Texas Tech football: Three Arizona offensive weapons to be aware of

QB Khalil Tate is a dangerous dual-threat player

The head of the Arizona snake is QB Khalil Tate, one of the most talented but enigmatic players in the country.  When he is on, he looks like a potential NFL draft pick but when he’s bad…he gets his money’s worth.

For his career, he’s thrown for 4,863 yards, 48 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions.  A career 57.6% passer, he’s had five career 300-yard games.

With his legs, he’s piled up 1,981 yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging 6.8 yards per carry.  But under Sumlin, the ground game has become less of a factor in Tate’s repertoire.

As a sophomore in 2017, he ran for 1,411 yards and 12 touchdowns.  That year, he averaged 13.9 rushes per game under Rich Rodriguez.

But in his first year in Sumlin’s offense, he ran for just 224 yards and two touchdowns.  He was asked to carry the ball only 6.7 times per game.  Some of that was due to a nagging ankle injury that bothered him for most of the season.

Still, he’s not been the same player since 2017.  As a junior, his completion percentage fell nearly six points and his passer rating took a dip as well.

But early returns on the 2019 version of Tate are promising.  He’s completed a career-high 64.3% of his passes while throwing for 499 yards and five touchdowns with only two picks.

But those two picks were costly.  In a dramatic 45-38 loss to Hawaii to open the season, Tate was picked off twice.  The second of which ended a 4th-quarter drive that saw Arizona reach the Hawaii 13-yard-line looking to take the lead.

His 3rd-and-10 pass was intercepted at the goal line and returned to midfield setting up Hawaii with a golden opportunity to increase its 38-35 lead with just 7:32 to play.  The Rainbow Warriors did just that by finding the endzone to take a 10-point lead with just over five minutes to play.

Eventually, that game ended with Tate nearly leading a magical comeback.  But he was tackled at the one-yard line on the final play of the game as his last-ditch 30-yard scramble fell tantalizingly short of the goal line.

That nearly heroic run pushed his total on the ground to 108 for the night, a total that was more than double what he put up on the ground in any game in 2018. If his legs are back to being a true weapon, he will be a nightmare to stop.

That’s because he’s evolved as a pocket passer.  According to Pro Football Focus, no PAC 12 QB was better when facing pressure a year ago, something that Tech is going to try to apply on Saturday.

Look for the game of cat-and-mouse between Sumlin and Keith Patterson to be fascinating.  Tech is going to bring pressure, which can give Tate opportunities for huge plays with his arm and his feet.

Arizona’s QB is somewhat of a boom or bust player.  He’s had 12 games in which he failed to throw for 200 yards and he’s had four games with two picks.  He will be a tough test for the Red Raiders and the first in a string of dual-threat QBs that Tech is about to see which includes OU’s Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders, and Iowa State’s Brock Purdy.   How Tech handles Tate will tell us quite a bit about how this defense will be able to withstand the rigors of life in the Big 12.