STANFORD, Calif. — Two hours before kickoff of the Arizona-Stanford game Saturday afternoon, a homecoming pep rally was held just outside Stanford Stadium. Stanford’s marching band played before defensive quality control analyst Steve Donatell held a chalk-talk session with fans.
The topic: UA quarterback Khalil Tate, the highlight moments he’s created the last few seasons, and how to stop him.
Donatell missed one more UA quarterback.
The Wildcats played both Tate and true freshman Grant Gunnell on Saturday, and, no, it didn’t bring back memories of Ortege Jenkins and Keith Smith in 1998. The Wildcats lost 41-31, falling to .500 with four games remaining in their regular season. The Wildcats must win two of their final four games — the opponents: Oregon State, Oregon, Utah and Arizona State — to make a bowl game.
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The shuffle was predetermined.
“I knew it was a probability,” Tate said. “I wasn’t sure how exactly what was going to work out as far as the situations, but all you can do as a quarterback is be ready. It doesn’t matter how many reps you get, as long as you stay ready. You have to get ready.”
Saturday’s game mostly belonged to Tate. The senior completed 17 of 33 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 103 yards and a score. Gunnell completed all seven of his pass attempts for 68 yards and a touchdown.
“(Gunnell) operated pretty well,” coach Kevin Sumlin said. “We wanted to get him in and as I said two weeks ago, we’re not redshirting him. He needs to play.”
The usage of both quarterbacks was somewhat surprising given that Sumlin had committed to Tate in the locker room following last week’s loss to USC. This time, Gunnell was slotted in during the first half when the outcome was very much in question.
“We want to get him in, and as I said two weeks ago, if he’s not redshirting, he needs to play, and he needs to learn from some experiences like he had today. You’re not in mop-up time. You’re not in anything else,” Sumlin said. “I think he showed that he’s capable like he has. He’s won games. He’s played at different stages. We want to make sure that his growth continues.”
Saturday marked a chance to beat a Stanford team that was blown out by UCLA a week ago, but the Cardinal were simply sharper.
In the first quarter, Tate completed 3 of 5 passes for 55 yards, including a 43-yard, over-the-shoulder connection with wide receiver Tayvian Cunningham, which set up a 29-yard Lucas Havrisik field goal to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead. The Wildcats went three-and-out on their next drive, and Tate exited the game. Gunnell capped off his first drive — eight plays, 65 yards — with a touchdown pass to freshman Jalen Johnson and put the UA ahead 10-7. Gunnell finished the first half completing 5 of 5 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown. With Arizona trailing 21-10, Tate returned to the game and erupted for a 57-yard touchdown run and pulled the UA within one possession. Tate had rushed for minus-55 yards combined in the previous two games.
Stanford countered with quarterback K.J. Costello, who returned to the lineup for the first time since Sept. 21 and threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns. Costello dissected Arizona’s defense, throwing for 223 yards in the first half, and the Cardinal led 31-24 at halftime.
Sumlin said Costello, who had been sidelined with a hand injury, was “probably the best player on the field.”
“That’s a veteran quarterback and a guy who’s been in a lot of different games and been in a lot of different situations, and he showed it today,” Sumlin said.
Tate started the second half, but the Wildcats gave Gunnell another drive, which resulted in a fumble that put the UA out of field goal range. That was the last of the freshman. Tate attempted to rally the Wildcats back from the touchdown deficit, but was intercepted by Stanford defensive back Paulson Adebo. The Cardinal capitalized with a field goal to pull ahead by 10.
Arizona’s J.J. Taylor rushed 16 times for 107 yards, giving him more than 3,000 career rushing yards — a mark accomplished by just seven other Wildcats.
What’s next?
Sumlin said the two-quarterback system will continue for the Wildcats and now facing the last quarter of the season, will need to win two more games if they want to play in the postseason. Arizona has “two choices,” the coach said.
“You either fight, or you run, and we’re not running. For us as a coaching staff and for us as a team, we’ve got another challenge this week. We talk all the time you win or lose,” Sumlin said. “We’ve got to look at what we’re doing great, which is a couple things we changed, and try to stay ahead of the curve there. The things we’re doing poorly, we’ve got to fix, and that takes everybody. That’s coaches, players, everybody.
“So that’s where we are. We’ve got plenty of season to go, and our guys are — one thing I can say about them is they’re not quitting. They’re playing hard. We’ve got to give them chances as coaches, and we’ve got to cut down on the turnovers. We’ve cut down penalties. But you’ve just got to press forward.”
