UA QB Tate remains cool as spotlight shines
Sophomore doing his best to stay humble, focused
TUCSON - Khalil Tate has generated a buzz. His record-setting, 327-yard rushing performance at Colorado has put the Arizona Wildcats back in the national conversation. UA-UCLA on Saturday might be the most anticipated home game since the two teams met in September 2015.
Everyone is talking about Tate … who barely notices it.
Speaking to local reporters Wednesday for the first time since last week’s breakout in Boulder, Tate seemed utterly unfazed by all the attention he suddenly is receiving. If he was excited, or nervous, he sure didn’t show it.
“I haven’t really heard a lot of it because I’ve been in the film room,” Tate said, “really just trying to get on to the next week and beat UCLA for the first time in five years.”
Tate’s disposition Wednesday morning, with media members surrounding him inside the lobby of the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility, resembled his onfield demeanor at Colorado. The 18-yearold sophomore acted as if he had been there before.
“He’s not afraid of the big stage,” Arizona quarterbacks coach Rod Smith said. “He’s always saying, ‘I want to be in the spotlight.’ I think that’s one of his big attributes.”
It wasn’t the first time Tate had participated in a media scrum, and Saturday won’t mark his first career start. (The assumption is that Tate will start, anyway. When asked if he expected to, Tate said: “Um, hopefully.”)
But there’s no doubt Tate’s life has change to some extent. Before the Colorado game, he had no unanswered text messages on his phone. Afterward, he had about 100.
The UA’s sports information department made special accommodations so Tate could be made available to the media Wednesday; offensive players usually talk on Tuesdays, but Tate lifts weights immediately after practice.
After his media address, Tate lingered in the lobby for another 10 minutes to conduct a phone interview with Bleacher Report. After that, he huddled with PR staffers to arrange another interview later in the day.
Given all the attention and potential distractions, Tate’s best course of action is to hole up in the film room with Smith and offensive analyst B.J. Denker. Tate’s sole focus is doing whatever he can to defeat the Bruins – just as it was in Boulder to beat the Buffaloes. He had no idea he had broken the FBS rushing record for quarterbacks until someone told him afterward.
Tate allowed himself to celebrate, briefly, after his four touchdown runs. Otherwise, every time a TV camera zoomed in on him, he had a blank expression – unaffected by enormity of the moment or the crowd of nearly 50,000 at Folsom Field screaming at him.
Tate said he always has been calm under pressure.
He knows his teammates see how he’s handling stressful situations, and they react accordingly.
“That’s his personality,” UA receivers coach Theron Aych said. “He’s never too high, never too low. We’re yelling and screaming as coaches all the time. Sometimes at the quarterback position you’ve gotta be that. You’ve gotta be that evenkeeled guy.”
Perhaps the best way to describe Tate’s temperament is quietly confident. Even after losing the quarterback battle in training camp to Brandon Dawkins – and hurting his shoulder in Week 1 – Tate never stopped believing in himself. But he never campaigned for himself either.
“I knew what I was capable of,” Tate said. “And I knew if I got the opportunity. I would show it.”