Bear Down Wildcats

Tate is a 6-2, 215 Junior quarterback. Last year he entered the season as the #2 QB and most people didn't even believe he was in the competition for #1. Prior to the Colorado game Tate had already gone to the coaches asking for a shot to lead the team. Their answer - show us more in practice. Instead, when Dawkins left the Colorado game after a late hit, Tate proved his ability to the nation on the field and became an instant college football sensation.

Entering the Colorado game in relief, Tate set the FBS record for rushing by a QB with 327 yards and more importantly a victory. He continued on to be the best player in country over the month of October. That included Tate winning 4 straight PAC 12 player of the week awards. In addition, Tate was the Walter Camp National Player of the Week (Oct. 9), Maxwell Award National Player of the Week (Oct. 9), Athlon National Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 9), CFPA National Performer of the Week (Oct. 16), Manning Award Star of the Week (Oct. 16 and Oct. 30) and the Davey O’Brien Great 8 (Oct. 9, Oct. 16 and Oct. 30).


For the year Tate, in 11 games and 8 starts, had 1,411 yards rushing, 9.2 yards a carry (to lead the nation) and 12 TDs along with 1,591 yards passing, 8.9 yards per pass, 14 TDs, and 9 interceptions while completing 62% of his passes. Tate is the first player in school history to have 3 200-yard rushing games in a season.


Can Tate handle the hype going into this season? Can he exceed last year's performance? First, read the Sports Illustrated cover store on Tate and you'll better understand a young man and a family that have waited for this opportunity. Next, remember the advantages the new coaching staff provides Tate. We have a head coach that has handled the national spotlight, intense local media pressure and shepherded QBs thru Heisman campaigns. Also, a new OC who has simplified the passing reads and should force defenses to defend the entire field against both Tate's legs and his arm. The coaching change may be the key to Tate having one of the best seasons in Arizona history.



My favorite part of Khalil's game - his dead eye, gunslinger stare before the ball is snapped contrasted with his sheer joy and excitement after every big play. Tate loves to compete, win and Beardown!

Here is the link to the old Khalil thread covering his breakout 2017 season and build-up this past off season.

14 is the Arizona record for passes caught in a game set by Jeremy McDaniel against Cal in 1996.

If tonight's BYU game is an indication of how they want to call plays with Tate. You can remove him from that watch list right now.

That was a real nice short Heisman campaign.

FREE KHALIL YOU DUMB MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!

Yup with this coaching staff's playcalling he has immediately sunk into obscurity and mediocrity. He'll get some mentions this week as a failure that disappointed the talking heads back east but then AZ and Tate won't be mentioned the rest of the year.

Tate likes to throw the deep ball too much to make him a pocket passer.

Reading the press it sounds like the lack of running was all on Tate.

whatisee wrote:Reading the press it sounds like the lack of running was all on Tate.

Being a junior, maybe he was thinking of the NFL and trying to prove he can be a pocket passer and throw the deep ball. What NFL team wouldn't want someone who could be drafted at the age of 20?

If so, ouch, work within the system tate.

Or is Mazzone throwing him under the bus.

Typical Arizona football.

Merkin wrote:

whatisee wrote:Reading the press it sounds like the lack of running was all on Tate.

Being a junior, maybe he was thinking of the NFL and trying to prove he can be a pocket passer and throw the deep ball. What NFL team wouldn't want someone who could be drafted at the age of 20?

It would be ideal if he had receivers that would allow him to accomplish his pass first mentality. I personally counted 5 dropped passes including the one that hit Peterson in the face mask in the end zone. If they're not catching the passes then he needs to realize his legs are the ultimate weapon to move the ball. Poindexter and Berryhill did look good imo.

Free Tate!

CalStateTempe wrote:If so, ouch, work within the system tate.

Or is Mazzone throwing him under the bus.

Typical Arizona football.

Not Mazzone...these are comments he made after the game referring to him needing to throw because that's what QB's do. He wants to go to the NFL and i would be surprised if he stays after this year if he can get a sniff

Making Tate a pure pocket passer is as stupid as making Drew Brees a triple option QB.

