![University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ vs USC (copy)](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/bd/7bd00078-c78e-11e8-a787-03a35de67cd8/5bb587d836e00.image.jpg?resize=200%2C148 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/bd/7bd00078-c78e-11e8-a787-03a35de67cd8/5bb587d836e00.image.jpg?resize=300%2C222 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/bd/7bd00078-c78e-11e8-a787-03a35de67cd8/5bb587d836e00.image.jpg?resize=400%2C296 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/bd/7bd00078-c78e-11e8-a787-03a35de67cd8/5bb587d836e00.image.jpg?resize=540%2C400 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/bd/7bd00078-c78e-11e8-a787-03a35de67cd8/5bb587d836e00.image.jpg?resize=750%2C555 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/bd/7bd00078-c78e-11e8-a787-03a35de67cd8/5bb587d836e00.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C888 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/bd/7bd00078-c78e-11e8-a787-03a35de67cd8/5bb587d836e00.image.jpg?resize=1673%2C1238 1700w)
Falling behind by double digits against USC, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ QB Khalil Tate completed fewer than half of his 33 passes.
When it comes to Khalil Tate’s passing attempts, less is more.
When he attempts 20 or fewer passes in a game, Tate is a much more efficient quarterback — and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ usually wins. When he attempts more than that, his efficiency plummets — as does the Wildcats’ winning percentage.
We’ll get into all the specifics shortly. In the process, we’ll take a deep dive into the games in which Tate threw more than 20 times to determine if there’s a cause and effect.
![101421-tuc-spt-uafb-p2](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/42/f421ca8c-b6ec-11e8-81e3-9bfc279290c0/5b870f700a6a6.image.jpg?resize=200%2C281 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/42/f421ca8c-b6ec-11e8-81e3-9bfc279290c0/5b870f700a6a6.image.jpg?resize=300%2C421 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/42/f421ca8c-b6ec-11e8-81e3-9bfc279290c0/5b870f700a6a6.image.jpg?resize=400%2C561 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/42/f421ca8c-b6ec-11e8-81e3-9bfc279290c0/5b870f700a6a6.image.jpg?resize=467%2C655 540w)
Editor’s note: Each week throughout the football season, we’ll take an in-depth look at the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcats from a statistical perspective.
Before all that, two quick acknowledgements: (1) Teams tend to pass more when they’re behind, and that does skew the numbers; (2) QB winning percentage is an imperfect measurement of QB “success.†We’ll tackle those issues later in the piece.
But first, the numbers. We looked at every game Tate has played since the Colorado game last year, when he had his breakthrough and became ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s starter.
In the eight games in which he has attempted 20 or fewer passes, Tate has a 68.7 percent completion rate, a 13-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio and averages 12.56 yards per attempt. The Wildcats are 7-1 in those games, with the lone loss coming at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ State last season. Tate was hurt at the end of the first half and barely played in the second. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ was leading 24-14 at the time.
In the six games in which Tate has thrown more than 20 times, he has a 52.0 percent completion rate, an 11-to-8 TD-to-INT ratio and averages 6.75 yards per attempt. The Wildcats are 0-6 in those games.
In the eight games with 20 or fewer attempts, Tate has completed more than 50 percent of his passes every time. In the six games with more than 20, he has completed 50 percent or less half the time.
One more note on those figures before we move on: Tate has 67 more yards — 1,444 to 1,377 — on 115 attempts in the eight games with 20 or fewer than on 204 attempts in the six games with more than 20.
Obviously, it’s harder to pass when the other team knows it’s coming. That’s inevitably what happens when you fall behind by a significant margin, and that is what happened in the majority of games in which Tate threw more than 20 times. Let’s take a closer look: