College football preview 2018: 10 unranked teams most likely to surprise

Arizona’s season changed when starting quarterback Brandon Dawkins was shaken up by a late hit against Colorado early in 2017. It forced backup Khalil Tate into the game and he stayed in to finish that game, and every other the rest of the season. Against Colorado, he led Arizona to a 45-42 win and set the FBS rushing record for a quarterback with 327 yards along with scoring five total touchdowns.

The following week, he rushed for 230 yards and two scores in a win over UCLA. Tate went on to put together six straight games rushing for over 100 yards, two exceeding 200 yards, plus the record-breaking 327-yard performance.

Arizona finished 7-6 though and fired head coach Rich Rodriguez after the season. To replace him, Arizona hired a coach who has some history leading under-the-radar teams to success with an electrifying dual-threat quarterback in Kevin Sumlin.

There may be a few legitimate concerns about Arizona coming into 2018, like defense. That said, I’m ready to ignore everything outside of the potentially magical combination of Khalil Tate and Kevin Sumlin.

Then add the Pac-12 After Dark. Strange, inexplicable but often entertaining things happen in late Pac-12 games on the West Coast. Sumlin and Tate paired together have the potential to go to another level given the paranormal forces at play.

From a logical, non-entertainment-driven perspective, Arizona won’t have a tough schedule to contend with in 2018.