I charted all of Khalil Tate's throws vs. BYU... let's just say the Cats weren't making many -- any -- deep connections. Story has charts!

https://collegesportsmaven.io/arizona/f ... Xs2Gffoew/

(Oh... and please check out this new platform that Steve Rivera and I will be playing around on. Check it out, let me know what you think.)

Gimino wrote:I charted all of Khalil Tate's throws vs. BYU... let's just say the Cats weren't making many -- any -- deep connections. Story has charts!

https://collegesportsmaven.io/arizona/f ... Xs2Gffoew/

(Oh... and please check out this new platform that Steve Rivera and I will be playing around on. Check it out, let me know what you think.)

Awesome thank you AG. I've been very curious about a chart of them so I'm glad you made one.

whatisee wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:If so, ouch, work within the system tate.

Or is Mazzone throwing him under the bus.

Typical Arizona football.

Not Mazzone...these are comments he made after the game referring to him needing to throw because that's what QB's do. He wants to go to the NFL and i would be surprised if he stays after this year if he can get a sniff

And I am sure Mazzone has been drilling that thought into his head all year. Brainwashing Tate into trying to be something he isn't, and it is really hurting Tate and the team.

CalStateTempe wrote:If so, ouch, work within the system tate.

Or is Mazzone throwing him under the bus.

Typical Arizona football.

That's a good question. I think the Arizona coaches threw Tate under the bus last night. I don't think they intended to but the result was the same. We all understand Tate has to be quarterback first but he also needs to be Tate and they need to give him some leeway. Even with out soft defensive line we still should have won that game.

whatisee wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:If so, ouch, work within the system tate.

Or is Mazzone throwing him under the bus.

Typical Arizona football.

Not Mazzone...these are comments he made after the game referring to him needing to throw because that's what QB's do. He wants to go to the NFL and i would be surprised if he stays after this year if he can get a sniff

Part of coaching is getting guys to buy into what will benefit the team. I understand Tate wanting a future in the NFL and wanting to show his arm. A good coaching staff shows him a guy like Lamar Jackson being drafted early and how you can blend personal goals with team benefits.

When you have an ego and think you determined how the coaching search went you get this garbage

PHXCATS wrote:When you have an ego and think you determined how the coaching search went you get this garbage

What Garbage? I dont see it, What i see is Arizona jumping in the rabbit and hired the Hottest coach in College Football that got fired for having 4 mediocre season and not living up to expectation with Talent across the board at A&M.

This is what David Heeke want it and he might regret it.

Khalil needs to decide quickly if he wants to prove he can play in the NFL at a different position, or not at all. If he keeps trying to be a pocket passer, the answer is not at all.

btfd16 wrote:Khalil needs to decide quickly if he wants to prove he can play in the NFL at a different position, or not at all. If he keeps trying to be a pocket passer, the answer is not at all.

He definitely didn't put his best foot forward with Todd McShay watching him. He almost seemed stunned at times watching what was going on. Like much of the fan base was. He'll be back as a senior unless we somehow go 10-0 to finish the season

cordera89 wrote:

PHXCATS wrote:When you have an ego and think you determined how the coaching search went you get this garbage

What Garbage? I dont see it, What i see is Arizona jumping in the rabbit and hired the Hottest coach in College Football that got fired for having 4 mediocre season and not living up to expectation with Talent across the board at A&M.

This is what David Heeke want it and he might regret it.

This is not what Heeke wanted, it was what was forced down his throat.

ChooChooCat wrote:

cordera89 wrote:

PHXCATS wrote:When you have an ego and think you determined how the coaching search went you get this garbage

What Garbage? I dont see it, What i see is Arizona jumping in the rabbit and hired the Hottest coach in College Football that got fired for having 4 mediocre season and not living up to expectation with Talent across the board at A&M.

This is what David Heeke want it and he might regret it.

This is not what Heeke wanted, it was what was forced down his throat.

