14 Days Till Arizona Football: Looking Back at Legendary QB

The countdown continues as we are now officially 17 days away from the season opener for Arizona against Hawaii. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be taking a look back at some of the top players in Arizona football history by jersey number as we inch closer towards the start of the season for the Wildcats.

We continue with former Arizona QB Khalil Tate who played with the Wildcats from 2016-19.

Tate's legacy

As a freshman, Tate appeared in seven games with one start. He then became the first UA true freshman to start at quarterback since Willie Tuitama (2005). He had intended to redshirt, but wound up finding his way onto the field due to injuries. Across his limited playing time, Tate attempted 45 passes with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He added 237 yards and a touchdown on 49 attempts as a runner.

Tate appeared in 11 games as a sophomore with eight starts to end the season. He threw for 1,591 yards on a 62 completion percentage with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He added an absurd 1,411 yards on the ground as a runner with another 12 scores.

In October, Tate became the first player in Pac-12 Conference history to win the offensive player of the week award four consecutive weeks. His big performance came against Colorado when he ran for 327 yards which was an FBS rushing record for a quarterback. He also became the first quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

Arizona backup Khalil Tate set a QB record with 327 rush yards ... on 14 carries!

Watch one of his 5 TDs in the @CocaCola Instant Replay. pic.twitter.com/dAD0g7wdkV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 8, 2017

As a junior, Tate started all 11 games in a year where he threw for a career-high 2,530 yards on a 56 completion percentage with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He added another 224 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. His efficiency rating of 149.77 ranked 23rd in the country, No. 2 in the Pac-12 and was then the fifth-best total in Arizona single-season history. His final year at Arizona, Tate threw for 1,954 yards on a 60 completion percentage with 14 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and another 413 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Former UA QB Khalil Tate against Arizona State | (Photo credit | Arizona Athletics)

Across his career, Tate currently ranks No. 5 in passing yards in program history (6,318) and No. 3 in passing touchdowns (57). Across single-season records, Tate ranks No. 5 in UA history when he threw for 26 touchdowns in 2018. He also threw five touchdown passes in three different games which is just one behind the record. As a rusher, Tate is No. 5 for the most yards in a single season (1,411), while also ranking No. 2 (327) and No. 7 (230) for single-game rushing yard records.

Tate went on to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was later waived before going on to play for the Edmonton Elks and the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL.

What was your favorite memory from the career for Tate at Arizona? Let us know and be sure to follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.