TUCSON, Ariz. -- Winners of five of their last six games, the Arizona Wildcats will finish off their 2017 regular season schedule with a pair of road games. The Cats open up their two-game road trip this weekend at Oregon. Game time is set for 5 p.m., MST, and will be televised by Pac-12 Network. Roxy Bernstein, Anthony Herron and Lewis Johnson have the call. 

Below is a full preview: 

Some Game Themes: A key late-season conference battle looms Saturday when Arizona ventures north to face an Oregon program it last met in the 2014 Pac-12 Championship game. Neither of these teams are in contention for the conference title this time around, but plenty remains at stake. For the Wildcats, their 5-1 run sparked by the emergence of star quarterback Khalil Tate leaves numerous bowl options on the table with two weeks of play remaining. Meanwhile, the Ducks and first-year coach Willie Taggart still need one more victory to lock up bowl eligibility … Playing in favor of Oregon is the home field: Autzen Stadium. The Ducks are 4-1 and average 43 points per game at the notoriously hostile venue. Arizona will bring with it the Pac-12's highest scoring offense, one that has notched at least 35 points in six consecutive games for the first time in school history … The Wildcats have played well on the road this season, but suffered their first setback two weeks ago at USC. Should they bounce back with a win in the Emerald State, it would be the program's second straight victory in Autzen Stadium. One of Arizona's best all-time road wins was an upset of Marcus Mariota and No. 2 Oregon in October 2014, some two months before the Ducks found payback in the league title game … A couple keys players from those 2014 meetings remain: senior running backs Nick Wilson and Royce Freeman. Wilson topped 100 yards for the second time in five games last Saturday against the Beavers, while Freeman leads the Ducks with a 1,200-yard season to date … A couple new faces to this series: the Schoolers. Arizona's Colin Schooler is the second-leading tackler as a true freshman linebacker, while the Ducks' Brenden Schooler is a sophomore receiver with 17 receptions this season … Oregon is rested coming off a bye week and the home game is welcomed following a difficult stretch that saw the webfoots play three of four (all losses) away from home. They close the year with consecutive home games, so turning around a 1-4 stretch of play is not out of the question … What is in question: who will play quarterback for Oregon. The Ducks were markedly more consistent early in the year before Justin Herbert suffered a collarbone injury in the that has held him out since the end of September. His ability to push the ball down the field with his arm balanced out an otherwise run-heavy offense. Braxton Burmeister, a true freshman long committed to Arizona before signing with Oregon, has been the starter in recent weeks. Should he play, it presents a very intriguing storyline given his change of heart last winter … Also in question: the weather. November brings the likelihood of cool and often wet weather in the Pacific Northwest, something the Cats haven't seen this season. So bring a jacket, buckle up and get ready for some faced-paced gridiron action. 

Redemption Tour: Picked to finish dead last in the Pac-12 South according to the preseason media poll, Arizona entered the season with a chip on its shoulder. After opening conference play with a six-point loss to Utah – a game in which the Cats turned the ball over five times – things were running a little hot in the Wildcats' locker room. The fuel to the fire that led to an offensive explosion in October was the emergence of Khalil Tate, and since Arizona is a 5-1 with Tate a national storyline seemingly each week. But the Cats' sudden rise doesn't happen without clear understanding of where they came from. Along the way, last year's frustrations have certainly motivated the Wildcats in their turnaround. Last season, UCLA, Washington State, Colorado and Oregon State combined to outscore Arizona by 133 points (205-72). This year, against those four same schools, the Wildcats own a 62-point advantage (199-137). Effectively, that's a 195-point turnaround. Looking at Arizona's Nov. 4 loss at No. 17 USC, there was similar progress. In 2016, the Cats lost at home, 48-14, to the Trojans. This year, they had the game tied 35-35 midway through the fourth quarter in the Coliseum before ultimately falling, 49-35.

What the Win Meant: Sometimes a 49-28 victory over a team that had a seven-game losing streak can be a ho-hum afterthought. But that shouldn't be the case. The Wildcats' victory over Oregon State atoned for a 42-17 drubbing from Oregon State a year earlier that was the last of an eight-game losing streak. This time around, the Wildcats improved to 7-3 overall and 5-2 in Pac-12 play. It's their most regular season wins since a 10-win campaign in 2014 and they are ensured of a winning conference record for only the fourth time in 19 seasons. The previous three occurrences were in 2014 (7-2), 2009 (6-3) and 2008 (5-4).

