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Is this (a) true (b) false or (c) lunacy?

More to the point, Tate ranks No. 84 in rushing yards among the 126 FBS starting quarterbacks. Last year he was No. 3 — and he didn’t play the first month of the season.

Is this (a) the historic curse of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ quarterbacks or (b) a hallucination?

A year ago, Tate completed 62 percent of his passes. This season he has dropped to 56 percent.

How good (or bad) is this? By comparison, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ State’s Manny Wilkins has completed 63 percent of his passes, yet he is only ranked No. 46 in the nation. Tate is 97th.

Tate entered the season opener Sept. 1 against BYU as the most feared quarterback in college football, or if not No. 1 then 1-A.

He was the living definition of an RPO — a run, pass, option quarterback in the image of such predecessors as Michael Vick and Randall Cunningham.

The run part of RPO is the key that unlocks everything else.

Inexplicably, Tate has become a DBQ — drop-back quarterback.

It all changed against BYU when ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s offense disappeared — poof — lost in football’s version of the Bermuda Triangle. After leading at half, 10-7, Tate did not attempt a rush in the third quarter; what turned out to be a fair-to-middlin’ BYU team bolted to a 28-10 lead and won 28-23.

In the UA’s six possessions of the second half, Tate carried just twice for three yards.

What in the wide world of sports was going on?

The only coach willing to speak frankly about ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s change-of-offense was BYU defensive coordinator Ed Lamb. UA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone has not been made available for interviews during the season.

Lamb said it was “absurdâ€� that ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ purposely designed an offense in which Tate was to become a non-runner. “You need to go back and watch the video,â€� said Lamb. “They ran more than 40 plays where Tate was designed to keep the ball.â€�

Lamb essentially put it on Tate, not Mazzone.

Sure, Lamb exaggerated a bit, but the puzzling use of Tate became moot a week later when he injured his ankle at Houston, a staggering 45-18 loss.

It took six weeks for Tate to appear close to 100 percent healthy again, Oct. 27 against Oregon. Alas, the Wildcats were 3-5 and their grand designs to win a Pac-12 championship were long gone.

All that remained was to finish .500 and win the Territorial Cup.

Yet in his return, Tate still hasn’t played play the role of an RPO.

In games against Oregon, Colorado and Washington State, Tate ran without a limp, but carried just 19 times for 66 yards, a total that wouldn’t have been a good half during his breakout performances of October 2017.

He appears reluctant to run, sometimes awkwardly so. You almost shout “RUN!� at the TV screen.

Tate has the size, athleticism and impressive footwork that would make a game-breaking runner — buying time and winning games as he continues to improve his skills as a potential NFL passer — but UA coaches and Tate have not shed much, if any, light on the situation.

Perhaps the BYU game was an aberration. Perhaps it will always remain as the Great Mystery of 2018.

UA coach Kevin Sumlin’s history at Texas A&M is that he seized the opportunity to feature an RPO quarterback. Johnny Manziel rushed for 2,119 yards in two seasons; current Oklahoma star Kyler Murray rushed for 335 yards in part-time Texas A&M service as a 2015 freshman.

When Mazzone was the offensive coordinator at UCLA, he designed a system in which QB Brett Hundley rushed for 1,747 yards over three seasons.

If there’s a break in this mystery, it’s that Tate bolted for 33 yards on a third-and-long passing situation at Washington State late in the second quarter. It was his longest run of the year.

In his weekly media availability Monday, Sumlin said Tate’s 33-yard scramble was the most explosive he’s seen him since training camp. The coaching staff has been able to confirm Tate’s return to health via the use of a GPS monitoring system placed in Tate’s shoulder pads during practices.

As with most FBS schools, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ implants a computer chip in players’ gear to measure acceleration, distance and max velocity. Tate used to be able to run 20-25 mph in spurts. On that WSU scramble, he surely hit 20 mph or more.

With Tate healthy again, the schematic advantage swings back to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. In the lead-up to Saturday’s Territorial Cup, ASU defensive coaches will now have to spend significant time designing defenses for (1) Tate the runner and (2) Tate the passer, the old RPO quarterback of 2017.

If so, it could be RIP for the Sun Devils.