A year after torching Colorado with his legs, Khalil Tate beat the Buffaloes with his arm.
Tate passed for 350 yards and five touchdowns, and J.J. Taylor ran 40 times for 192 yards as Arizona held off Colorado 42-34 in front of an announced crowd of 43,080 Friday night at Arizona Stadium.
The Wildcats won their second in a row to square their record at 5-5. All they need is a split in their final two games to qualify for a bowl berth — a prospect that seemed unlikely just a week ago.
Just over a year ago — on Oct. 7, 2017 — Tate became an overnight sensation. He came off the bench to rush for 327 yards, an FBS record for quarterbacks, in a 45-42 victory in Boulder. He went on to win an unprecedented four straight Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week awards, finishing the season with 1,411 rushing yards.
Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate is impressed with teammate Arizona running back J.J. Taylor after he juked and sped past Colorado linebacker Rick Gamboa in the third quarter.
Tate has been a different player this year. Hampered for much of the season by a sprained left ankle, he hasn’t run as often or as effectively. Tate entered Friday with just 138 net rushing yards.
But after some early struggles adapting to a new offense, Tate is showing signs that he’s getting it. His five touchdown passes matched a career high. His 350 passing yards set a career high. His completion rate of 77.3 percent was a season best.
Despite Tate’s exploits — which included a season-long 25-yard scramble — the UA defense had to come up with two stops in the fourth quarter to hold the lead.
After Tate’s 57-yard TD pass to Cedric Peterson made it 42-34, Colorado advanced to the UA 22-yard line. On third-and-2, quarterback Steven Montez elected to keep the ball on a zone-read play. Colin Schooler tracked him down for a 7-yard loss.
On fourth-and-9, redshirt-freshman cornerback Azizi Hearn — making his first career start — broke up a pass from Montez to Kabion Ento.
The second stop was required after Tate got greedy. He had found success all game long by scrambling, buying time and finding receivers downfield. This time, Colorado safety Derrion Rakestraw saw what was coming and intercepted Tate at the CU 31-yard line.
The Buffs advanced to the Arizona 18. On third-and-10, an under-pressure Montez lofted a pass toward the end zone. UA safety Troy Young intercepted it near the goal line.
Arizona took over at its 1. Taylor rushed twice for only 1 yard. On third-and-9, Taylor squirted through the defense, kept his balance and gained 15 yards. On a subsequent third-and-6, Taylor scooted around the right side for 21 yards. The redshirt sophomore has three straight games with 150-plus yards.
Cedric Peterson - the only returning UA receiver with starting experience - displayed big-play ability vs. Colorado last year.
Arizona emerged with the lead at the end of a wild first half filled with big plays and big mistakes.
The Wildcats trailed 10-0 entering the second quarter. They scored 26 points in the period but needed a 55-yard Lucas Havrisik field goal when the clock hit 0:00 to recapture the advantage they had lost moments earlier.
Arizona grabbed a 23-17 lead on Tate’s third touchdown pass of the half, a 12-yarder to Shun Brown, with 59 seconds left in the second quarter. Josh Pollack missed the extra point.
The Wildcats gave the lead right back. On second-and-8 from the UA 43, Jarrius Wallace sized up a Montez pass and went for the interception. Wallace missed the ball, which landed in the arms of Travon McMillian, who cruised down the left sideline for a 57-yard touchdown. Wallace had entered the game for Scottie Young Jr., who got hurt making a tackle earlier in the quarter.
Tate completed 10 straight passes to end the first half, including a 40-yard touchdown to Stanley Berryhill III and a 1-yarder to Shawn Poindexter. Neither Tate nor his teammates started fast. The UA defense kept a bad start from turning into a terrible one.
Colorado twice started drives inside the Arizona 15-yard line. The Buffs came away with only three points.
Colorado’s Ronnie Blackmon returned the game’s first punt 59 yards to the UA 14-yard line. But the Wildcats held.
On fourth-and-2, Montez handed the ball to K.D. Nixon on a jet sweep. Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles stoned Nixon, forcing him to fumble. PJ Johnson recovered for Arizona.
After Colorado took a 7-0 lead on Nixon’s 8-yard TD run, Taylor fumbled at the UA 7. Flannigan-Fowles’ first career sack and an incomplete pass kept the Buffs to a field goal.
Tate threw three TD passes in the second quarter, when the lead changed hands three times.
Arizona won despite a season-high 12 penalties for 129 yards.
Extra points
• Laviska Shenault Jr., the Buffaloes’ star wideout, did not play because of a toe injury. The Pac-12’s leading receiver has missed the past three games.
• Gary Brightwell, Arizona’s No. 2 tailback, did not dress. Brightwell suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter last week. With Brightwell out, sophomore Nathan Tilford dressed for the first time this season. He carried one time for 1 yard in the first half.
• Redshirt sophomore Michael Eletise made his second career start, replacing the injured Bryson Cain (knee) at right guard. Eletise started at left guard two weeks ago against UCLA.
• Defensive end Jalen Cochran played for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury against Oregon State on Sept. 22. Cochran had a brace on his left arm.
• Colorado was down to its third-string place-kicker, freshman walk-on Tyler Francis. Francis made all four of his kicks — three extra points and a field goal — in the first half.
• The Wildcats are idle next week, then will travel to Pullman, Washington for a Nov. 17 game against No. 8 Washington State. The UA will finish its regular season with a home game against ASU.
