Arizona football: Kevin Sumlin spoils Khalil Tate’s talent

2. Why would you do this to Khalil Tate?

I know that first games for new coaches in college football can be tricky sometimes. It’s a new environment, a new culture, and all new players. There’s only so much time in the offseason to introduce a new system and a new culture, and that first game can bring a bunch of rust with it. However, Arizona’s execution, while it was a problem, was not the problem.

The problem was that Arizona’s gameplan was awful, and it really doesn’t seem like Kevin Sumlin and offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone know what to do with Khalil Tate. He was put into pretty awful situations all night long, because for some reason, Arizona decided that they wanted to turn Khalil into a pocket passer.

In case you don’t know, Khalil Tate is not a pocket passer. He’s never going to be a pocket passer, and there’s just no reason to try to force him to be something he isn’t.

In case you don’t know, Khalil Tate is not a pocket passer. He’s never going to be a pocket passer, and there’s just no reason to try to force him to be something he isn’t. Khalil Tate is an electric runner, and a super dangerous threat in the read-option game. Most of Arizona’s runs on the night were designed for the running back, with no option for the best running quarterback in America to keep it and make a play. When they did let him keep it, he found the endzone in the fourth quarter, cutting into BYU’s lead.

BYU’s defense had something to do with bottling Tate up, but lack of volume from him on the ground just doesn’t make any sense. Khalil Tate is a run-first quarterback. Arizona’s offense works better when he is running the football, and the sooner Sumlin and Mazzone realize that, the faster this offense will get back to being good.