University of Arizona
1-2
Southern Utah
0-3
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Utah | 0 | 17 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
| Arizona | 7 | 17 | 24 | 14 | 62 |
Tate Throws 5 TDs as Arizona Downs Southern Utah
09/15/2018 | Football
Tate tossed two touchdown passes to Shun Brown and one each to Tony Ellison, Cedric Peterson and Shawn Poindexter. Arizona's junior quarterback threw three touchdowns in the third quarter as Arizona outscored Southern Utah 24-0 in the quarter to pull away from a tight game at halftime.
Tate had a 65-yard touchdown pass to Brown in the third and a 75-yard strike to Poindexter later in the quarter. He also had a 55-yard pass to Tony Ellison in the first half. Tate had three passes of 55 or more yards the entire season in 2017 before tossing three in the win over Southern Utah.
Of course, Arizona's quarterback was hardly the only Wildcat to shine Saturday against the Thunderbirds. Ellison finished with a career-high 111 yards on four catches, while Brown had his first career multiple touchdown game of his career and finished with 97 yards.
Defensively, Colin Schooler totaled two more tackles-for-loss to give him 19 ½ for his career in just 16 games. Kylan Wilborn also had two tackles-for-loss and Anthony Pandy recorded his second career sack.
The win marked the first of the Kevin Sumlin era at Arizona. The Wildcats will now hit the road to take on Oregon State on Sept. 22 for their Pac-12 opener.
POSTGAME NOTES
• Arizona finished with 626 yards of total offense in Saturday's victory. It's the most total yardage in a single game since totaling 644 yards against Oregon State on Oct. 10, 2015. It's Arizona's 12th 600-yard game since 2012.
• J.J. Taylor scored on an 84-yard kickoff return in the second quarter, marking Arizona's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Cayleb Jones returned an onside kick 44 yards for a touchdown against Washington State on Oct. 25, 2014. Taylor's kickoff return was the first non-onside kickoff return since Travis Cobb returned a kick 100 yards against Iowa in 2010.
• Khalil Tate finished with a career high in passing yards with 349. It bested his previous career high of 341 set one week ago at Houston. Tate also threw five touchdown passes, tying his career high, which was set in the Foster Farms Bowl last year against Purdue.
• Arizona scored 24 points in the third quarter Saturday, the team's highest single-quarter output since scoring 35 against UTEP exactly one year ago in El Paso.
• Tate averaged 17.45 yards per attempt Saturday, establishing a new school record with at least 20 attempts. He averaged 26.85 yards per completion, just off his own record of 27.5 set last season against Washington State.
• Tate completed four passes of 50 yards or more in Saturday's victory. It's the first time since at least 1997 that an Arizona quarterback has thrown four passes of 50 or more yards in a single game. Tate completed a 53-yard pass to Devaughn Cooper, a 55-yard pass to Tony Ellison, a 65-yard touchdown pass to Shun Brown and a 75-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Poindexter.
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
JJ TAYLOR TO THE HOUSE! ??????
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) September 16, 2018
The speedster goes for an 84-yard Kickoff Return TD to make it 14-3. #BearDown | #EraZona pic.twitter.com/s9cgbTnE0r
Party in the ENDZONE!#BearDown | #EraZona pic.twitter.com/NPDDWMQHmj
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) September 16, 2018
Khalil Tate with the DIME to Devaughn Cooper for 53 yards! ??????#BearDown pic.twitter.com/OTWss7AVqg
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) September 16, 2018
High 5?!
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) September 16, 2018
Khalil tosses his 5th TD of the night; this one to Shawn Poindexter for 75 yards.
We lead it 48-17. #BearDown pic.twitter.com/mjRrYBD8t9
The ?? @Kcarey25 is back in town to hang with the @ZonaZooOfficial pic.twitter.com/nwHMTiOWBv
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) September 16, 2018
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
SUU 0, ARIZ 7
ARIZ - Ellison, T. 17 yd pass from Tate, K. (Havrisik, L. kick) 5 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:25
SUU 3, ARIZ 7
SUU - BERZ, Manny 33 yd field goal 12 plays, 55 yards, TOP 5:44
SUU 3, ARIZ 14
ARIZ - Taylor, J.J. 84 yd kickoff return (Havrisik, L. kick)
SUU 10, ARIZ 14
SUU - GREEN, Jay 10 yd run (BERZ, Manny kick), 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:15
SUU 10, ARIZ 17
ARIZ - Havrisik, L. 32 yd field goal 6 plays, 45 yards, TOP 1:40
SUU 17, ARIZ 17
SUU - HELBIG, Chris 2 yd run (BERZ, Manny kick), 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:02
SUU 17, ARIZ 24
ARIZ - Brown, S. 11 yd pass from Tate, K. (Havrisik, L. kick) 8 plays, 67 yards, TOP 2:08
SUU 17, ARIZ 31
ARIZ - Peterson, C. 2 yd pass from Tate, K. (Havrisik, L. kick) 5 plays, 67 yards, TOP 1:55
SUU 17, ARIZ 34
ARIZ - Havrisik, L. 35 yd field goal 6 plays, 53 yards, TOP 1:49
SUU 17, ARIZ 41
ARIZ - Brown, S. 65 yd pass from Tate, K. (Havrisik, L. kick) 3 plays, 66 yards, TOP 0:53
SUU 17, ARIZ 48
ARIZ - Poindexter, S. 75 yd pass from Tate, K. (Havrisik, L. kick) 4 plays, 98 yards, TOP 1:42
SUU 24, ARIZ 48
SUU - HELBIG, Chris 2 yd run (BERZ, Manny kick), 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:14
SUU 24, ARIZ 55
ARIZ - Mariscal, A. 33 yd run (Havrisik, L. kick), 6 plays, 69 yards, TOP 2:42
SUU 24, ARIZ 62
ARIZ - Leon, B. 1 yd run (Havrisik, L. kick), 3 plays, 21 yards, TOP 0:50
SUU 31, ARIZ 62
SUU - HARRIS, Frank 23 yd pass from HELBIG, Chris (BERZ, Manny kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:54
