Arizona football: How the careers of quarterbacks Khalil Tate, Brandon Dawkins stack up

Brandon Dawkins vs. Khalil Tate

By Dominic Baciocco / Arizona Daily Star

Arizona quarterbacks Brandon Dawkins and Khalil Tate are listed as co-starters for the Wildcats' upcoming home bout with the UCLA Bruins. Before coach Rich Rodriguez names Saturday night's starter, here's a quick breakdown of both quarterbacks, including their history as recruits, top performances at the UA and their intangibles.

High school standout: Dual-threat Tate records over 4,000 yards in senior year

Khalil Tate was a four-star quarterback in the Class of 2016 out of Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, California, just south of Los Angeles. He received scholarship offers from football powerhouses Florida State, Texas A&M and USC, among others. 

Tate accounted for over 2,000 yards as a high school senior both on the ground and through the air, racking up 4,166 total yards. He also amassed 43 touchdowns, good for third in that category among California quarterbacks.

The quarterback was named a Cal High Sports Mr. California State Football Finalist along with fellow Arizona running back J.J. Taylor. Rivals.com also rated Tate the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in the country.

Tate finished high school with 3,543 passing yards, 3,625 rushing yards and 82 touchdowns.

High school standout: Dawkins throws over 8,000 yards, 88 touchdowns

Brandon Dawkins was a four-star quarterback in the Class of 2014 from Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California, near Los Angeles.

The three-time high school all-conference and all-city honoree for Oaks Christian was Scout's No. 39 quarterback. MaxPreps had him rated as the No. 13 quarterback in the state, and he received offers from college powers LSU and Notre Dame, along with Arizona State.

Dawkins set the single-game passing record at Oaks Christian with 389 yards, surpassing former Notre Dame standout Jimmy Clausen.

In a stellar high school career, including as a varsity starter for three seasons, Dawkins threw for 8,427 yards and 88 touchdowns. He added 1,397 rushing yards and 20 more scores on the ground. 

Fitting in with the Wildcats: Tate the third-youngest QB ever to start

As a true freshman in 2016, Tate became the third-youngest quarterback ever to start a game. Then just 17 years old, Tate completed 7 of 18 passes for 58 yards and threw an interception against USC. He ran for a team-high 72 yards on 14 carries and fumbled the ball away once.

Tate was the first true freshman to start for the Wildcats since Willie Tuitama in 2005, and the Trojans took advantage. Rodriguez said after the game it was just a matter of a "17-year-old freshman looking like a 17-year-old freshman."

That 17-year-old freshman made appearances as a backup in six games in 2016, including in every game following his first start. Tate finished the season with 243 yards and three scores through the air, and added 237 rushing yards.

After a career game against Colorado, Tate's career totals with the Wildcats look something like this: Four passing touchdowns and four interceptions on 438 yards to go along with 650 rushing yards and five more scores.

Though Tate has spent most of his first year and a half as Dawkins' backup, the sophomore was listed as a co-starter with an "OR" designation next to Dawkins on the Wildcats' most recent depth chart.

Fitting in with the Wildcats: Dawkins rides the roller coaster in up-and-down career

Dawkins made his Arizona debut as a backup against Northern Arizona in 2015. He failed to complete a pass on one attempt, but recorded 74 yards on two carries and added a score on the ground in a game that saw the Wildcats set several offensive records in a 77-13 route. Dawkins' first career score came on a 43-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.

Dawkins appeared in three more games in 2015 before making his first real impact against rival ASU in Tempe. Second string Jerrard Randall received the nod for a concussed Anu Solomon, but was mostly ineffective through the first couple quarters. Dawkins replaced Randall in the second quarter and threw for over 300 yards, but was unable to dig the Wildcats out of an early hole.

Dawkins' most notable season to date was his sophomore campaign in 2016, when he played in all but two games and recorded 1,348 passing yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions while hooking up with his targets on 53.8 percent of passes. The dual-threat was highly effective as a rusher, totaling 944 yards and 10 more scores.

In his first two and a half seasons in Tucson, Dawkins has thrown for 2,356 yards, 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while adding 1,481 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground.

