The Colorado Buffaloes are the defending Pac-12 South Division Champions, Khalil Tate single handedly shut the door at any thoughts of a repeat on Saturday night. Tate broke the NCAA record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a historic performance in Boulder, Colo.
After starting quarterback Brandon Dawkins left the game due to injury after receiving a late hit out of bounds, Tate stepped in and scampered 58 yards through the Buffaloes defense and into the end zone for the games first score, it would be one of many. Tate would rush for 327 yards on the night, just 39 short of Kadeem Carey’s school record of 366.
Tate would follow up his initial score with runs of 28, 47 and 75 yards to the end zone. Colorado was able to stop Arizona twice the entire evening, one of which was a fumble by Shun Brown before Tate came into the ball game. The sophomore signal caller accounted for 469 yards in total, 142 coming through the air on 11-for-13 passing and a score to Brown.
If not for Tate, Colorado would have a performance almost equalling the historical feat in the form of Phillip Lindsay. Lindsay rushed for 281 yards on 41 carries and three touchdowns on the ground. Arizona could not stop the rushing attack, despite being faced with numerous third and fourth and short situations. The recipe was simple for the Buffaloes, run left with Lindsay and have success. The Wildcats could not stop it.
In this pivotal Pac-12 game for both teams, the offense was indeed the best defense for each squad. It was the first time in NCAA history that two players ran for over 250 yards in a game. The duo set the Football Bowl Subdivision rushing record by opponents at 608.
Neither teams defense had an answer, neither teams offense stopped scoring and in the end it was one of the more historical nights in recent memory. Ironically, it was the leg of kicker Josh Pollack that sealed the win, at least on the board. However, facing a third and six with 1:27 to go, it was Khalil Tate that managed to find some room and run down the sideline to seal the game with another first down.
The Wildcats as a team rushed for 425 yards on 43 carries. Despite the unexpected performance of Tate, head coach Rich Rodriguez would not commit to him being the starting quarterback when asked by Pac-12 Network on the field post game despite acknowledging his performance.
The win could signify a turnaround for a program that has faced its fair share of criticism in th past year for lack of results. Up next is UCLA, a school that Rodriguez is 0-5 against in his tenure as Wildcats head coach. The Bruins are coming off a bye week.
Follow Saul Bookman on Twitter
