PASADENA, Calif.
Sometimes a coach’s most critical call has nothing to do with a third-down blitz or whether to run or pass on a third-and-2 from the 42 or if he should sprint onto the field to accost a referee.
Years later, weeks later, days later, those minute decisions are forgotten like smoke in a gust of wind.
But every so often, a coach holds a career in the balance.
You might understand why Rich Rodriguez decided to burn freshman Khalil Tate’s redshirt on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, with his quarterbacks dropping like flies after an encounter with an electric zapper, and you might be able to justify it.
A win in college football is a big deal; you only get 12 stabs at them. Facing a 2-3 start with a tough matchup at Utah looming and without a guaranteed victory formation on the schedule for another six weeks, Rodriguez could feel a winnable game slipping through the Wildcats’ grasp.
So he acted.
That he chose wrong was not evident in Arizona’s eventual 45-24 loss to UCLA, and it might not be evident this season or even next.
He might not know the true power of his action until four years from now, when a would-be Tate-led Wildcats squad is facing another strategic nightmare.
Rodriguez has to live with Saturday’s decision and, unfortunately for Tate, so does the 17-year old quarterback.
“(Coach Rod Smith) preaches competition, so every week I’m one, two snaps away,” Tate said late Saturday at the Rose Bowl. “I knew to be ready regardless. I never thought about (redshirting); every day I go out I play my hardest.”
It’s not that Tate didn’t look ready. He looked better than ready.
With about nine minutes left in the third quarter, Tate picked up a football and started warming up. His eyes were probably as big as the Goodyear Blimp that flew above the Rose Bowl. Two of them.
This was his big chance, baby. Time to fly.
The stage: Arizona trailed 21-7 in the grandest football setting in all the land, the Rose Bowl, where the country’s most hyped sophomore quarterback, UCLA’s Josh Rosen, stood across the field.
The Wildcats, already without two-year starter Anu Solomon, lost Brandon Dawkins to an apparent rib injury midway through the second quarter, and his replacement, Zach Werlinger, was ineffective, but only if you consider 0 for 5 passing and minus-4 yards rushing to be ineffective.
It took about 20 seconds to see that Tate was the better option for Arizona on Saturday night — maybe even the Wildcats’ best option all season — even as a winnable game slipped away.
The shifty product out of Gardena Serra High School immediately flashed the skills that made him the No. 4-rated dual-threat quarterback in the country, marching Arizona down the field on his first drive; the Wildcats stalled inside the 5 but got a field goal, though Tate did not attempt a pass on the drive.
On his second offensive possession, Tate showed off his arm, going 4 for 4 for 59 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown score to Shun Brown.
His last throw of the game rivaled Rosen’s best bomb — a 13-yard dime to Cam Denson down the left side of the end zone.
Tate, who had an astounding 2,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards as a high school senior, finished 5 of 9 passing for 72 yards and two scores and rushed for 79 yards.
“I thought he’d give us the best chance to score points,” Rodriguez said about the decision to play Tate. “I thought he competed well. He’s raw, but Smith has done a great job with getting him part of the offense to learn. When Anu was in, he was fourth, and gonna get redshirt, but the last couple weeks he got some plays.”
This is not an indictment of Tate’s performance, but whether it was warranted at all.
If anything, Rodriguez should’ve made the call sooner, perhaps at halftime, maybe, when Arizona trailed just 14-7 and was still in the thing. At least give the freshman a pep talk, maybe some orange slices. Slap him on the butt.
Instead, Werlinger was sent out for Arizona’s first offensive possession of the first half, took a sack on second-and-7 and threw an incompletion on third down. UCLA went down and scored a touchdown to go up 21-7.
Asked if he considered putting Tate in at the half the Bruins extended their lead, Rodriguez responded, “What, do I have to tell you everything? You saw.”
So enter Tate. And now, what, exit Tate?
Nothing would stunt the young quarterback’s growth more than sending him right back to the sideline. By the end of a blowout loss, Tate looked like the best player on the field.
Does he go back to the bench?
If Brandon Dawkins is healthy next week at Utah, does Tate just become an afterthought again?
These are decisions that RichRod gets paid to make.
Let’s hope he gets this one right.
