With the 2019 Arizona season upon us, only a matter of hours away, the Wildcat faithful are counting on two things to happen the most:
Khalil Tate being the Khalil Tate from 2017
Tate from two years ago — Greg Wilson
KT running. Hopefully. — Michael Townsdin
The resurgence of last years Heisman Trophy hopeful and an explosive offense. — Steve Fanning
KT of course. And the improvements on D. — s rhyming
QB Play/Defense — Michael Payne
Khalil Tate putting Arizona football back on the map!! K-TRAIN!! — Joe Berry
Freeing KT to run the ball on offense — Derby1592
I’m really looking forward to a 100% healthy Khalil Tate playing the whole season and possibly a fight for that Heisman Trophy. — Anthony Stretton
Beating ASU for the first time since 2016
Beating ASU — Adam Gaub
Herman Edwards imploding this year and losing his job after Zone 5 touchdown victory in the Territorial Cup. — Daniel Tate
Not sh—- the sheets like we did against ASPoo — Shawn Cabral
Bringing Territorial back home to Tucson BTFD! — Joshua Chavez
Territorial cup and PAC 12 title — Luis Eduardo Noriega
Beat the ….. Scumdevils — Oscar Leal
Bringing the Cup back home, where it belongs. — Brian Best
Beat ASU!!! — Veronica Sandoval Fry
7 to 8 wins and beating the mustard and rust!!! — Dan Batten
What if both don’t pan out for Arizona this season? How will Arizona fans react? Both are necessary for the Wildcats to enjoy the best success possible.
If both take place, Kevin Sumlin’s program will be a Pac-12 South challenger this season although 2020 is more realistic because of the momentum built into a program with only five seniors (including Tate) listed as starters in the Wildcats’ depth chart heading into tonight’s game.
The game against the Rainbows will at least start to reveal an answer for all the fans who hope for a Tate turnaround from last season. That makes this season opener different than most because of the intrigue of, “Can he do it or not?”
Arizona is three months from the question, “Can the Wildcats be good enough to beat ASU in Tempe again?” Arizona has not won there since Nick Foles was a senior in 2011.
So many questions have to be answered before that one.
Will Arizona go unbeaten in nonconference play? Will Arizona start 5-0? Will Arizona survive a treacherous second half of the season with games at USC, Stanford and Oregon? Will Arizona’s defense live up to the expectations from two years ago after showing minimal improvement last season? Will Tate thrive with an inexperienced receiving corps? Will the special teams be special again after struggling for what seems like years? Will Arizona’s lines on both sides improve enough with their added depth? Will Sumlin show why he was once hired into the SEC as a head coach? Will the fans back the “Back the A” campaign by showing up (and sticking around) for games?
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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