Pac-12 football: Khalil Tate leads Arizona to rout of No. 15 Washington State

Khalil Tate, in his fourth straight spectacular performance, rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown and passed for 275 more and two scores, leading surprising Arizona to its fourth consecutive Pac-12 victory, 58-37 over No. 15 Washington State on Saturday night in Tucson.

J.J. Taylor gained 157 yards on 13 carries for Arizona (6-2, 4-1 Pac-12), including touchdown runs of 79 and 3 yards after Washington State (7-2, 4-2) had rallied to take the lead in the third quarter behind backup quarterback Tyler Hilinski.

“It’s a great night to be an Arizona Wildcat,” coach Rich Rodriguez said.

Not so much to be a Washington State Cougar.

The loss knocked Washington State out of a tie with Stanford for first place in the Pac-12 North. The Wildcats, with just one conference loss, remain in the thick of things in the Pac-12 South with a big game at USC next weekend.

“I’m really proud that our guys put themselves in a position to be more relevant,” Rodriguez said, “to have a lot at stake in the last month of the season.”

Hilinski replaced Luke Falk late in the first half and ignited what had been a sputtering offense. The redshirt sophomore completed 45 of 61 passes for 509 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for two scores but was intercepted four times, the last one returned 66 yards by Colin Schooler for a touchdown.

Falk, on the brink of breaking a couple more Pac-12 career passing records, played catch on the sideline and didn’t appear injured.

Tate, the redshirt sophomore who took over at quarterback when Brandon Dawkins was injured and literally ran away with the job after that, was the first person to win three consecutive Pac-12 offensive player of the week honors.

He had the kind of game Saturday night that might earn him a fourth.

Tate carried 12 times with a long run of 82 yards and an average of 11.2 per carry. He also completed 10 of 17 passes with one interception to go with his two scores.

“He’s got a very strong arm,” Rodriguez said, “but he’s got as good a touch on a deep ball as any quarterback I’ve had. He’s a tough guy. He’ll take a hit.”

at Oregon 41, Utah 20: Receiver Charles Nelson got tripped up on a reverse but regained his footing to make a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Breeland as the Ducks snapped a three-game losing streak.

Nelson was congratulated on the sideline by injured Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert following the play which put the Ducks (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) ahead 27-13 late in the third quarter.

Utah (4-4, 1-4) couldn’t catch up for a fourth straight loss. Tyler Huntley, making his second start after returning from an injury, threw for 293 yards and a touchdown. Former Oregon receiver Darren Carrington caught nine passes for 130 yards.

Oregon’s Tony Brooks-James ran for 105 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

The win got the Ducks closer to bowl eligibility for coach Willie Taggart’s first season. Oregon’s three-game slide coincided with the loss of Herbert, who fractured his collarbone against California on Sept. 30.

The Ducks have since gone with true freshman Braxton Burmeister, who had been expected to redshirt. He made his fourth start of the season against the Utes and threw for 47 yards and a score.

at Colorado 44, California 28: Steven Montez bounced back from a benching a week earlier and threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns in the Buffaloes’ win Saturday, when the school retired the jersey of the late Rashaan Salaam, the school’s only Heisman Trophy winner.

The Buffaloes (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) capped their homecoming win with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by junior free safety Nick Fisher with 2:34 remaining that made it 44-21.

Fisher caught Ross Bowers’ pass nine yards deep in the north end zone for his first career interception and sidestepped a couple of Golden Bears near the goal line and avoided another tackler at about the Bears 30-yard line before cruising down the dejected California sideline for the school’s fourth 100-yard pick-6.

Montez, who completed 20 of 26 passes, also ran for a score and Phillip Lindsay ran for 161 yards as the Buffaloes kept alive their hopes of reaching back-to-back bowls for the first time in more than a decade.

The Golden Bears (4-5, 1-5) saw their postseason hopes fade despite a three-TD day by Bowers, who was 29-of-52 for 359 yards.