Top performance: Tate breaks loose for record-setting night

The sophomore was most frequently found as a blur sprinting across the goal line in the Wildcats' 48-45 road win against Colorado. Tate set the FBS quarterback rushing record with 327 yards, and made most of his damage on scores of 58, 28, 47 and 75 yards.

He also connected with receiver Shun Brown on a 13-yard touchdown completion to put the Wildcats on top of the Buffaloes before halftime. Tate made his presence felt as an accurate pass-thrower, completing 12 of 13 attempts for 154 yards.

Leading by seven with 11 minutes left in the final quarter, Tate stepped up and made a big-time throw over the middle to hit Tony Ellison in stride for a 60 yard hookup. The drive resulted in a short field goal to put the Wildcats on top by 10 in a game they would eventually win by three.

Top performance: Dawkins provides the pop to claim Territorial Cup

It wasn't Dawkins' first time facing the archrival Sun Devils, but it will go down as his most memorable. 

It's the ol' "... without completing a pass in the second half" line that Wildcats fans nearly overplayed into a motto. Dawkins and Arizona took down rival ASU with ease in a 56-35 slaughter that saw the Wildcats rush for 511 total yards behind the quarterback's 183-yard, two-touchdown effort. Dawkins also added 77 yards through the air and a score for good measure on 3 of 8 passing.

And in case you didn't here... the Wildcats didn't attempt a pass in the second half.

Dawkins set a career high in rushing yards as Arizona snapped an eight-game losing skid with its first and only conference win of the year.

Dawkins' top performance comes in two parts, though, as his first appearance against the Sun Devils may have been even more spectacular.

At ASU in 2015, he replaced an ineffective Jerrard Randall who started in place of an injured Anu Solomon. Dawkins entered with Arizona already in a 21-7 hole, but set a career high in passing yards with 305. He threw two touchdowns and added another on the ground to go along with 78 rushing yards as the Wildcats refused to go quietly.

The Sun Devils won the matchup 52-37.

Dawkins' career numbers against ASU? How's 382 passing yards, 261 rushing yards and six total scores sound?

Intangible: Tate's pure playmaking abilities

Tate has made a knack of destroying defenders with his 6-2, 215-pound frame, and has made bobbing and weaving around them look easy. His skill set was on full display in a demolition of the Colorado defense last week, but it wasn't the first time.

The 18-year-old made quick work of a Houston defender in Week 2, lowering his shoulder and running straight through defensive back Isaiah Johnson for a 10-yard gain.

Khalil Tate laying the lumber on a poor defender pic.twitter.com/oxB3HDQBMZ

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) September 10, 2017

Tate again displayed his skills as a dual-threat quarterback against the Buffaloes, simply outsprinting one defender at the line of scrimmage before sliding his way through a barrage of Colorado defensive backs en route to a 58-yard score (his second-longest of the night).

Khalil Tate goes ALL THE WAY for a career long 58 yard TD!

Watch #AZvsCU: https://t.co/YfMNDWtSGW pic.twitter.com/szW64FqQnP

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) October 8, 2017

Intangible: Dawkins' connection with Miss Arizona

The Arizona State defense isn't all Dawkins ran through in the 2016 Wildcats' lone Pac-12 win, and Tommy Lynn Calhoun may have something to say about that. 

Calhoun was wearing a tiara on the sideline when Dawkins ran out of bounds and collided with the 2017 Miss Arizona. Both took a hard fall, but Dawkins helped Calhoun to her feet after a couple of seconds and she was able to laugh it off. 

“I was just trying not to hit anybody, I happened to run into her,” Dawkins said with a laugh after the game. “I’m gonna leave it there. I’m not gonna say anything too much, I don’t want to become a meme. It was an accident."

Dawkins took a moment after the game to apologize, and Calhoun even made a quick plea to RichRod.

PUT ME ON THE FIELD COACH!#JustGotTackledOnNationalTelevision#LostMyShoes#MadeTheTackle#BEARDOWN

— Tommy Lynn Calhoun (@missAZusa) November 26, 2016