Third time’s a charm: Arizona Football QB Khalil Tate needs this win over USC

Arizona Football QB Khalil Tate needs this win over USC, he has something to prove.

Arizona Football QB Khalil Tate could have gone to USC and may have been a quarterback, but it was not guaranteed. That’s one reason Tate chose to commit to the Arizona Wildcats, he wanted to be a quarterback.

In 2016, against USC as a true freshman, Tate started the game as the third youngest in NCAA D1 Football League as a quarterback to ever start a game at 17. Ironically the youngest QB to ever start a game was former Texas A & M QB, David Walker. After scoring the first touchdown, and taunting the Trojans in celebration throwing up the Fight On hand sign, USC had his number and the Trojans handed the quarterback his first loss as a starter in Tate’s young college career.

Even though the Cats lost in 2016, Tate still made five out of eight passes for 105 yards, He also rushed for 33 yards, scored one touchdown, and threw one interception

That hurt. But hurt worse was losing for the second time he faced USC and the first time he played in the Coliseum, a venue close to where he grew up in Inglewood. Tate will always face former Serra high school classmates when he plays against the Trojans.

Arizona Wildcats Football

Tate’s Wildcats fell short at the half, but then rallied in a comeback attempt in the second half losing only by two touchdowns 49-35. USC was ranked No. 17 and Arizona No. 25 in the Nation.

With 8:23 remaining in the game, Tate and his Cats evened the score at 35 on Zach Green‘s TD run and a 2-point conversion. Although you can’t fault one player in a team sport for a loss, the O-Line was partially to blame as Tate was sacked five times. He did throw two fourth-quarter interceptions, though and he knew that contributed to the loss.

After the game, USC head coach Clay Helton comforted and emotional Tate as he understood what the loss meant to such a fierce competitor, an athlete Helton made a late push for flipping before signing day.

This time, it’s USC’s turn to travel to Tucson to take on the Wildcats. In 2016, the two teams played in the heat during the day. The heat didn’t faze the Trojans as much as anyone would have liked, so hopefully playing at night with no excuse for anyone in the stand to leave early will help. If there was ever a game for fans to attend, it’s this one. Tate and his young team could really use the support of hometown fans and the ZonaZoo.

One great piece of news, there is a stat that both USC and Arizona rank at the bottom of the Pac-12 and that’s in interceptions. So perhaps Sumlin and his coaching crew should mix it up in this game with running and passing. Let’s work those tight ends more into the game, and let’s let Tate run through those Trojans if his ankle feels better that is. JJ Taylor, Shun Brown, Gary Brightwell and Shawn Poindexter are on a roll lately and let’s hope they only get better this Saturday.

Game Information: 

When: Saturday, September 29th, 2018

Time: 7:30 PM MST/PST – ESPN 2

Where: Arizona Stadium (Tucson, AZ)

Spread: -3.0 USC

Overall Series Record: 32-8 USC

I remember walking on the track just before the game ended two years ago, and all I saw was a bunch of joyful and boisterous trojans laughing it up on the sidelines and it made me sick to my stomach. I can only imagine how Tate felt. Winning this game would mean so much to Tate, the team, the coach, the fans and the program. Let’s prove Eric Townsend wrong on his prediction and embarrass the Trojans.