University of Arizona Athletics

Khalil Tate
Social Media Year in Review: Football
Arizona Athletics
Football
Posted: 12/31/2017
Picked to finish last in the Pac-12 before the season began, Arizona Football had other ideas in 2017. 

The Wildcats went 7-6, winning four straight games in October and eventually being selected for the Foster Farms Bowl to play Big 10 foe, Purdue. Arizona gave fans plenty of reason to be excited and optimistic for the 2018 season, as the Cats were led by a sophomore quarterback, Khalil Tate, and were headlined on defense by several freshmen, including freshmen All-Americans Colin Schooler, Tony Fields II and Kylan Wilborn. 

As far as the year that was on social media, Tate dominated the scene for Arizona. Arizona Wildcat fans and college football fans across the country couldn't get enough of Tate's highlight reel plays and amazing production. Of the top 10 posts of the year, Tate is the subject of half of them in a year Arizona fans won't soon forget. Tate became the first quarterback in conference history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and also became the first player in league history to win four straight Pac-12 Player of the Week awards. 

Here's a look back at our top 10 posts of 2017:

1. It should have been a sack. Instead, Khalil Tate went 71 yards to the house versus UCLA in a run that caught the eye of all college football fans. This tweet drew more than 300,000 impressions and earned more than 1,100 retweets. We're still amazed by the run. 



2. In late June, we unveiled new uniforms for the 2017 season, which drew a big audience. Nearly 600 retweets later, the uniforms were a big hit with our fans. 



3. More Khalil Tate. This touchdown run against Washington State on Homecoming marked the fourth straight game of at least 100 rushing yards for The Big Cat. 



4. Of course, if you know Arizona Football at all, you know Khalil Tate isn't the only guy we have who can make people miss. And, did people love this video of J.J. Taylor, doing his thing in the open field. 



5. If 71 yards wasn't long enough for you, here's 76 yards to the house by Tate versus Cal in a tweet that drew more than 1,000 likes. 



6. Some of the best quarterbacks ever in college football played in the Pac-12. None of them ever rushed for 1,000 yards in a season like Tate did this year. He locked it up against USC in a thriller in the Coliseum. 



7. It was a great day in late July for Arizona Football when we proudly welcomed Chuck Cecil back to the program as a senior defensive analyst. 



8. Our lone Instagram post of the review comes from before the Territorial Cup game when we showed off our uniforms for the game, starting with #14. 

Territorial Cup ready. ????

A post shared by Arizona Football (@arizonafootball) on



9. Each Friday, we posted the uniform combination for the upcoming game. For Homecoming, we welcomed back Ka'Deem Carey to show off our threads and it was very well received by the Wildcat faithful. 



10. We close it out with more Tate. Never before in conference history has a player won four straight Player of the Week awards, but Tate did this year, and was joined in his final week by kicker Lucas Havrisik. 


 
Copyright ©2024 University of Arizona Athletics