Arizona rolls over Washington 52-17 after bye

The Wildcats certainly made the most of it.

Refreshed and mostly recuperated from a grinding first half of the season, Arizona raced out of its bye week with perhaps its most complete game under coach Rich Rodriguez, rolling over Washington 52-17 Saturday night.

Matt Scott threw for 256 yards and four touchdowns, Ka'Deem Carey ran for 172 yards and the Wildcats scored 31 points in the first half to turn what was supposed to be a tight game into a rout.

"It feels good to come out and actually finish off this game," said Carey, who scored on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter. "When you do this against a good team like Washington, all you can do is celebrate."

It had been a while since the Wildcats had a chance to.

Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) opened its first season under Rodriguez with three straight wins, then hit a gauntlet of ranked teams to open conference play, getting beat up and worn down while losing all three.

Though still not completely healthy — several players were out or still dinged up — the Wildcats certainly seemed refreshed, having their way with Washington's defense from the opening drive on their way to eclipsing 500 total yards (533) for the sixth time this season.

Scott finished 14 of 22, throwing two touchdowns to Austin Hill, and ran for another score. Carey wasn't dropped for a loss once in 29 carries, Richard Morrison added a 63-yard touchdown on a punt return and the defense harassed Washington's Keith Price all night to give Rodriguez his first Pac-12 win.

"We gave great effort in all three phases for all four quarters, and that's the first time we've done that all year," Rodriguez said. "We played really hard and put it all together."

Washington didn't.

The Huskies (3-4, 1-3) had no chance against Arizona's fast-paced offense, allowing Arizona to score on its first five possessions, and Price had another so-so game amid the Wildcats' constant pressure.

The Huskies' junior matched Scott with 256 yards passing, but his line didn't look quite as good, needing 52 attempts to get there and with two interceptions to offset his one touchdown. He also was sacked four times and had to throw the ball out of bounds under pressure numerous other times, leading to Washington's third straight loss.