Fair enough Choo, and you know I respect your perspective on the CATS ADept, but you also mentioned weak leadership in another post. So if this is the sandwich we have to eat, doesn't it ultimately fall on Heeke's leadership?

who is ultimately at fault for the cramming down said throat? Boosters or Tate's social media presence?

I wonder how much of the Adidas BB garbage was a distraction to Heeke and trying to please too many masters at once (FB and BB)

Don't know about you guys but I kind of get the feeling that Tate doesn't want to run. I don't want to say he was faking the injury but the whole thing was just strange.

DrWildcat wrote:Don't know about you guys but I kind of get the feeling that Tate doesn't want to run. I don't want to say he was faking the injury but the whole thing was just strange.

When I saw it live, I thought for sure that he saw the 5 Cougars directly in front of him, and made the prudent decision to sit down.

Then it seems like we took it as an opportunity for an excuse

QBR 53.2 compared to 92.0 last season.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/pl ... halil-tate" target="_blank

Which puts him 78th in FBS.

http://www.espn.com/ncf/qbr/_/page/2" target="_blank

CalStateTempe wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

cordera89 wrote:

PHXCATS wrote:When you have an ego and think you determined how the coaching search went you get this garbage

What Garbage? I dont see it, What i see is Arizona jumping in the rabbit and hired the Hottest coach in College Football that got fired for having 4 mediocre season and not living up to expectation with Talent across the board at A&M.

This is what David Heeke want it and he might regret it.

This is not what Heeke wanted, it was what was forced down his throat.

Fair enough Choo, and you know I respect your perspective on the CATS ADept, but you also mentioned weak leadership in another post. So if this is the sandwich we have to eat, doesn't it ultimately fall on Heeke's leadership?

who is ultimately at fault for the cramming down said throat? Boosters or Tate's social media presence?

I wonder how much of the Adidas BB garbage was a distraction to Heeke and trying to please too many masters at once (FB and BB)

I mean ultimately this falls on Heeke's resume, but Sumlin was not his guy. He was overruled by somebody else and bought in to it due to the recruiting angle. Boosters had a say here of course, but you can take one easy guess and figure out who overruled Heeke on this. This all came after Heeke offered the job to somebody else first too.

ChooChooCat wrote: I mean ultimately this falls on Heeke's resume, but Sumlin was not his guy. He was overruled by somebody else and bought in to it due to the recruiting angle. Boosters had a say here of course, but you can take one easy guess and figure out who overruled Heeke on this. This all came after Heeke offered the job to somebody else first too.

The patients (donors and players) running the asylum!

As fragile as Tate is, maybe having Lane or a frosh QB running the "tripple" option under the Navy guy wouldn't have been such a bad deal after all.

Merkin wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote: I mean ultimately this falls on Heeke's resume, but Sumlin was not his guy. He was overruled by somebody else and bought in to it due to the recruiting angle. Boosters had a say here of course, but you can take one easy guess and figure out who overruled Heeke on this. This all came after Heeke offered the job to somebody else first too.

The patients (donors and players) running the asylum!

As fragile as Tate is, maybe having Lane or a frosh QB running the "tripple" option under the Navy guy wouldn't have been such a bad deal after all.

I mean he would've run the triple option like 4-5 times a game on average, but you know that would've been soooooo terrible.

This is so entertaining. This is even better than when Chief was here. I do wish our Wildcats were doing better. At least 1-1 but oh well, it is what it is. Back to being entertained. I distinctly recall Heeke being lauded as absolutely brilliant when he hired Sumlin. I don't remember who was doing all the hurrahs and I'm not even going to go look. I remember one person going on and on about how Heeke played everyone so perfectly, how he threw everyone off with bringing in the Navy coach and doing it to get the alums on board. 7 short months later and its a different tune. Oh we should have hired the Navy coach and this is all on Heeke and Sumlin wasn't really his guy and on and on and on. I would say relax a bit. Face it, we aren't going to win the Southern Division of the PAC12. We will get better than what we are now. Tate is still a talented athlete. He'll get better and he may even wind up at a different position. Personally I don't care as long as we get better and keep getting better. You may want to consider there was a reason Sumlin and Mazzone went out and recruited a decent drop back passer. Personally I don't think Tate is going to master this system.

prh wrote:

DrWildcat wrote:Don't know about you guys but I kind of get the feeling that Tate doesn't want to run. I don't want to say he was faking the injury but the whole thing was just strange.

