[OT] - Arizona QB Khalil Tate named Pac-12 Player of the Week for third consecutive time
The first player since USC's Rodney Peete in 1988 to win the award 3 consecutive times.
True sophomore QB Khalil Tate was thrusted into action in Week 6 after Colorado knocked incumbent starter Brandon Dawkins out of the game with a rib injury. Three games later, Tate has completed 31/41 passes for 468 yards (11.4 ypa), 694 rushing yards (15.1 ypc), and 11 total TDs.
It looks like RichRod might have found his next Denard/Pat White at Arizona.
Edit: No desire to bring back RichRod, but that doesn't mean his offense isn't still entertaining/electric as ever.
October 24th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^
I don't think we need to either. Milton can run and has an arm. He needs to refine his accuracy, which i think he will. I'm speaking more to the scheme. You can run a spread/RPO offense without even running your QB. You can use Power Read scheme and add a shovel to be the dive, (which Harbaugh called vs Indiana on the delay of game call). We can run run/pass options. Power with a stick route by TE, or power with a hitch/slant route by a WR. All i'm saying is it seems like they are making it so much more difficult than it has to be. QBs come in from high school with in depth knowledge of RPO systems which mesh well with any type of offense.
October 24th, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^
This is what Meyer has been running from Bowling Green to OSU. Saban mixes it in now, but because he has a QB that can run it, Jalen Hurts. Tua will be able to run it also when Hurts graduates. Saban wasn't running the power option with AJ McCarron or Greg McElroy.
RichRod had the right concept but went about it all wrong here. He recruited undersized guys while Alabama and OSU recruits skill players with size and speed.
Since Harbaugh seems to be looking at athletic high school tight ends that can fill out into linemen, I have a feeling he's looking to go in a more spread, RPO direction. Not completely, but maybe 35-40% of the time.
October 24th, 2017 at 10:33 AM ^
I think he is too, He has missed on a few QBs that would have def allowed him to run it. But I do believe as soon as he gets that QB, we will see transition more to it. One thing I know, is that Harbaugh knows all types of offenses. And the guy is a sponge with staying up on new offensive schemes. I remember going to the Michigan coaches clinic 2 years ago and him and his dad are sitting next to me, listnening to a High School coach talk Offense and Harbaugh was taking as many notes as me. This team will be fine, he just has to get his pieces in place.
October 25th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^
is basically power RPO offense because of Jalen Hurts.
October 24th, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:22 PM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:24 PM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:26 PM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:24 PM ^
And RichRod still has to score 40 to win the game. Some things never change.
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:58 PM ^
They needed to beat Utah by 10 (and Houston by 21) to win? Is that a Pac-12 rule?
Even if what you said were true, is it better to need 40 to win, and have an offense capable of that, or need 21 to win, and have an offense incapable of that?
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:03 PM ^
They beat Colorado 45-42 and beat Cal 45-44. They gave up 30 to Utah and UCLA.
And to answer your question, no. It's not better to have an offense that scores 41 and a defense allows 40. Did you miss the 3 years of RichRod at Michigan?
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:11 PM ^
I would rather win 41-40 than lose 14-12, every time.
I was here in the Rich Rod years. I don't want to relive them, but I would take his college football offense over this Pep Hamilton/Drevno fusion, yes.
October 24th, 2017 at 9:24 AM ^
You're certainly entitled to your opinion, and I'm on board with preferring winning. Especially if it's winning in the long term.
I can't get there with Rich Rod without having a very selective memory. Harbaugh is implementing a proven offense that will have much less variability than Rich Rod's offense. Rudock and 2016 pre-Iowa Speight ran that offense to great effect. The asshole Purdue player (Flint's own Eddy Wilson) purposely injuring Speight cost us much more than it appeared at the time, Speight's early season travails notwithstanding.
Denard Robinson was electric, but apart from that I struggle for the fond memories of Rich Rod's offense when he was at Michigan.
(I mean, would we take Tate's Wildcats' current offensive output and combine it with our defense for 2017? I suppose we would. But apart from Denard Robinson, Rich Rod's Michigan offenses were often hot garbage and wildly inconsistent.)
October 24th, 2017 at 10:07 AM ^
RR never had a QB for even two years: year one was the Threet/Sheridan combo (after Carr urged Mallett to leave prior to RR's arrival); year two was Tate Forcier (potential but other insoluble problems); year three was his only year of Denard. Maybe by the second year with Denard, he could have elevated the O beyond what you refer to as hot garbage.
October 24th, 2017 at 8:56 AM ^
Holding UCLA to 30 is actually pretty good defense, lol
October 24th, 2017 at 2:44 PM ^
Unless you think there is something fundamental about RR's offense that requires the defense to be terrible, this is a non sequitur. No one wants RR back - but man that offense was a lot more fun than our current sludgefart.
Even it's flaws seemed to have a path to success - find a running back threat good enough to complement Denard and force good defenses to respect both sides of the option. Holy crap, what if Senior Denard Robinson got to be Steve Slaton with Devin Gardner playing the role of Pat White?
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:27 PM ^
Wait a minute. You mean to tell us a second year player was able to take over in mid-season and the world didn't end? Good Lord, it's a miracle! Seriously though, 694 rushing yards? Wow
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:47 PM ^
If Khalil Tate had began the season as the starter at this current pace, he would be sitting somewhere near 2700+ total yards of offense and 25 total TDs halfway through the season. There would be some serious Heisman Hype out in the desert.
