconsin and smaller than every other opponent Arizona will play this season.
“In facing a Big Ten team, we have to respect them and give credit where credit is due,” the tailback speedily stated. “Wisconsin is a good school with a great [football] program ? this is a big game for us, and we’re not going to lie down.”
Farmer certainly is not one to lie down. The running back was held out of Monday’s practice with a slight ankle injury aggravated in last week’s game against Utah, but Arizona head coach John Mackovic said Farmer should be ready to play this Saturday.
As one of the top prospects coming out of high school in the state of Texas and as a collegiate back, Farmer has steadily shown the capability to run over, as well as away from, defenders and a knack to gain plenty of yards after contact.
Such a description is undoubtedly on the minds of the Badger defense this week, as the defense continually missed tackles last Saturday against Northern Illinois, allowing Michael Turner, a back similarly sized to Farmer, to run for 176 yards and two touchdowns.
“Every game is a championship game. We have to think, act and play that way every day, every week,” said Mackovic. “We have to be ready to play championship-type games.”
This week starts a stretch where the Wildcats play five ranked teams in their next eight games. Fortunate to get a win against Utah last week, the Wildcats need Farmer to start producing more yards and grind out the clock if Arizona stands any chance of surviving this stretch.
The savior of this young season for the Wildcats has been senior quarterback Jason Johnson, who has averaged close to 400 yards passing in each of Arizona’s two games this season. If Farmer can get the ground game going like last season, Arizona would put up a very formidable and multifaceted attack.
“We have no key weakness … xpect a threat from every aspect of the game,” stated Farmer. “We’re a very well-rounded team.”
This well-rounded team will head out early Saturday, as kickoff is scheduled for 11:10 a.m., but Farmer should be talking away, and he undoubtedly will have all pistons firing as he turns the turf at Camp Randall into a racetrack. Or at least that’s how he would put it.
