Arizona Football

Arizona Wildcats Record-Chasers: Approaching Milestones in Game Against Texas Tech

By Javier Morales

Posted on September 14, 2019

Information from the Arizona media relations department contributed to this report.

A lot of offense is expected tonight when Arizona hosts Texas Tech at 7:30 p.m. with the over-under in Las Vegas at 77 points.

Because of that, it’s safe to say Arizona’s offensive leaders, quarterback Khalil Tate and running back J.J. Taylor, will be racking up some yards. Here are this week’s record-chasers for the Wildcats:

Taylor has 2,711 career rushing yards, which ranks ninth all-time at Arizona. Taylor needs 246 yards to pass Nic Grigsby for No. 8. Taylor’s 463 career carries are the fewest of any player in the top 10.

J.J. Taylor is coming of a 102-yard rushing performance against NAU (Arizona Athletics photo)

Arizona Wildcats Got a Kick Out of Beating Nemesis Texas Tech in 1975 Behind Dramatic Game-Winner by Lee Pistor

Share Tweet Lee Pistor described the scene on the sideline at Arizona Stadium as “chaos,” which is not the way a kicker wants to be sent on to the field to make the go-ahead field goal in the waning seconds of a monumental game. Arizona started its last possession trailing Texas Tech 28-27 with 43 […

Senior quarterback Khalil Tate has rushed for 1,981 yards. Another 19 yards would make him the 17th player in program history to run for 2,000 yards. With 42 more yards, he would pass Eddie Wolgast for 16th all-time at Arizona in rushing yards.

Arizona Career Rushing Leaders

No.	Yards	Player	Att	Years
1.	4,239	Ka'Deem Carey	743	2011-13
2.	3,824	Trung Canidate	604	1996-99
3.	3,501	Ontiwaun Carter	805	1991-94
4.	3,381	Art Luppino	513	1953-56
5.	3,163	Mike Bell	678	2002-05
6.	3,096	Hubie Oliver	649	1977-80
7.	3,038	Nick Wilson	553	2014-17
8.	3,030	J.J. Taylor	525	2016-19
9.	2,957	Nic Grigsby	572	2007-10
10.	2,571	David Adams	600	1984-86
11.	2,530	Clarence Farmer	521	2000-03
12.	2,397	Keola Antolin	500	2008-10
13.	2,389	Jim Upchurch	488	1972-74
14.	2,181	Khalil Tate	338	2016-19
15.	2,074	Bob McCall	473	1970-72

Tate has passed for 4,863 yards in his career, which ranks 12th in program history. He’ll need another 227 yards to break into the Top 10.

Arizona Career Passing Yards Leaders

No.	Yards	Player	Comp-Att	Int	TD	Years
1.	10,011	Nick Foles	933-1,396	33	67	2009-11
2.	9,211	Willie Tuitama	786-1,276	31	67	2005-08
3.	7,618	Tom Tunnicliffe	574-1,069	56	46	1980-83
4.	6,922	Anu Solomon	555-933	16	49	2014-16
5.	6,016	Alfred Jenkins	456-879	38	30	1983-86
6.	5,972	Keith Smith	434-726	27	42	1996-99
7.	5,749	Jason Johnson	413-719	26	35	1999-02
8.	5,723	Dan White	446-850	27	43	1993-95
9.	5,636	Khalil Tate	393-671	26	53	2016-19
10.	5,424	Ortege Jenkins	488-717	27	42	1997-00

Tate has passed for 48 touchdowns in his career, which ranks fourth all-time. With one more, Tate would tie Anu Solomon for third all-time. Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama share the record with 67 touchdown passes.