Unfortunately, Tate was injured (thumb) for the majority of fall camp and Dawkins' experience allowed him to hold onto to the job.
October 24th, 2017 at 12:54 AM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:28 PM ^
that coaches don't necessarily know which is the best QB on their roster just by observing practice.
If you know what I'm sayin'.
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:49 PM ^
was hurt in Fall camp which is why Dawkins won the starting job. Once Dawkins got hurt and Tate got healthy, Tate really took off from there.
Not the same comparsion.
October 24th, 2017 at 1:27 AM ^
October 24th, 2017 at 11:17 AM ^
hurt when the season started
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:32 PM ^
Tate really has been a revelation for Arizona. I've never had the ill will toward RR and some around here do, and I'm happy to see him succeeding. And when that offense is humming, it is fun to watch.
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:57 PM ^
I wish Rich Rod a ton of success, and would just like to distance myself from those years as much as possible.
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:42 PM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:41 PM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:42 PM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:49 PM ^
Seems to me that RR and Michigan are inversely linked. When AU is up, Michigan is down. His best year there was 2014, devastating for Michigan
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:55 PM ^
Classic Rich Rod. Score 40+ against the 97th, 100th, 110th and 121st ranked defenses. Do absolutely nothing against defenses ranked higher than 90.
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:56 PM ^
I guess you realized that Utah was ranked when they beat Arizona 30-24?
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:58 PM ^
What is your argument? Rich Rod lost to a good defensive team that has since lost three straight and is now unranked, therefore...what, exactly?
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:06 PM ^
You originally said Arizona's two losses were to 2 unranked teams. They weren't. That was my point. Utah was ranked when they played.
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:11 PM ^
Utah is now unranked. Are you seriously suggesting that we should use rankings when the teams played? Does Alabama get credit for beating #3 FSU?
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:04 PM ^
24 points (and 24 first downs) against UTAH (a top-25 FEI defense) in a 30-24 loss, and that's absolutely nothing? How would you describe Michigan's offense this year?
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^
Also, Cal's defense is ranked #26 in FEI and held Washington State to 3 points a little over a week ago.
October 24th, 2017 at 10:17 AM ^
That was before Tate replaced Brandon Dawkins, who committed the fumble that lost AU's opportunity to finish a final drive. As the recap says, AU was driving with a chance to win until Chris Hart recovered a controversial fumble by Brandon Dawkins at Utah's 20 yard line with 2:33 left in the game to preserve the victory.
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:06 PM ^
|
Opponents |
Scoring Defense |
Total Defense |
Score |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Houston |
52nd |
89th |
(L) 19-16 |
|
UTEP |
119th |
111th |
(W) 63-16 |
|
Utah |
37th |
32nd |
(L) 30-24 |
|
Colorado |
56th |
97th |
(W) 45-42 |
|
UCLA |
113th |
122nd |
(W) 47-30 |
|
California |
82nd |
101st |
(W) 45-44 |
True that Arizona hasn't exactly been facing the best defenses, but it is not like they were blown out by Houston or Utah either when they were still starting Brandon Dawkins.
October 24th, 2017 at 12:10 AM ^
S&P Defensive rankings:
Houston - 46
UTEP - 116
Utah - 36
Colorado - 82
UCLA - 110
Cal - 71
FEI Defensive rankings:
Houston - 18
UTEP - 112
Utah - 23
Colorado - 80
UCLA - 94
Cal - 26
Arizona Pts scored
Houston - 16 (Dawkins)
UTEP - 63 (Dawkins)
Utah - 24 (Dawkins)
Colorado - 45 (Tate)
UCLA - 47 (Tate)
Cal - 45 (Tate)
Fair that Dawkins faced two good defenses in Houston and Utah but Arizona offense took off when Tate took over. Granted, two of the 3 defenses were bad but that is notable considering Arizona went off to a slow start with Dawkins at QB and they're noticeably a lot better with Tate at QB. Washington State is a big test for Tate and if Arizona can put up 30+ against them with Tate at QB, then we can say their offense is for real.
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:09 PM ^
You're positing that this particular sports team performs better against weaker opponents and more poorly against stronger opponents, and that their wins and losses have not only a correlative relationship to strength of opponent, but a causative one.
Intriguing, Captain.
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^
but what about night games?
October 24th, 2017 at 12:12 AM ^
In your avatar and not starship enterprise, spock. Still I laughed at your snark and upvoted. Insightful as usual.
October 24th, 2017 at 9:54 AM ^
Not quite. I was actually positing that the offense of this particular sports team not only performs better against weaker opponents and more poorly against stronger opponents, but that the performance against stronger opponents is so poor that we should not consider the offense successful.
I thought this was pretty clear, but I'm happy to explain it.
October 30th, 2017 at 4:47 AM ^
That offense just put up over 50 points against the 12th ranked (S&P+) defense in the country.
I am interested in your explanation, because it does not seem that you are using the words "poor" and "successful" in the same way most people do.
October 24th, 2017 at 12:21 AM ^
Arizona #15 S&P Offense
Michigan #87
October 24th, 2017 at 1:00 AM ^
That 5-2 team is the inverse of this 5-2 team.
Michigan #14 S&P Defense
Arizona #79
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:50 PM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 10:54 PM ^
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:01 PM ^