Arizona Football: Khalil Tate must use legs more in 2019
Arizona football has one of the most talented quarterbacks returning in 2019, but Khalil Tate showed in 2017 that he’s more effective when he runs.
After breaking on to the scene as a sophomore in 2017, Khalil Tate watched as his head coach was let go and contemplated transferring when new candidates were announced.
The past year has been a rollercoaster for the talented dual-threat quarterback who was named Pac-12 Player of the Week four straight times during that breakout 2017 season. He was unsure if his home would be in the desert for the immediate future, but decided to give Kevin Sumlin and the new staff a chance.
Tate had more passing opportunities under the new staff, nearly doubling his attempts for 1,000 more yards and 12 more touchdowns, but his completion rate went down six percent from 62 to 56.
Arizona had a rough year and finished 5-7, missing out on a bowl and Tate wasn’t the explosive play-maker like he was in 2017.
Why? Because he didn’t utilize his legs enough.
The senior finished with just 224 yards and two rushing scores which was a fraction of what he accomplished in 2017. He had over 1,400 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground in 2017 and averaged 9.2 yards per carry. He rushed the ball less than half as much and almost refused to leave the pocket.
Sure, Tate has a strong arm and can make things happen through the air, but defenses won’t truly respect him until he shows he can be that dual-threat star again.
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Tate using his legs more will also be the difference between missing a bowl again or surprising the rest of the Pac-12 with 8-9 wins.