Arizona sophomore quarterback Khalil Tate is the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week.
Tate, who rushed for an FBS quarterback record 327 yards two weeks ago against Colorado, backed that performance up with another terrific one on Saturday in a 47-30 win over UCLA.
Tate, who accounted for 481 yards of offense and five touchdowns against the Buffaloes, went right back to work against the Bruins. Tate finished with 230 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries. He averaged 15.3 yards per carry, and had a 71-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
As far as passing, Tate was 9 of 13 for 148 yards and a touchdown pass to tight end Trevor Wood. Tate became the first FBS quarterback in 20 years to post back-to-back 200-yard rushing games. Navy's Chris McCoy, in 1997, was the last to accomplish that feat. All total, Tate produced 378 yards of offense and three touchdowns against the Bruins.
Tate is the first Wildcat to earn two Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors in the same season since Ka'Deem Carey in 2013. He's the first player to win the honor in back-to-back weeks since quarterback Tom Tunnicliffe did it in 1982, leading the Wildcats to win against No. 9 Notre Dame and Pacific.
At Arizona Stadium against UCLA on Saturday, Tate had a 45-yard touchdown run on Arizona's first drive of the game and the Wildcats never trailed from there. He hit Wood for a 6-yard touchdown pass 11 seconds before halftime to put Arizona up 30-14 at the break. Leading by 11 in the third quarter, he broke his 71-yard run to ice the game for the Wildcats.
In addition to being named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, Tate was named one of the top eight quarterbacks in the country for the weekend by both the Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and the Davey O'Brien Award.
Tate and the Wildcats return to action Saturday at Cal. Kick is scheduled for 5 p.m., and will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
