Cold take: Tetairoa McMillan is one of the top wide receivers in college football — and the Arizona junior made his case with a school-record 304 yards and four touchdowns on 10 catches in the Wildcats’ win over New Mexico last week.
McMillan garnered several weekly honors following his record-setting performance, including Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, Associated Press National Player of the Week and Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week.
Arizona tight end Keyan Burnett (88) has a pat on the hat for teammate Tetairoa McMillan (4) after McMillan's fourth touchdown of the night against New Mexico on Aug. 31 at Arizona Stadium.
The Lobos often had McMillan in single-coverage, which the Wildcats — and McMillan — aren’t expecting to repeat this season, which could open up more opportunities for other receivers. No. 20-ranked Arizona will look to get other receivers involved on Saturday, when the Wildcats host their FCS in-state counterpart Northern Arizona at Arizona Stadium.
Following McMillan’s historic night, his longtime best friend and quarterback Noah Fifita shouldered accountability for not distributing passes to other receivers. McMillan was targeted 15 times against New Mexico. The other seven Wildcats who recorded a catch last week were targeted a combined 13 times, with running back Quali Conley catching three passes for 29 yards.
“We have many options at the receiver position as well as the tight end position,” Fifita said last week. “I take full responsibility for that, not spreading the ball around enough. Obviously T-Mac was hot so being able to feed him was enough to get the victory. But moving on, I gotta do a much better job building chemistry and making sure the receivers know I trust them and making sure they trust me. I take full responsibility for that one.”
Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said, “For us to be effective as we want to, we have to have more distribution with the football.”
“Noah knows that, our offensive staff knows that,” Brennan said. “It’s just a matter of him going through his progressions and finding the right place to go with the ball, but those opportunities presented itself with T-Mac on Saturday night, so he took advantage of it.”
But sometimes, as defensive back Treydan Stukes put it, “T-Mac just happened to be himself and go for a lot of yards, but we have a lot of guys that can have games like that.”
Arizona junior tight end Keyan Burnett, in an elevated role this season, made a nifty 27-yard grab near the sideline and kept his feet in bounds in the first half for his only reception on Saturday.
Junior college transfer Jeremiah Patterson, who Stukes called a “high-level threat in the slot,” was among Arizona’s top receivers in training camp and emerged as a starter alongside McMillan and “savvy veteran” Montana Lemonious-Craig, who had one reception for 6 yards. Patterson added four kick returns for 104 yards (26 yards per return). Patterson also trained at punt returner this season, albeit Tennessee transfer defensive back Jack Luttrell and wide receiver Rex Haynes were the only punt returners against New Mexico.
“Toughness” is what led the shifty Patterson to starter status, said Arizona receivers coach Bobby Wade.
“He showed that on Saturday as well,” said Wade. “He’s very dynamic. He made the first two guys miss when he touched the football. I’m really pleased with how he performed. We would like to get him more opportunities, and that will come throughout the season.”
Other emerging receivers this season include sophomore Malachi Riley, redshirt sophomore and New Orleans native Chris Hunter and Devin Hyatt, the younger brother of New York Giants wideout Jalin Hyatt, a past winner of the Biletnikoff Award at Tennessee. The younger Hyatt dropped his first target, which was intercepted by the Lobos on Saturday — Fifita’s only pick of the night.
Wade chalked it up to “growing pains” for Hyatt, the redshirt freshman from Florida, who played his first snaps at the UA last week.
New Mexico safety Bryson Taylor (13) defends against Arizona wide receiver Malachi Riley during the Wildcats' season-opening victory over the Lobos on Aug. 31 in Tucson.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that haven’t played a lot of football. I don’t put a lot on that,” Wade said. “It’s a dropped ball. It’s unfortunate the ball got picked at the end of that — and I think Dev took that personally. ... There’s no need for me to stress that and push that on him.
“It’s more about me putting my arm around him and letting him know that it happens. I dropped my very first bomb in the same stadium for a touchdown, so I know what that feels like to get through it. It sucks. He’s going to take it personally. ... I expect him to be a better player this week.”
The Wildcats, five-touchdown favorites on Saturday, could find their complementary pass-catching playmakers in a tune-up game before Arizona treks to Manhattan, Kansas, next Friday to face No. 17 Kansas State.
“When a guy has a record-breaking performance like that, other guys really need to step up, because you know what’s coming next,” said Wade.
“The challenge is there and I think the boys are ready for that.”
Arizona defensive back Marquis Groves-Killebrew (20) tries to track down wide receiver Jeremiah Patterson (2) while he runs his route during a fall preseason practice at the Dick Tomey Practice Fields on Aug. 7. Five UA wideouts and tight ends not named Tetairoa McMillan accounted for five catches (one apiece) for 63 yards in the Wildcats' season-opening win over New Mexico on Aug. 31.
