Zach Ruocco

Khalil Tate

School: University of Arizona

Position: Quarterback

Year: Sophomore

Twitter: @KhalilDTN

I’ll tell you what, man. Jon Gruden would be ecstatic if he was to watch Khalil Tate on his Corona beach. More ecstatic than having a Spider 2 Y Banana Daiquiri. Wow, speaking of static, that’s what Tate leaves in his dust. Man can this guy light it up. He’s already the FBS record holder for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game after wearing down Colorado. That performance was also second in Arizona history for rushing yards. In the past two weeks leading up to Saturday night’s game, Tate rushed for a stunning 527 yards and 6 TDs with less than 30 carries. Exploding onto the scene this month statistically, the Wildcats’ dual threat QB is lighting his way to stardom, but just how did he get here?

Tate was a 4-star recruit coming out of Gardena, CA, running around a 4.6 in the 40 in the class of 2016. Khalil played football at Junipero Serra High School where he ran for 3,500 yards and threw for the same. Rated as the 10th best dual-threat QB, he was offered scholarships by the likes of Florida State, USC, UCLA, and Texas A&M before attending Arizona. He was Arizona’s second highest rated recruit for the class of 2016 behind Michael Eletise. L.A. Times even placed Tate on their High School All-area Team. In his freshman year, Khalil lost his redshirt by playing against UCLA in 2016, going 5 for 9 for 72 yards and 2 TDs.

That takes us to this year and the production we see.

Emerging on the scene in the month of October, the Wildcats, led by Tate, are surging into relevancy in the national spotlight. Khalil possesses the shiftiness and vision a runner needs to be successful on the collegiate level (ex. Reggie Bush’s numerous highlight cutbacks across the field). Another aspect that he seems to master on the football field is the patience for lanes to open up, exploit that change of direction, and dictate the defense like Leveon Bell is known so well for.

He keeps his opponents guessing and a lack of confidence already leaves any defense at a disadvantage. Tate has a knack for spreading the opposition thin recently with this ability and it’s paying dividends. Not to mention the fact he’s been dropping precision dimes right into his receivers’ chests. Khalil Tate seriously opens up the playbook for Arizona and Rich Rodriguez. Look out for Arizona in the Pac-12 South the rest of the way with Tate at the helm.