Bowl Bound: The Wildcats achieved bowl eligibility by the end of October and now, with seven wins, have two more regular season games to bolster their postseason prospects. It marks the fifth time in Rich Rodriguez's six seasons that the Wildcats have been bowl-eligible. Last season, an injury-riddled and depleted roster struggled to a 3-9 clip as Arizona missed out on a bowl berth for only the second time in nine seasons. Arizona's recent bowl trips include the 2008 Las Vegas Bowl (win vs. BYU), 2009 Holiday Bowl (loss vs. Nebraska), 2010 Alamo Bowl (loss vs. Oklahoma State), 2012 New Mexico Bowl (win vs. Nevada), 2013 AdvoCare V100 Bowl (win vs. Boston College), 2014 Fiesta Bowl (loss vs. Boise State) and the 2015 New Mexico Bowl (win vs. New Mexico).

Road Warriors: Despite their setback last Saturday at the Coliseum, the Wildcats are 3-1 away from home in 2017. They will have a chance to build on that success as the final two regular season games will be played on the road at Oregon and at Arizona State (Nov. 25). Arizona has not finished a regular season with consecutive road games since 2009, when a Holiday Bowl-bound squad defeated Arizona State and USC in consecutive weeks. Prior to that, UA's last back-to-back road swing to finish a season came in 1999 and previously 1993. So it's certainly not a common occurrence to do what this year's Arizona football team is about to do.

Khalil's Opening sTATEment: A semifinalist for the prestigious Maxwell and Davey O'Brien Awards, sophomore quarterback Khalil Tate has made a national name for himself in a matter of six relatively short weeks. Some consider the dual-threat talent a contender to be a Heisman finalist, and his résumé is quite impressive even if he didn't start building the resume until the first week in October. For those that don't know, Tate, coming in as a backup, was hurt in the opening game of the season against NAU. He played briefly against Houston week later, but was not near 100-percent healthy battling through a sprained throwing shoulder that eventually kept him out of games against UTEP and Utah. After a bye week closed out September, Tate was healthy enough to fully practice and was available to play at Colorado on Oct. 7. Arizona entered that contest with a 2-2 overall record and an 0-1 mark in conference play. The season, even at that early juncture, was firmly in the balance. On the opening possession of that game, starter Brandon Dawkins was hit late out of bounds and briefly shaken up. Tate was sent in and has never looked back. He set an FBS single-game rushing record for quarterbacks with 327 yards that evening in Boulder and went on to win four-straight Pac-12 Player of the Week honors. He's continued his outstanding play into November and is a legitimate contender for postseason honors in the Pac-12 and on the national stage should his performances continue these final two weeks.

Khalil Tate Leads the FBS in:

• Total QBR according to ESPN.com
• 11.65 yards per carry
• 10.61 yards per play in total offense
• Five 70+ yard runs (four of them TDs)
• 82-yard run longest by a quarterback
• 321 yards vs. Colorado set new FBS single-game record for rushing by a quarterback and is highest total by any FBS player this season

 
The Big Plays

• Averages 51.9 yards per touchdown run (11 touchdowns)

• Averages 26.0 yards per passing touchdown (8 touchdowns)
• Averages 41.0 yards per touchdown play (19 total touchdowns)

 
Khalil in the Rankings

• No. 2 nationally with 161.6 rushing yards per game

• No. 7 nationally with 1,293 rushing yards in only 8 games
• Would rank No. 5 in FBS for average per pass attempt if he qualified with enough attempts
• Would rank No. 13 in pass efficiency if he qualified with enough attempts
• Tied for No. 24 in FBS with eight passing plays of 40+ yards

 
Other Notables

• Semifinalist for the Maxwell and Davey O'Brien Awards
• First quarterback in Pac-10/12 history to top 1,000 rushing yards in a season
• Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week in four consecutive weeks (first time in league history)
• Ranks No. 7 in Arizona single-season history with 1,293 rushing yards
• First player in school history to post three 200-yard rushing games in a season

 
The Streak (Tate's Last Six Games)
                                Rushing                                Passing                                 Total Offense
Opponent           Att-Yards-TD                      C-A-YDS-TD                        Plays-Yards-YD
at Colorado         14-327-4                               12-13-154-1                        27-481-5
UCLA                     15-230-2                               9-13-148-1                           28-378-3
at California        17-137-1                               10-15-166-2                        32-303-3
vs. Wash. St.       13-146-1                               10-17-743-2                        30-421-3
at USC                   26-161-1                               14-31-146-2                        57-307-3
vs. Oregon St.    16-206-2                               5-7-68-0                               23-274-2
Total                      101-1,207-11                      60-96-957-8                        197-2,164-19
Avg./Play             12.0 ypc                               10.0 ypp                               11.0 ypp
Avg./Game         201.2 ypg                            159.5 ypg                            360.7 ypg