When I saw it live, I thought for sure that he saw the 5 Cougars directly in front of him, and made the prudent decision to sit down.

Then it seems like we took it as an opportunity for an excuse

I thought he also just went down to avoid a gang tackle at first, but upon seeing the replay, you can see he did clearly experience pain.

Whether or not said pain was enough to prevent future running and whether or not we used it as some "excuse" to change playcalling or whatever I've no clue.

Khalil faked his injury and refuses to run. He'll be benched soon.

Tatanka wrote:Khalil faked his injury and refuses to run. He'll be benched soon.

He wont be benched. The only way that happen is if he play poorly once conference starts.

He hasn't ran for 5 games in a row now, resulting in 5 losses.

He certainly is not going to win any games with his arm.

Fortunately the Cats can beat Southern Utah just buy running Taylor and Brightwell.

Tatanka wrote:Khalil faked his injury and refuses to run. He'll be benched soon.

So what would be the reason? NFL? I think it is pretty obvious that he doesn't have the ability to be an NFL QB. I guess Tate is the only one who hasn't figured that out yet.

His running is a distant memory now and seemingly something that teams probably don't really need to game plan for.

Yea Peyton Manning is a bigger running threat now. And he's retired.

Merkin wrote:

I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees that. Tate is a great athlete but he may be a candy ass. We'll see.

149 yards rushing the last 7 games

Keyshawn Sr. in his ear.

tgrumpy2 wrote:

Merkin wrote:

I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees that. Tate is a great athlete but he may be a candy ass. We'll see.

Possible, but why would he have suddenly gone from the antithesis of a candy ass last season to a candy ass now? Puzzling.

MrMeow wrote:

tgrumpy2 wrote:

Merkin wrote:

I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees that. Tate is a great athlete but he may be a candy ass. We'll see.

Possible, but why would he have suddenly gone from the antithesis of a candy ass last season to a candy ass now? Puzzling.

Last 3 games of last season too. Believe his biggest game since the 9th game of last season was 58 rushing yards.

Maybe he took a close look at what happened to Anu Solomon in a RichRod offense. Hilinski too for that matter. Hilinski had a brain of a 65 year old due to CTE.

Merkin wrote:

MrMeow wrote:

tgrumpy2 wrote:

Merkin wrote:

I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees that. Tate is a great athlete but he may be a candy ass. We'll see.

Possible, but why would he have suddenly gone from the antithesis of a candy ass last season to a candy ass now? Puzzling.

Last 3 games of last season too. Believe his biggest game since the 9th game of last season was 58 rushing yards.

Maybe he took a close look at what happened to Anu Solomon in a RichRod offense. Hilinski too for that matter. Hilinski had a brain of a 65 year old due to CTE.

I don't recall Tate behaving like a candy ass in the last 3 games of last season. I only recall that teams learned how to contain him and his running became ineffective. The change of heart you mention is plausible . If true, I can't say I blame him.

By the way, what is the material difference between a healthy 65 year old brain and a healthy 20 year old brain? A serious, and perhaps irrelevant question, but most 65 year olds (and older) I know could run mental circles around most 20 year olds.

I think it's time to stop thinking that Tate should be superman each and every game and anything less is a failure.

He is a very good qb for AZ... enjoy it

Alieberman wrote:I think it's time to stop thinking that Tate should be superman each and every game and anything less is a failure.

He is a very good qb for AZ... enjoy it

This.

While it would have been nice to get all all of the national attention/Heisman talk with the "old" Tate this year I really don't care as long as he can be a top tier QB and run a productive offense. He is still one of the more accurate passers and if that leads to W's who gives a shit.