RB Respect Month Vol. 3, Day 21: Trung Canidate - Home run hitter! (1998)
A threat to score every time he touched the ball.
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Welcome to day 21 of Running Back Respect Month! Yesterday, we had to remind everyone about Brian Calhoun's one brilliant season at Wisconsin in 2005. Here's where we're at today, and how the rest of the month looks:
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Today: Trung Canidate vs. Arizona State (1998)
RB Respect Month Vol. 3, Day 21: Trung Canidate - Home run hitter! (1998)
I've never heard a head coach speak truer words to a broadcast team in the leadup of a game than what Arizona's Dick Tomey told the Fox Sports Net crew about running back Trung Canidate before the Wildcats' 1998 regular season finale against Arizona State:
It wasn't just coachspeak, either. Canidate was legitimately one of those backs who could score any time he touched the ball, in any spot on the field. This is a guy who was a true home run hitter in the backfield:
Arizona State learned exactly why Canidate was so dangerous when he ripped them for 288 yards and three touchdowns on just 18 carries in Arizona's wild 50-42 win:
This is a game you need to watch in full at some point this offseason. Partly for Canidate's performance, but also because it's quietly one of the most entertaining rivalry games ever. It has almost everything you could want! Arizona was 10-1 and needed a win to potentially make their first-ever Rose Bowl. A 5-5 Arizona State team wanted to spoil that, plus get revenge for the Wildcats denying them a Fiesta Bowl trip the year prior. The teams combined for 92 points, 1,169 yards, 21 penalties, and five turnovers. They were both packed with NFL talent. Beyond Canidate (a first-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2000), Arizona had All-Americans in corner Chris McAlister (first round, 1999), and receiver Dennis Northcutt (second round, 2000). Meanwhile, Arizona State boasted fantastic tight end Todd Heap (first round, 2001), 2000 Pac-10 DPOY Adam Archuleta (first round, 2001) and running back J.R. Redmond (third round, 2000). In a game packed with stars, Canidate shone the brighest, and streaked like one does through the desert Arizona sky.
His first touchdown fit perfectly to what Tomey told the FSN crew before the game. A play that started with Canidate jumping over his own right guard three yards behind the line of scrimmage ended with him cutting through the middle of the Arizona State defense and burning them for the next 85 yards:
