Arizona Football quarterback Khalil Tate in the 2018 Heisman Trophy discussion

The Heisman Trophy race has begun for 2018; Arizona Football quarterback Khalil Tate is in every discussion as he should be.

Arizona Football Quarterback Khalil Tate was a fan and media favorite this season through the USC game, but losses to Oregon, an injury and a loss to ASU took his name out of the 2017 race. Just days after Oklahoma Quarterback Baker Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy beating out Stanford’s Bryce Love, talk has turned to next seasons candidate.

Mayfield completed 71% of his passes for 41 passing touchdowns, five rushing touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 203.8. Here are the rest of his stats he rushed for 310 yards and five touchdowns in 13 games. Note: Mayfield played in 13 games, Arizona only plays 12 in the regular season.

Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 12/11/2017.

It was quite clear that the 870 media members plus 58 former winners voting on the Heisman trophy this year did not care about vulgarity (Grabbing his crotch) nor antics on the field (planting his school flag on another schools logo in the middle of the field).

As the media, who also vote on the Heisman, look to next seasons Trophy candidates. Khalil Tate is definitely on their minds. Most did not include Josh Rosen, Bryce Love (RB Stanford) or Sam Darnold in their lists; they assume they are declaring for the NFL Draft.

Arizona Wildcats Football

FanSided Expert Cody Williams put Tate at No. 1, now that sounds about right. Williams had a lot to say about Tate, and we just pulled his conclusion here:

"There’s no doubt that Tate will enter 2018 as the unquestioned leader of the Arizona offense. With that confidence instilled in him, growth as a man and player from the experience he gained this season, and simply his unreal athleticism and talent, Tate is again going to be looking to take the college world by storm. If he can improve upon what he did this season, there’s no way he’s not a Heisman candidate in 2018."

Chad Reuter, a Draft analyst for NFL.com, has Tate at No. 8 and Oregon’s Justin Herbert at No. 3:

"Tate was one of the most exciting discoveries in college football this season. He ran for more than 130 yards and at least one touchdown in a six-game midseason stretch before slowing down in road games at Oregon and Arizona State. Tate also threw for more than 150 yards four times as a first-year starter, showing potential as a great dual-threat quarterback. Rich Rodriguez will utilize the young man’s talents fully in 2018, but he’ll need to become a more consistent passer and the Wildcats will need to win more than 7 games (7-5 this season) if he’s going to be a top Heisman candidate."

Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples lists Tate in no specific order:

"Khalil Tate, QB, ArizonaTate’s October was statistically comparable to Cam Newton and Johnny Manziel’s Heisman seasons, but his production tailed off in November. Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez now has a chance to completely build the offense around Tate. That’s great for Tate’s Heisman chances, but terrible for opposing defensive coordinators."

Alex Scarborough, ESPN Staff Writer, lists eight of his five candidates plus five more “To keep and eye on.”

"Arizona QB Khalil Tate: Speaking of being late to the party, let’s try not to fall victim to the Pac-12 After Dark conspiracy next year. Tate deserves that extra pot of coffee after dinner for everyone in the South and Northeast. All the man does is make plays. Five times he has combined for 300-plus total yards, and on three separate occasions he rushed for more than 200 yards in a game. After coming out of nowhere this season, he should be on everyone’s radar in 2018."

Bleacher Reports Adam Kramer has “Human Highlight Reel” Khalil Tate at 8-1 odds.

The Associate Press watch list has Herbert listed, and Tate listed in “Others to watch.”

If you are assuming that UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen is a lock to leave for the NFL, think again, Chip Kelly, who groomed Marcus Mariota, is the new Bruin head football coach.

Some fans are making predictions:

https://twitter.com/thelastsong_41/status/938570388031782912

The question is, will both he and USC Trojan Sam Darnold declare for the 2017 NFL Draft? All any sports show talking heads can talk about is if Darnold or Rosen will go first in this years draft, so it will be surprising if they stay. Both teams have a plethora of quarterback talent just waiting in the wings to get their shot on the field for both schools.

This season, Tate broke the FBS quarterback record rushing for 327 yards carries in one game scoring four rushing touchdowns (58, 28, 47 and 75 yards) and passed for another beating Arizona beat the Colorado Buffs in Boulder, 45-42. That was only the beginning. He became Mr. October! Tate lead Arizona to four straight wins over Colorado, UCLA (first time for Rich Rodriguez), Cal in OT by one point (45-44, credit to Colin Schooler in the end zone) and No. 21 ranked Washington State.

Tate earned 2,642 total yards in the 2017 regular season in 10 games. He scored nine passing and 12 rushing touchdowns. Tate played only eight full games of 12 total games. The stat that screams out at you is the average yards per carry at 10.2. He rushed for a total of 557 total yards in two consecutive games which is the fourth-best in Pac-12 history. He also rushed for the most yards by an FBS player in the month of October (884 yards), which hadn’t been done for more than a decade. Tate also averaged 53.4 yards per rushing touchdown.

Here’s how his stats ended up for the regular season, not including post-season.

CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 12/11/2017.

The Arizona Football team was snubbed this season by the Pac-12 head football coaches who voted on the All-First and All-Second teams. The Pac-12 Network voted Tate Offensive Player of the Week in four consecutive weeks for the first time ever in Pac-12 history.

The Pac-12 should support Tate’s Heisman campaign in 2018 just as they did for Stanford’s Bryce Love. Promoting a Pac-12 player brings attention to the conference and all of its players. It also promotes the entire Pac-12 Conference as the Conference of Champions! Arizona Football started supporting their quarterback in 2017, so they should use this next season to continuing to promote Tate’s Heisman campaign.  Check out this excellent video:

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On to the Foster Farms Bowl on Dec. 27, then next season, and it’s going to be a great one!