Quarterback Kahlil Tate #14 of the Arizona Wildcats scores a touchdown against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field on October 7, 2017 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
While UCLA spent a week at home during its bye, its next opponent, Arizona, picked up its first Pac-12 road win since 2015 with a breakout performance from backup quarterback Khalil Tate.
Coming in for injured starter Brandon Dawkins, Tate, a Gardena Serra alumnus, set the FBS record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 327 in Arizona’s 45-42 win over Colorado. He ran for four touchdowns and threw for one more on 11-of-12 passing for 142 yards in his first game action since suffering a sprained shoulder last month.
When asked if Tate would be Arizona’s starter going forward, including next Saturday’s game against UCLA in Tucson at 6 p.m., head coach Rich Rodriguez told reporters: “It’s hard to justify not starting him after this, right?”
The 18-year-old sophomore made his college debut last year against UCLA when injuries forced the coaching staff to burn his redshirt. He was 5-of-9 passing for 72 yards and two touchdowns and led the team in rushing with 79 yards on 15 carries. The Bruins won 45-24.
What other teams in the Pac-12 did Saturday:
- From the Arizona Daily Star: A more mature Tate was “electrifying,” according to teammates
- From the Boulder Daily Camera: Colorado‘s season hangs in the balance after a third straight loss
- USC bounced back from its first loss, but was not impressive against Oregon State
- From the Oregonian: Oregon State doesn’t have a chance without a competent quarterback
- From the Seattle Times: Washington got the long awaited dominating performance it was looking for
- From the San Francisco Chronicle: California must have been glad that most of the nation was sleeping during its blowout loss
- From the Spokesman Review: Washington State stayed perfect with a rout over Oregon
- From the Register-Guard: Oregon without Justin Herbert is like pizza without gluten.
- From the San Jose Mercury News: Bryce Love to the rescue for Stanford
- From the Salt Lake Tribune: Utah still has hope after suffering its first loss