Arizona Career Passing Touchdown Leaders

No.	TDs	Quarterback	Years
1. (tie)	67	Nick Foles	2009-11
1. (tie)	67	Willie Tuitama	2005-08
3.	53	Khalil Tate	2016-19
4.	49	Anu Solomon	2014-16
5.	46	Tom Tunnicliffe	1980-83
6.	45	Bruce Hill	1973-75
7.	43	Dan White	1993-95
8. (tie)	42	Keith Smith	1996-99
8. (tie)	42	Ortege Jenkins	1997-2000
10.	35	Jason Johnson	1999-2002

Tate has racked up 6,844 yards of total offense in his career, which currently ranks No. 6 in school history. With 205 more total offense yards, Tate would move up to No. 5, passing Keith Smith.

Arizona Career Total Offense Leaders

No.	Yards	Player	Att.	Years
1.	9,712	Nick Foles	1,503	2009-11
2.	8,727	Willie Tuitama	1,448	2005-08
3.	7,741	Khalil Tate	991	2016-19
4.	7,359	Anu Solomon	1,162	2014-16
5.	7,336	Tom Tunnicliffe	1,253	1980-83
6.	7,049	Keith Smith	1,021	1996-99
7.	6,307	Alfred Jenkins	1,136	1983-86
8.	6,059	Matt Scott	612	2008-12
9.	6,054	Bruce Hill	1,067	1973-75
10.	5,577	Ortege Jenkins	1,111	1997-00

Is the defense as bad as we think? – Arizonamaven

I try to avoid forming snapshot opinions. I like to let a game marinate and then look at numbers and what experts are saying. After giving up 86 points in two games my initial reaction was that the defense was awful. After further reflection, my opinion has not changed much.

Arizona senior cornerback Jace Whittaker, who utilized his redshirt season last year, is tied for ninth in career passes broken up with 28. He’s currently tied with Trevin Wade and Randy Robbins and is one away from reaching Brandon Sanders’ mark of 29. Whittaker had a pair of interceptions in the opener against Hawai’i and another last week against NAU. He has seven career interceptions.

Arizona Career Passes Broken-Up Leaders

No.	PBU	Player	Pos.	Years
1.	44	Michael Jolivette	CB	2000-03
2.	38	Chuck Cecil	S	1984-87
3.	35	Kelly Malveaux	CB	1994-97
4. (tie)	32	Antoine Cason	CB	2004-07
4. (tie)	32	Devin Ross	CB	2006-09
6.	31	Jace Whittaker	CB	2015-19
7. (tie)	30	Shaquille Richardson	CB	2010-13
7. (tie)	30	Lynnden Brown	S	1981-84
9.	29	Brandon Sanders	S	1992-95
10. (tie)	28	Trevin Wade	CB	2008-11
10. (tie)	28	Randy Robbins	CB	1980-83

Rating of Arizona Wildcats Defensive Players Indicates Lack of Production Up Front

Share Tweet The first line of defense for Arizona is indefensible. Using a point system out of fantasy football, only one of the top 13 players is positioned up front — redshirt sophomore defensive end Jalen Harris. Harris, who can be one of the team’s most dynamic players, is rated eighth (with 15 …

Colin Schooler (Arizona Athletics photo)

Arizona junior linebacker Colin Schooler enters tonight’s game with 35.5 tackles-for-loss in just 27 games. With five more, he’ll reach the Arizona top 10 and tie Chris Singleton.

Arizona Career Tackles-For-Loss Leaders

No.	TFL	Player	Pos.	Years
1.	74.5	Tedy Bruschi	DE	1991-95
2. (tie)	49.0	Dana Wells	DT	1985-88
2. (tie)	49.0	Joe Tafoya	DE	1997-00
4.	45.0	Bill McKinley	DE	1968-70
5.	43.5	Joe Salave'a	DT	1994-97
6.	43.0	Marcus Bell	LB	1996-99
7. (tie)	42.0	Scooby Wright III	LB	2013-15
7. (tie)	42.0	Mike Dawson	DT	1972-75
9.	41.0	Rob Waldrop	DT	1990-93
10. (tie)	40.5	Colin Schooler	LB	2017-19
10. (tie)	40.5	Chris Singleton	LB	1986-89

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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.