Every Monday throughout the season, we’ll take a look back at the Arizona Wildcats’ previous game after re-watching it via the TV broadcast and present five key takeaways. Here are the five from the UA’s 45-42 win at Colorado on Saturday night:
1. Tate the Great, Part I
Khalil Tate showed his elusiveness on this 47-yard TD run. The Buffs appeared to have him trapped at the outset.
It’s impossible to start anywhere else. Quarterback Khalil Tate’s performance was magical, historic and even more fun to watch the second time around. Let’s start with his running. Tate displayed speed, vision, shiftiness, awareness and power. Would he beat Brandon Dawkins in a 100-yard dash? Probably not. But Tate has the ability to make defenders miss; at least two of his long runs required him to do so at the line of scrimmage. He also has excellent instincts. It didn’t seem like he needed to cut back on his first TD run. But he knew exactly what he was doing, veering left and then back to the right without breaking stride. It was as if he could see multiple moves ahead. As far as his passing, Tate threw the ball decisively and accurately. Rich Rodriguez wisely didn’t ask him to do a ton of full-field reading; two of Tate’s completions were jet-sweep shovel passes, two had him rolling to the right and most of the others featured some form of play-action. But that’s how RichRod’s offense works. Regardless of the degree of difficulty, Tate delivered the ball where it needed to be and when it needed to get there.
2. Tate the Great, Part II
As you can see, Khalil Tate had multiple options on this TD pass. He chose the option to the left, Shun Brown.
Tate took the Buffaloes by storm. They seemed genuinely shocked during postgame interviews; they didn’t see Tate coming, and they were powerless to stop him. That won’t be the case moving forward. Everyone is aware of Tate now. UCLA will devote its entire defensive game plan to stopping him. How does Tate respond to that? How does Rodriguez continue to put him in positions to succeed? Remember, Tate played really well off the bench against UCLA and Utah last year. When he got his first starting assignment, against USC, he struggled. What might be different this time? The biggest factor is experience. Tate said he knows the entire playbook now; last year, he wasn’t expecting to play and looked overwhelmed at times. He’s also in much better physical shape now. Despite all those rushing yards and all that altitude, Tate never seemed to be breathing heavily during the game. His pulse rate might be lower than Hannibal Lecter’s. Of course there will be bumps along the way. Tate will make mistakes; every young quarterback does. He’s just better equipped to handle them now.
3. Taking a step back
Arizona had all kinds of trouble with Colorado's two-TE formation, despite placing extra defenders near the line of scrimmage.
I said last week on our Wildcast podcast that the UA defense was due to regress a bit; I didn’t think it would be this bad. After Colorado’s first drive of the second half, the Wildcats literally couldn’t get the Buffs off the field. How many teams have won a game in which the other team marched 75 yards for a touchdown on each of its final four possessions? Many factors contributed to Arizona’s inability to stop the run. At times the Wildcats got blown off the ball. At times they failed to get off blocks. At times they were slow to recognize the strength of Colorado’s formations. (The Buffs did major damage with two tight ends positioned on either side of the line.) At times they were in position to stop Phillip Lindsay, who repeatedly showed tremendous strength, balance and determination. Did Colorado give other teams a blueprint on how to attack the UA defense? I doubt it. It’s not as if UCLA or Washington State will take the ball out of their quarterbacks’ hands. But it’s definitely something Arizona needs to remedy in hurry.
4. This time it’s personnel
Here's a look at the defensive formation Arizona debuted vs. Colorado, featuring only one down lineman.
Every week we provide some notes on individual players, so here goes … As Tate and Rodriguez mentioned after the game, many contributed to the quarterback’s record-setting rushing performance. I hate to leave anyone out, but a few who jumped off the screen included center Nathan Eldridge, guards Christian Boettcher and Jacob Alsadek, and receivers Shun Brown, Tony Ellison and Shawn Poindexter. … Rodriguez showed tremendous faith in freshman TE Bryce Wolma by dialing up an RPO pass for him on third-and-4 on the final drive, and Wolma came through with a critical first down. … Freshman DE-LB Kylan Wilborn did more than his stats (two tackles, one PBU) show, but he also got overpowered at times in the run game. Having DeAndre’ Miller platoon with him will make both of them more effective. Although listed at 236 pounds to Wilborn’s 245, Miller is stouter against the run at this point. … Lorenzo Burns and Jace Whittaker were fortunate that Steven Montez missed some deep shots, but I liked the way both cornerbacks kept battling. Marcel Yates continually put them in one-on-one situations, and they never backed down from the challenge. … Arizona twice used a new defensive package on third-and-long featuring one defensive lineman (Finton Connolly), three linebackers and seven defensive backs. Freshmen Troy Young and Tony Wallace were the extra DBs.
5. Game-changer?
Khalil Tate gained 31 yards on this clinching run. Although it's hard to see where the opening was, the blocking was pretty decent.
The outlook for this season – and perhaps beyond – feels different today, doesn’t it? Tate’s performance had the internet buzzing and Arizona fans feeling good about things again. The Wildcats’ rare road victory makes winning two of three leading into homecoming vs. Washington State a real possibility. Based on what we’ve seen so far of Arizona, UCLA and Cal, is there any reason to think the Wildcats can’t beat those teams? I’m not saying they will, but I’m certain they’ll be competitive; you couldn’t say that most weeks last season. Obviously, Tate isn’t going to run for 300 yards every week. As mentioned, he’ll run into some adversity. And Arizona’s youthful defense clearly needs some work. But qualifying for a postseason bowl feels a lot more realistic today than it did at kickoff Saturday night. Rodriguez was somewhat reluctant to play Tate (although there were mitigating circumstances). Tate might have saved Rodriguez’s job.