Record-Chasing: As the regular season enters the closing stretch, Arizona's offense is in position to challenge two rather prominent records: scoring average and single-game rushing average. Through 10 games, Arizona is averaging 44.4 points per game (nearly 20 points better than the 24.8 average in 2016). The program record has long been held by Art Luppino & Co., who averaged 38.5 points in the 1954 season. Rich Rodriguez's first Arizona squad challenged that mark, posting a 38.2 clip in 2012. As far as the rushing average record, that 1954 squad that featured the Cactus Comet (Luppino) rolled up 276.5 yards per game on the ground. Currently, the Wildcats are averaging an astounding 347.7 yards per game. That means if the UA were to not rush for a single yard these final two weeks of the regular season, it would still be averaging 289.8 yards per game – some 12 yards ahead of the current record average. Sure, there's plenty of football to play, but we'll be keeping an eye on these marks – and others – the rest of the way.

Team Rushing (per game average)           Team Scoring Average                  
1.            276.5     1954       1.            38.5        1954
2.            270.8     1973       2.            38.2        2012
3.            268.9     1953       3.            37.4        2014
4.            264.9     2013       4.            36.6        2008
5.            254.8     1952       5.            34.7        1998
Current: 347.7 yards per game  Current: 44.4 points per game

Arizona's Offense in the Rankings: Three-quarters of the way through the regular season, Arizona's offense statistically ranks as one of the best in the nation. Here's a look at where the Cats rank in the FBS and Pac-12 for select categories.
Category                                                  Stat            FBS           Pac-12
Scoring Per Game                                44.4            3rd           1^st
Rushing Yards Per Game                   347.7         3rd           1^st
Total Offense Per Game                    516.5         6^th             1st
Sacks Allowed Per Game                   1.00            8^th             1^st
Offensive Plays of 40+ Yards            27               1st            1st

Smith Nominated for Broyles Award: Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Rod Smith has been nominated for the 2017 Broyles Award, which honors the nation's top assistant coaches. Smith has tutored quarterbacks Khalil Tate and Brandon Dawkins into fine seasons. The two have combined for 3,369 yards of total offense (would rank fifth individually in FBS) and 31 touchdowns through the first 10 games of the season. They've teamed for 1,681 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns, while competing 62.4 percent of passes for 1,688 yards and 13 scores. Tate, a starter in the last five games, is a semifinalist for the Maxwell and Davey O'Brien Awards. The 56 nominees in this year's class were selected from approximately 1500 assistant coaches representing 129 Division One programs across the country.  For the first time in the award's 22 year history, a committee representing the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) was also included in the Broyles Award selection process.

Points, Points and More Points: Through 10 games this season, Arizona has scored 444 points. That's the highest total for the Wildcats through 10 games in program history. The 444 points are more than the Wildcats scored in a full season in 13 of the past 17 seasons. Since 1950, Arizona has scored more than 400 points in a season just six times. The Wildcats failed to eclipse the 300-point mark in 12 games last season, scoring 297 points in 12 games. The most points the Wildcats have scored in a season in school history is 496 in 2012.
Most Points Through 10 Games in Pac-10/12 era

Points Scored	Year
444	2017
397	2008
380	2014
379	2012
357	2015

 
A new streak evolves: The Wildcats scored 45 or more points in four straight games for the first time in program history in October. The streak ended against USC, but Arizona still scored 35 points, establishing a new streak. The Wildcats then scored 49 against Oregon State, and Arizona has now scored 35 or more points in six straight games for the first time in program history as well. The five-game streak of 35 points or more was the longest streak by any team against Power 5 opponents this year. The Wildcats are also one of just five teams in the country to have 58 or more touchdowns on the season. The Wildcats are also third in the country in scoring at 44.4 points per game.
Top Scoring Teams in the Country

School	Games	Points	Points Per Game
Central Florida	9	437	48.6
Oklahoma State	10	457	45.7
Arizona	10	444	44.4
Oklahoma	10	443	44.3
Ohio State	10	442	44.2

 
Teams With 58 or More Touchdowns This Season

School	Number of Touchdowns
Central Florida	59
Oklahoma State	59
Oklahoma	59
Arizona	58
Ohio State	58

 
More Like it: Prior to last season, Arizona had scored at least 435 points in every season under coach Rich Rodriguez. However, Arizona mustered just 297 points last year, and now find them with the second most points in the country this season behind Oklahoma State. Arizona's 19.6 point improvement from last year is the second-best improvement, behind Central Florida's 19.8.
 

