The Arizona Wildcats defeated Colorado 45-42 Saturday night at Arizona Stadium. Here are some pertinent notes, quotes and statistics:
NOTES
* Sophomore Khalil Tate rushed for 327 yards to establish a new FBS rushing record for quarterbacks. Tate surpassed Northern Illinois’ Jordan Lynch, who set the record with 321 yards in 2013.
* Tate averaged 23.4 yards per carry. That mark set a school record (minimum 10 rushes). Trung Canidate held the previous mark at 16 yards per carry.
* Two players have rushed for 300-plus yards against Colorado – Tate and Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey in 2012.
* Tate became the first quarterback in Arizona history to rush for 200 or more yards in a game. He’s the 20th player in school history to eclipse the 200-yard mark.
* Tate and Brandon Dawkins (who left the game because of injury in the first quarter) combined to complete 12 of 14 passes. Both of the incomplete passes were drops.
* Arizona has had eight 100-plus-yard rushing performances in six games against Colorado under Rich Rodriguez. Seven players accounted for those eight.
* Tate’s 469 yards of total offense tied Matt Scott for the fifth-best total by an Arizona player.
* Freshmen Tony Fields II and Scottie Young Jr. each had a career-high 11 tackles, tying for the team lead. Young had 1.5 stops for losses. Fields had one of Arizona’s season-high four sacks (all in the first half).
* Arizona rushed for 413 yards, marking the third time in the past six games that the Wildcats have rushed for at least 300 yards in a game. They have rushed for at least 150 yards in 11 straight games.
* Colorado’s Phillip Lindsay carried a school-record 41 times for 281 yards. He and Tate combined for 608 rushing yards – the most by two opposing players in one game in FBS history.
QUOTES
Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre on Tate: “Could someone please tackle No. 14 for Arizona? That was the difference in the football game. He was amazing. He should be National Player of the Week. He’s a phenomenal player. I think they’ve found their quarterback now.”
Tate on the crowd at Folsom Field: “They were very hostile. They were loud. I heard them, but it didn’t faze me at all.”
Tate on whether he was nervous when he entered the game: “A little bit. First-time jitters. I’ve never been here before. It was a great environment to play in. We got the win. That’s all that matters.”
Rodriguez on the win: “You’re going to enjoy it for 24 hours. We let a couple opportunities slip earlier in the year. It’s a big road win. Any win in the Pac-12 is good. A road win is really good. They had a great environment. It was packed. They were into the game. … We had a lot of young guys playing, particularly on defense. Golly, every time I looked over there, there were freshmen in there. We competed. I think we can learn a lot from this one. There’s a lot of stuff we’ve got to get better at.”
Lindsay on his workhorse performance: “I do it for my team, period. I am going to do whatever I have to do to help win and bring glory to this program. We came up short, so obviously I didn’t do enough. I am going to go back to square one and get my team going.”
UA guard Jacob Alsadek on the significance of the victory: “In my head right now, we could be 5‐0. We have only lost by what, nine points? The Utah game we should have won, and we could have won that Houston game. I think that this team wants to fight and show people who we are.”
UA cornerback Jace Whittaker on Tate’s performance: “When he is on the field, he is electrifying. I think that he is the best quarterback in the Pac‐12. It was only a matter of time till he saw the field. We have seen this since high school."
Arizona’s DeAndre’ Miller on the meaning of the win: “It’s a step forward in the right direction as far as our team. This win was big. We’re trying to get to the Pac‐12 Championship, and right now it’s open. The Pac‐12 is crazy, wild.”
STATS
* Colorado had 28 first downs; Arizona had 25.
* Arizona had 567 total yards; Colorado had 551.
* Arizona averaged 10.1 yards per play; Colorado averaged 6.1.
* Arizona committed two penalties for 10 yards; Colorado committed 12 for 110.
* Colorado ran 90 plays and possessed the ball for 35:54; Arizona ran 56 plays and held it for 24:06.
* Arizona converted 6 of 9 third downs; Colorado converted 13 of 21.
* The teams combined to convert 5 of 5 fourth downs (Colorado was 4 of 4).
* Shun Brown had a team-high six receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown.
* Tony Ellison caught one pass for 60 yards.
* Lucas Havrisik kicked off eight times and had seven touchbacks.
* Fields, Colin Schooler, Brandon Rutt and Justin Belknap recorded sacks.
* Arizona’s average starting field position was its 28-yard line; Colorado’s was its 22.
