Over his last five seasons of football — that includes three years on varsity at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, and the 2022 and 2023 college seasons with the Arizona Wildcats — Tetairoa McMillan has scored exactly 50 touchdowns.
Noah Fifita has delivered 36 of those 50. That includes 33 of McMillan’s 34 touchdowns while they were high school teammates at Servite. It also now also includes three at the college level — two coming Saturday night in Arizona’s 31-24 loss to No. 7 Washington in Tucson, in Fifita’s first college start at quarterback in the wake of an ankle injury to Jayden de Laura.
Fifita completed 27 of 39 attempts for 232 yards, three touchdowns and one interception against the Huskies in his first full outing for Arizona.
Last season in mop-up duty, Fifita’s lone touchdown pass was to McMillan, meaning three of Fifita’s four college touchdown throws have been to his best friend and longtime top target.
Arizona coach Jedd Fisch heaped praise on both players after Saturday's loss.
Washington cornerback Elijah Jackson (25) can only watch as Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) leaps up to drag down a scoring catch late in the fourth quarter of their Pac 12 game at Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., September 30, 2023.
On Fifita: "The way he handled himself, no one would've ever known that was his first college start."
And regarding a banged-up McMillan, Fisch said: "I tried to pull him out five different times.
"He's tough as nails. He got one defensive holding, one (defensive pass interference), didn't flinch, kept going and made plays for us the whole game," Fisch added.
McMillan has a team-high 386 yards and UA-best 5 touchdowns on 27 catches through five games so far this season.
Washington’s 105-yard strong start a statistical twist
There’s starting strong — Washington has done that plenty this season — and there’s starting in a way that, while clearly not impossible, may just be beyond the usual comprehension of modern-day American college football norms.
Hyperbole aside, on the Huskies’ first drive Saturday night at Arizona Stadium, the Huskies racked up 105 combined yards of offense, rushing and passing, culminating with a 4-yard Dillon Johnson touchdown run with six minutes to go in the opening quarter.
Yes, 105 yards, on one drive.
No, the length of a U.S. high school, college or NFL field hasn’t increased past 100 yards (a tip of the cap due to the Canadian Football League, still home to the midfield 55-yard line).
How it happened isn’t all that wild, though.
Step one: the punting team pins its opponent deep. After an Arizona three-and-out to start the game, Kyle Ostendorp booted a 69-yard punt to set the Huskies up on their own 5-yard line.
Step two: The defense forces the offense into a penalty. Six plays into the ensuing 12-play scoring drive, after the Huskies had already moved from their own 5 to the UA 36-yard line, UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. completed a 27-yard pass to tailback Will Nixon. Nixon ended up at the Arizona 15-yard line. But a 10-yard holding play was assessed to the offense on the play. So 16 yards — the holding penalty was assessed from the spot of the foul — were counted on the statlines for both Penix and Nixon, and for Washington’s team offense.
The ball was placed on the 26-yard line, and Washington scored two plays later. It’s officially a 95-yard drive, but UW still somewhat uniquely managed 105 offensive yards.
Step three (and a not-so-good result for Arizona, to be sure): the offense scores, translating to an accumulation of greater than a football field’s worth of offensive yardage on one possession.
Arizona, Colorado on interestingly parallel paths as season nears midway point
Picture it: A still-fledgling Pac-12 team on the rise welcomes a conference and national power — one that may just end up in the conversation for a CFP bid — to town on Saturday, Sept. 30. The plucky upstart home squad falls behind relatively big early, only to chip away in the second half and ultimately cut the game to within a score before time ends up halting the host’s comeback bid.
Sounds like Arizona facing No. 7 Washington in Tucson?
Sounds like No. 8 USC at Colorado on Saturday, too.
While the conversation around Colorado so far this season has certainly been louder than what national scribes and pundits have had to say about Arizona — it’s been louder than just about any team, for that matter — Saturday’s outcomes have the Buffaloes and Wildcats seeming much more parallel than one might have assumed during the first weeks of the college football season, amid a loaded Pac-12 lineup in 2023.
On Saturday, Colorado fell behind early before a late comeback of sorts made it a one-score game with USC winning 48-41 in Boulder. Later that night, the Wildcats were downed 31-24 by the Huskies in Tucson — similarly falling behind early, only to inch back to a more-than-respectable one-score margin.
It might be surprising by any metric measuring national attention, but both are 3-2 overall on the year, and Arizona is ahead of Colorado in the Pac-12 standings at 1-1 (the Buffaloes are 0-2). And, considering that top-to-bottom depth in the Pac-12, it’s not impossible to think the two teams are on a collision course for their Nov. 11 scheduled meeting at Boulder’s Folsom Field.
Both are obviously eyeing six (or more) wins to get a bowl game for the first time in years. However, Arizona’s near-future path ahead of that Nov. 11 date in the Centennial State is a tad more daunting. The Wildcats are at No. 8 USC next week, then at No. 16 Washington State, then, after a bye, home against No. 19 Oregon State, with UCLA coming to Tucson as well in the first week of November.
UA head coach Jedd Fisch was plenty pleased with his team’s effort Saturday night against Washington, even in the loss. It’s not a stretch to think the Wildcats may continue to get better, but will still find stealing a win among that list of opponents tough to pull off.
The Buffaloes, whose two losses, to be entirely fair, are to No. 10 Oregon and No. 8 USC the last two weeks, have an upcoming schedule that certainly looks more direct than Arizona's for a couple of wins here or there. That's, at least, how it looks on paper. Before facing the Wildcats, Colorado is at ASU next week, then home against Stanford, at UCLA and home against the Beavers.
Elsewhere: Tucson’s Bourguet brothers both top 300 yards
For the second time this season (and second time in their respective college careers), Tucson’s Trenton and Treyson Bourguet started college games at quarterback on the same day.
Trenton, a 6-0 redshirt junior who prepped at Marana High School, made his second start of the season for ASU. He threw for 344 yards and one interception, but ran for a touchdown in the Sun Devils’ 24-21 loss at Cal. He caught a pass, too.
Treyson, a 6-2 redshirt freshman who played locally for Salpointe Catholic High School, also topped 300 yards on the day. At quarterback for Western Michigan, he went for 328 and three touchdowns in a 42-24 win over Ball State.
VIDEO: Arizona football coach Jedd Fisch postgame after Arizona's 31-34 loss to No. 7 Washington on Sept. 30, 2023 said quarterback Noah Fifita "was everything we expected him to be," adding that "the way he handled himself, no one would've ever known that was his first college start." Fisch added injured QB Jayden de Laura and RB Michael Wiley "are pushing very hard to come back." (Justin Spears/Arizona Daily Star)
VIDEO: Arizona football coach Jedd Fisch said postgame Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023 he tried to pull receiver Tetairoa McMillan from the game “about five different times” when McMillan was banged up, but T-Mac kept waving him off to stay in the game. “He’s tough as nails. … And he’s a fantastic football player.” McMillan had two touchdowns in the Wildcats' 31-24 loss to No. 7 Washington. (Justin Spears/Arizona Daily Star)
