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Two things I was totally not expecting to see at Arizona Stadium on Saturday night:
- The Arizona Wildcats giving up 39 points to New Mexico
- New Mexico trying to defend Tetairoa McMillan with a lot of single coverage
The first point could be the more important, enduring topic for the rest of Arizona’s season, which began safely enough – but not without drama – with a 61-39 victory over the Lobos in the program’s first game under head coach Brent Brennan and as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
But we’re spending most of our time here to talk about the second point because it helped lead to a night that nobody who watches Arizona football has ever seen: Ten catches for a school-record 304 yards and four touchdowns.
“T-Mac is obviously special. He’s something else,” Brennan said.
“The yards after catch, those big explosives, were just incredible. … He’s awesome. He’s an awesome competitor. And he’s also not satisfied. He’s like, ‘We can play better.’ So, that’s what you hope for.”
Arizona’s 2024 season is the Year of Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan, so it was only fitting that on only the third snap of the season, Fifita threw deep to a wide-open McMillan for an easy 69-yard touchdown. And we do mean wide-open. The cornerback fell down. Poor fella did not have safety help over the top.
That, somehow, was a similar theme for the rest of the night.
The 6-foot-5 McMillan mostly lined up outside, but the coaches also put him in the slot and into motion at times. And the Lobos – perhaps intent of not having a repeat of the 362 rushing yards allowed in their season-opening home loss to FCS opponent Montana State – almost never provided extra help in coverage, keeping their core personnel in the box.
“Very surprised, but also very happy,” Fifita said of New Mexico’s coverage plan. “Every time they single him, it’s a good day.”
For the record, Lobos coach Bronco Mendenhall said this in the Albuquerque Journal about McMillan: “They did a really nice job moving him around. We didn’t have answers – not effective answers. And when we did, we didn’t execute them well enough.”
There was one play in which McMillan was lined up in the right slot without a defensive back over him. New Mexico tried to drop its left defensive end into coverage against McMillan, who quickly gained separation and would have been open for another long touchdown … alas, Fifita was under pressure and had to scramble for a first down instead.
To be clear: There was only one man in Arizona Stadium on Saturday night who could have effectively covered T-Mac, and that was C-Mac. And UA honorary captain Chris McAlister would have needed to hop into a time machine and go back 26 years to when he was the best cornerback the Wildcats ever had.
McMillan video highlights
Let’s pause for this video break of the four TDs in order:
McMillan: A unicorn in an Arizona uniform
Hey, wait. I wrote that story last year. And it’s more true in 2024.
I mean, you watched the game, right? And you just watched those four TD plays of 69, 17, 78 and 40 yards, yes? Not shown: a 31-yard gain in which he was pulled down at the 1.
T-Mac highlighted his first two years at Arizona with one-handed catches, leaping grabs, a massive catch radius, long speed, strong hands that snared everything — in traffic, on the run, and especially in the end zone.
On Saturday night, statisticians credited him with a ridiculous 176 yards after the catch, flashing nifty moves to avoid tackles and the ability to accelerate past defensive backs and leave them in his dust.
“He’s been saying that he’s more explosive as a joke, but it showed. It rang true tonight,” Fifita said. “The speed and the athleticism, and he even looks more comfortable after the catch. … It’s going to be extremely fun to watch.”
Extremely.
At some point, defenses will play a different version of “pick your poison” against McMillan and Arizona’s elite offense. The Wildcats will have to target and get winning performances from other receivers, as well as a promising tight end room, when McMillan gets covered by more than just one guy. We’ll see how that develops.
For now, it’s wild to think that in just one game, McMillan is already No. 2 in the Big 12 record books for most receiving yards in a game.
So, to sum it:
T-Mac.
He’s him.
That dude.
Maybe there was a tiny bit of room for discussion before Saturday night, but not now. He’s the best receiver ever to wear an Arizona uniform.
Top photo: Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan celebrates a touchdown during the first quarter against New Mexico. (Photo by Aryanna Frank-USA TODAY Sports)
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