Arizona’s Tate ‘just unbelievable’
As people scramble to figure out how Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate seemingly came out of nowhere to dominate the Pac-12, USC head coach Clay Helton shared a revealing story Tuesday.
The Trojans were recruiting Tate as a position-less athlete, until it was too late to ink him as a quarterback.
“We thought he was a can’t-miss prospect, and that’s why we recruited him very hard,” said Helton, who compared Tate’s talent to former Trojans Marqise Lee and Adoree’ Jackson. Tate “was one of those kids. You didn’t know whether Marqise was going to be a wideout or a DB. You just knew he was going to be something great. Same with Adoree’ Jackson. …
“Khalil could develop into a really good quarterback in the right system, or he could be a fabulous athlete. He could probably play three or four positions on the field, to be honest with you. He could be a tailback. He could be a slot receiver. He could be a DB. He could be a quarterback. I mean, he’s just an unbelievable athlete.”
USC, which hosts Arizona on Saturday, isn’t alone in having missed on Tate.
ESPN regarded him as California’s 37th-best prospect coming out of Serra High-Gardena (Los Angeles County) in 2015. He’s been at Arizona for nearly two years and he didn’t win the starting job until last month.
But what a month it was. Tate is the first in conference history to be named Player of the Week four consecutive times, having totaled 1,573 yards from scrimmage (830 rushing, 743 passing) and 14 touchdowns (eight rushing, six passing) during that span.
Tate leads the nation at 13.42 yards per carry. He already has four runs of more than 70 yards, and he’s just 60 total yards shy of Jake Locker’s Pac-12 season rushing record for a quarterback.
“I think our guys were pretty confident, even before he got in there and got rolling, but there certainly is a confidence that he’s in there now,” Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “They know a big thing can happen at any time.” Just for kicks: Three Pac-12 kickers made field goals of more than 50 yards Saturday: Arizona’s Lucas Havrisik (57), Washington State’s Erik Powell (56) and USC’s Chase McGrath (51). Run vs. none: Running back Royce Freeman is atop Oregon’s all-time list in career rushing yards (5,242) and touchdowns (54). Washington has allowed 62 rushing yards on 86 carries (0.7 of a yard per carry) during the past three games. The Ducks and Huskies play at 7 p.m. Saturday in Seattle.