Arizona Football: 3 Reasons Khalil Tate should start

On Saturday, the Wildcats may have won the game against the Lumberjacks. But the QB play was less than stellar, could they make a change against Houston? Should they?

Coming off a dominating win against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, one could definitely question the entire premise of this article. Why would Arizona switch quarterbacks after they just beat a team 62-24? That answer is simple. Eventually, they will need to throw the ball.

In the game, the team only threw for a total of 14 attempts, and a measly 89 yards through the air. That just won’t hold up once they get into the heart of their schedule, and especially against the best of the Pac-12.

Let’s take a look at 3 reasons why Khalil Tate should be under center, if not against Houston, at some point this season.

Balance out the Offense

Nobody can deny that running the ball the entire game is fun, just look at what Georgia Tech did to Tennessee on Monday night. From the beginning of the ball game, the Vols defense looked completely lost, constantly missing tackles, and going after the wrong runner. Simply put, it was a disaster. But in the end, Georgia Tech did lose the game. Why you ask? Because when it came down to it, they did not have anybody who could throw the ball into the end zone.

Arizona ran like Forrest Gump in the first game against Northern Arizona, it was like the football gods were screaming “Run Arizona, Run!!”. They finished the game with over 500 yards of pure smash mouth ball, QB Brandon Dawkins even added in 92 yards using his own legs, including a beautiful 66-yard touchdown run (He also had another long TD run called back but not his fault).

Can they run this type of offensive onslaught against Collegiate Powerhouses such as Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Oregon? At least one of those teams is out of the question, as the Wildcats (thankfully), do not play the Stanford Cardinals this season. So let’s take a look at how each of those other schools fared in run defense last season.

• Oregon -246.5
• USC -139.1
• UCLA -171.5

Those numbers are no Steel Curtain of the early 1970’s that the Pittsburgh Steelers threw out there on defense, but for the college game they are certainly respectable. Unless the Wildcats figure out a way to throw the ball, come Pac-12 play they may not be winning games. And Rich Rodriguez may not have a job after the season.

Higher Ceiling

Currently the team is using junior Brandon Dawkins as the starting QB, for the time being at least. In three seasons at Arizona, Dawkins has not reached the level that coaches had once hoped he could reach. Now let’s get this straight, nobody is saying he could have been the next Tom Brady, or the next Aaron Rodgers. But for heavens sake, at least reach the level of Nick Foles, or even BJ Denker.

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Given that Dawkins is a junior, and Rich Rodriguez could be feeling his pants being burnt to a crisp every time he sits down, he could be forced to do the unthinkable. Sit your team leader, and star QB for a younger, less proven talent. In the long run, and in the short run, starting Khalil Tate would be beneficial from all angles.

There are plenty of golden examples to use as to why starting a freshman or sophomore who is more talented would be a better option than a more experienced player. Good thing we don’t have to look very far to find the example.

The Pac-12’s very own Utah Utes, did that exact scenario before this season. They chose to start Freshman sensation Tyler Huntler, over Redshirt senior AND team captain Troy Williams. That move worked out well, as they won their first game of the season 37-16. If Rich Rodriguez wants to stay put in Tucson coaching the Wildcats, starting Khalil Tate would be the wise move.

Arm Strength and Accuracy

As of now, it’s hard to tell if Brandon Dawkins will even pass the ball that much this season. The offense seems content on letting him run, and letting the backs run the ball. As previously mentioned, to compete against the big dogs this season, they will eventually need something that resembles a passing game.

In the game against Northern Arizona, although Dawkins did throw one touchdown, he finished with a less than stellar 7 completions on only 13 attempts. Khalil Tate finishished the game with only one official attempt, but he did make a beautiful touchdown throw that was called back because of a flag.

https://twitter.com/Serra2ArizonaMa/status/904591714156822528

Even after just a couple of passes during the regular season, one can already see that Khalil is the far better passer than Brandon Dawkins will ever be. There was also tape of this beautiful throw from spring scrimmage to receiver Shun Brown.

https://twitter.com/sciguyrosen/status/848000222278156288

Must Read: 3 Takeaways from win over Northern Arizona

In order to win the Pac-12 South, the Arizona Wildcats will need to do more than try to run through the opponents every single game. The best option to do that is Khalil Tate, they need get him acclimated to the play of college football as soon as possible. Let us know who you think should be starting in the comments below. BEAR DOWN.