Team	2016	2017	Scoring +
UCF	28.8	48.6	19.8
Arizona	24.8	44.4	19.6
Wake Forest	20.4	35.1	14.7
Ohio	26.3	40.9	14.6
Louisiana-Monroe	23.3	37.0	13.7

 
In a Rush: Through 10 games, Arizona is third nationally in rushing offense, averaging 347.7 yards per game. The Wildcats are behind traditional option teams Navy and Army. Perhaps more impressively, Arizona is averaging 7.34 yards per carry, which is the highest total in the country. Arizona is the only team in the country averaging more than seven yards per rush. The FBS record for rushing yards per carry for a season is 7.6 set by Army in 1945.

A New Standard: Arizona has 3,477 rushing yards, which is a new program record for rushing yards in a season. The previous mark was 3,444 set in 2013 when Ka'Deem Carey led the nation in rushing with 1,929 yards. The 2013 season is the only other time the Wildcats have rushed for more than 3,000 yards. Arizona's 41 rushing touchdowns are also a new school record, besting the previous high of 36, also set in 2013.
Highest Yard Per Carry

School	Rushes	Rushing Yards	Yards Per Carry
Arizona	474	3,477	7.34
Notre Dame	451	3,032	6.72
Stanford	332	2,180	6.57
Ohio State	402	2,453	6.10
Florida Atlantic	454	2,750	6.06

 
Most Rushing Touchdowns in the Country
1. Arizona: 41
2. Florida Atlantic: 40
3. Army: 36
4. Ohio: 35
5. Notre Dame: 34
Most Rushing Touchdowns by Arizona in Pac-10/12 Era

Rushing TDs	Year	Total Rushing Yards
41	2017 (through 10 games)	3,477
36	2014	3,444
34	1998	2,567
33	2008	2,059
33	2012	2,961

 
You Get a Touchdown, and You Get a Touchdown: Arizona has had 10 different players score at least one rushing touchdown this season, which is a new program record. The previous high was nine in 1990. Wide receiver Tony Ellison became the 10^th Arizona player to score on a rushing touchdown when he scored on a 27-yard reverse in the second quarter Saturday against Oregon State. Khalil Tate leads the way with 11 rushing touchdowns this season. The others who have scored: Zach Green (nine TDs), Brandon Dawkins (seven), J.J. Taylor and Nick Wilson (four), Nathan Tilford (two), Tyrell Johnson (one), Brandon Leon (one) and Rhett Rodriguez (one). The Wildcats are the only team in the country who have 10 players with at least one rushing score.
Most Players with a Rushing Touchdown
1. Arizona: 10
2. Central Florida: 9
2. Navy: 9
3. Western Michigan: 8

Score from Anywhere: Through 10 games, Arizona has scored 12 touchdowns from 50 or more yards out. Last season, the Wildcats had just five such touchdowns in 12 games. The Wildcats have four touchdowns from 70-79 yards out, four from 60-69 yards out and three from 50-59 yards out. Of the 11 touchdowns, quarterback Khalil Tate has accounted for five of those, posting four rushing touchdowns from 58, 71, 75 and 76 yards out. He also hooked up with Shun Brown for a 56-yard touchdown pass against Cal. Of Arizona's 51 touchdowns this season, 27 have come from 20 or more yards out. Last year, Arizona had 13 touchdowns total from 20 or more yards out. The Wildcats have gained 1,471 yards this season on touchdowns alone and the team is averaging 28.8 yards per touchdown.
Arizona's Longest Touchdowns This Season
1. J.J. Taylor 79-yard run vs. Washington State
2. Khalil Tate 76-yard run at California
3. Khalil Tate 75-yard run at Colorado
4. Khalil Tate 71-yard run vs. UCLA
4. Khalil Tate 71-yard run vs. Oregon State
6. Shun Brown 66-yard punt return vs. NAU
6. Brandon Dawkins 66-yard run vs. NAU
6. Colin Schooler 66-yard interception return vs. Washington State