2024-09-02 04:00:02
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Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan kicked off his highly anticipated junior season with a record-setting night.
The preseason All-American and projected first-round draft pick set a new school record with 304 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 10 catches in the No. 21 Wildcats’ 61-39 win over visiting New Mexico.
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound wideout delivered the first 300-yard performance by a college receiver since Ohio State‘s Jaxon Smith-Njigba put up 347 receiving yards against Utah in the 2022 Rose Bowl. Only five other FBS receivers have topped 300 yards over the past decade.
In Arizona’s first game as a member of the Big 12, McMillan registered the second-most receiving yards in a game in conference history. His previous career high was a 266-yard game against rival Arizona State last season.
McMillan scored on plays of 69, 17, 78 and 40 yards and nearly had a fifth TD reception but was tackled at the 1-yard line. More than half of his receiving yards (176) came after the catch.
“T-Mac is obviously special, man,” first-year Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “He’s just something else.”
McMillan missed time this offseason while recovering from a lower leg injury suffered in spring practice and said it felt “amazing” to be back in action.
“These last four months, I’ve been grinding and ready to get back on the field,” he said. “Being able to just play with my brothers again, it’s just a true blessing. Regardless of the records, I’m just happy to be back on the field with my brothers.”
New Mexico kept up with the Wildcats throughout the first half and took a 24-17 lead late in the second quarter. Three plays later, McMillan burned the Lobos for a 78-yard catch and run down the sideline to tie it up.
“Those big explosives were just incredible,” Brennan said. “He outran the whole secondary on the big one down the sideline. He’s awesome. He’s an awesome competitor, and he’s also not satisfied. He was like, ‘We can play better.’ That’s what you hope for.”
Arizona produced 627 total yards of offense and averaged 11 yards per play, with quarterback Noah Fifita throwing for 422 yards and transfer running backs Jacory Croskey-Merritt (New Mexico) and Quali Conley (San Jose State) combining for 196 rushing yards and four scores.
McMillan emerged as one of college football’s most dominant playmakers in 2023 with 90 catches for 1,402 yards (fifth most in the FBS) and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore on a Wildcats team that won 10 games and the Alamo Bowl.
After Jedd Fisch and his coaching staff left to take over at Washington in January, Fifita and McMillan opted to bypass the transfer portal and stay at Arizona. The former teammates at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, wanted to keep playing together and help Brennan construct a contender.
“Everybody in this building, the brotherhood we already had, the culture we had set in here, we just didn’t want to leave this building,” McMillan said. “The legacy that we already had began over here, we wanted to continue this legacy. At the end of the day, we came to Tucson to be program changers. Hopefully, Tucson, y’all can find pride in our play.”
