With Khalil Tate banged up, Arizona Wildcats again face uncertainty at quarterback

In 2013, B.J. Denker started every game at quarterback for the Arizona Wildcats. In 2014, Anu Solomon did the same.

It hasn’t happened since. And it might not happen this season.

When he addressed the media Monday afternoon, UA coach Kevin Sumlin did not have a quarterback plan for Saturday’s game at UCLA — or at least one he wanted to disclose publicly.

Sumlin did say that he doesn’t want to repeat what happened Friday with Khalil Tate. Tate reinjured his sprained left ankle during Arizona’s second offensive series at Utah and did not return. He has come up hobbling at least once in almost every game since the original injury occurred Sept. 8 at Houston.

“We can’t keep going with this thing getting tweaked in two series and he’s out of the game,” Sumlin said. “It looked like he could hardly hand the ball off; that’s why I got him out. It’s a player-safety issue for me. We’re never gonna put anybody in harm’s way.

“We’ll discuss that with our medical team. Obviously, for everybody involved, the earlier we can make a decision the better.”

Whether Sumlin announces that decision before the game remains to be seen. It doesn’t make much sense for him to tip his hand.

Three quarterbacks played against the Utes. Tate started for the 15th straight time. Freshman Jamarye Joiner relieved him for the second straight week. Rhett Rodriguez played the last series of the first half and all of the second.

Sumlin again praised Rodriguez’s handling of a difficult situation — nighttime road game, hostile crowd, sizable deficit – perhaps providing a hint of the staff’s thinking for Saturday night.

“He looked very, very comfortable and poised throughout that time,” Sumlin said of Rodriguez, the sophomore from Catalina Foothills High School and the son of former UA coach Rich Rodriguez. “I just felt like Rhett was doing as good a job as anybody could do at that point, and he continued to play.”

Sumlin said Tate returning to his hometown of Los Angeles would not factor into the quarterback decision. Tate grew up as a UCLA supporter; his cousin, Manuel White, played for the Bruins in the early 2000s.

Tate made his college debut against UCLA at the Rose Bowl as a 17-year-old freshman on Oct. 1, 2016. He had to start two weeks later against USC, becoming the third starting quarterback for Arizona that season.

Anu Solomon started the opener and in Game 11; Brandon Dawkins started the other nine contests.

Solomon started the first four games in 2015 before yielding to Jerrard Randall for a week. Randall also started the regular-season finale before Solomon returned from a concussion for the New Mexico Bowl.

Dawkins began last season as the starter before getting hurt and giving way to Tate, who went on an unprecedented October run — including 230 rushing yards in a 47-30 victory over UCLA.

Slowed by the ankle injury while trying to adapt to a new offensive system, Tate has just 113 rushing yards in seven games this season.

He has improved his touchdown-to-interception ratio from 14-9 to 11-4, but his completion percentage has fallen from 62.0 to 53.4.

‘The human element’

Tate wasn’t the only Wildcat who couldn’t finish the Utah game.

Left tackle Layth Friekh, who has been bothered by pain in both ankles, exited in the second quarter and did not return. It was the second time in three weeks that happened to Friekh, who also labored through the USC game on Sept. 29.

Friekh’s situation is different than Tate’s in that Friekh missed the first two games because of an NCAA ruling and he’s out of eligibility after this season.

“Everybody’s seen him having trouble pushing off and limping around,” Sumlin said. “Our medical people do all the evaluations. Then it gets down to, some of these guys like to play football, too.

“The clock’s ticking on him. As a coach, you understand that a guy really wants to play. But you also understand that he can be a liability if he’s playing like that. That’s the part you struggle with. It’s the human element.

“The guy really wants to do something, physically he can’t and time’s running out.”

Tate, Friekh and defensive tackle Dereck Boles sat out the second half because of injuries. They joined the following 2017 starters in the infirmary: defensive end Justin Belknap, center Nathan Eldridge, “Stud” Kylan Wilborn and cornerback Jace Whittaker.

Kevin and Chip

Unlike Arizona’s first six opponents, Sumlin has some recent background with the Bruins.

Texas A&M played UCLA each of the past two seasons. The Aggies won 31-24 in 2016; the Bruins authored an epic fourth-quarter comeback to win 45-44 last year.

Sumlin doesn’t see much value in those experiences because the Bruins have a new coaching staff, new schemes and new personnel.

Sumlin did note that first-year UCLA coach Chip Kelly visited College Station last year while serving as an analyst for ESPN.

“He came to A&M and stayed for about three days,” Sumlin said.

“He was going to a lot of different places to talk football. Familiarity goes both ways in these types of situations. It’ll be interesting.”

Extra points

Arizona’s homecoming game against Oregon on Oct. 27 will kick off at 7:30 p.m. It will be televised by ESPN. Eight of the Wildcats’ first 10 games have kickoff times of 7 p.m. or later. The start times for the final two games, at Washington State and vs. Arizona State, have yet to be announced.

Sumlin praised the work of receivers Stanley Berryhill III, Devaughn Cooper and Cedric Peterson. The three combined for 11 catches, 150 yards and a touchdown against Utah. Sumlin said Cooper has looked more explosive of late after battling an ankle issue during the offseason.
Sumlin said the tackling issues that arose at Utah could have been mitigated if Arizona had more defenders around the ball. He also reiterated that it’s incumbent on the players to win more one-on-one battles, whether in the trenches or on the perimeter.
Sumlin said he continues to be well-received in Tucson, and he praised the support of the student section. He shares the fans’ frustration over the Wildcats’ inconsistency and stressed the importance of recruiting and player development so he and his staff can “put a product on the field that this whole city can be happy with.”