Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan kicked off his highly-anticipated junior season with a record-breaking 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 Wildcats' 61-39 win over visiting New Mexico.
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound wide receiver posted the first 300-yard performance by a college receiver since Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 347 receiving yards against Utah in the 2022 Rose Bowl. Only five other FBS receivers have topped 300 yards in the past decade.
In Arizona's first game as a Big 12 member, McMillan recorded 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 his fifth touchdown 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,” said Arizona coach Brent Brennan, who is in his first year in the league. “He's just out of the ordinary.”
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 past four months I've been working hard and ready to get back on the court,” he said. “Being able to play with my brothers again is a real blessing. Regardless of the records, I'm just happy to be back on the court with my brothers.”
New Mexico kept pace with the Wildcats throughout the first half and took a 24-17 lead late in the second quarter. Three plays later, McMillan torched the Lobos with a 78-yard reception and raced down the sideline to tie the game.
“Those big explosives were unbelievable,” Brennan said. “He outran the entire secondary on the big play down the sideline. It's unbelievable. He's a great competitor and he's not satisfied either. He was like, 'We can play better.' That's what you expect.”
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 touchdowns.
McMillan emerged as one of college football's most dominant players in 2023 with 90 receptions 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 Washington in January, Fifita and McMillan opted to bypass the transfer portal and stay in Arizona. The former teammates from Servite High School in Anaheim, California, wanted to continue playing together and help Brennan build a contending team.
“Everyone in this building, the brotherhood that we already had, the culture that we had established here, we just didn't want to leave this building,” McMillan said. “The legacy that we already had started here, we wanted to continue that legacy. At the end of the day, we came to Tucson to turn the program around. Hopefully, Tucson, you all can be proud of our game.”
