Arizona opened its season on the road against Hawaii on the road, which is never advised because things tend to get super weird away from the mainland. Football on the island makes Pac-12 After Dark look perfectly sane. So the Wildcats have no one to blame but their scheduling department after suffering a 45-38 loss with an ending that sets a high bar for the rest of the 2019 college football season.
Down seven with time expiring, quarterback Khalil Tate took off and tried to scamper 31 yards to paydirt. He came perilously close to doing it, but was chased down and brought to the ground a yard short of the goal-line.
It was a poetic ending to a game that truly had to be seen to be believed. Hawaii turned the ball over seven times. Seven! And won! The commitment to never punting is impressive.
Imagine a coach writing “turn the ball over seven times, still emerge on victorious” on the pre-game whiteboard. That’s crazier than the stuff coaches usually say.
College football is back. Between this and 60 minutes of Florida and Miami trying to out-Florida Man each other, it was a chaotic and deeply satisfying opening night. We’d all do well to remember to pace ourselves though. Way more fun to come.
