Tate sets new QB rushing record while Arizona shows life in Boulder
It was a battle of two teams looking for a conference win, and it turned out to be everything the game wasn't built up to be. Arizona (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12 Conference) used a record-breaking performance by backup quarterback Khalil Tate to earn the team's first conference road win in quite some time Saturday night.
Behind 327 rushing yards from Tate, who came on in place of an injured Brandon Dawkins, the Wildcats knocked off Colorado 45-42 in a game that went down to the final drive. The Buffs (3-3, 0-3) went blow for blow with the Wildcats for the entire night but Arizona had its Mike Tyson and he delivered the knockout punch in the final minutes of the game with a 31-yard run on third down to ice the much-needed victory for the Wildcats.
"Really I just kept staying positive," Tate said on the postgame radio show about waiting his turn to get in the game. "I kept working and kept grinding. And with the help of my teammates they help me thrive out on the field."
David Zalubowski/AP
Tate's big night came on very few plays. He needed just 14 carries to set the new FBS single-game rushing record for a quarterback. It took Northern Illinois' Jordan Lynch, the last player to hold the record, 13 more carries to reach his mark of 316 yards on the ground.
The sophomore from Inglewood, California was also nearly perfect throwing the ball as well. He didn't put up as many yards but he did complete 11 of his 12 pass attempts and his only incompletion came on a drop from Tyrell Johnson. Tate ended the night with 142 yards and a touchdown through the air.
Dawkins took a shot on a late hit during Arizona's first drive of the game and it didn't take Tate long to get going. His first score came on a 58-yard weaving run and once it became clear he was up to the task against Colorado there was no looking back from Rich Rodriguez.
"He was a little nicked up then," Rodriguez said of Dawkins. "But after Khalil got in there I wasn't going to take him out."
Rodriguez is no stranger to having talented runners play quarterback for him, but it was certainly among the best performances he has seen in his time coaching the game.
"With Denard Robinson and Patrick White I've been blessed to have some really athletic quarterbacks that can run," Rodriguez said. "But this was a pretty special performance, too."
