Tetairoa McMillan set a program single-game record for receiving yards with 304 on 10 catches, Noah Fifita impressed and No. 21 Arizona started the Brent Brennan and Big 12 era with a 61-39 over New Mexico in its season opener at Arizona Stadium Saturday.
McMillan came 10 yards from the Big 12 record of 314 yards set by Baylor’s Terrance Williams against West Virginia in 2012.
McMillan’s four receiving touchdowns tied a school record set by Jacob Cowing last season against USC. Jeremy McDaniel held the previous school record for receiving yards in a game with 283 yards in 1996.
Brennan says he’s never seen a receiving performance like the one McMillan put on on Saturday. The closest would be when Brennan was an assistant at Oregon State coaching Brandin Cooks.
“Not like that. Similar,” Brennan said. “I think we had one close to that with Brandin Cooks at Oregon State, but T Mac’s obviously special. He’s just something else.”
Fifita and McMillan connected on three of their four touchdowns in the first half, including a 69-yard touchdown pass on the game’s opening possession.
“I think if people were listening to my interviews all offseason, they probably thought I was being over dramatic, but I think he came in and proved my point perfectly,” Fifita said. “He’s the best player in the country, and his statistics show that.”
Noah Fifita on how great McMillan is and Quali isConley gives praise to the O-line. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/5fIUwRhXQG
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) September 1, 2024
While Arizona (1-0) had 627 total yards on offense and had no trouble generating points, with Fifita completing 19 of 31 passes for 422 yards, with four touchdowns and an interception, the defense had issues containing New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier for most of the evening. Dampier completed 24 of 42 passes for 260 yards with three touchdowns and ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
Brennan equated the lack of live football reps in training camp to the defense’s shortcomings in the first half. The Lobos entered the game on Saturday with a 35-31 loss to FCS school Montana State in their season opener on Aug. 24 under their belt.
“I think the hardest thing to do during training camp is to play live football and to tackle live because you’re just concerned about losing good players and not getting them to the game,” he said. “I think that part of it is a hard part of it. I thought they settled down really nice in the second half and forced a couple turnovers.”
Brennan gave credit to Dampier and New Mexico as a whole.
“He’s super athletic and strong. He can throw on the run. So that’s going to be a handful for anyone to contend with, and I thought he did a good job. I thought New Mexico played well,” Brennan said.
Brent Brennan talks about McMillan’s historic night and gives credit to New Mexico. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/pVHJIfnQ3Y
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) September 1, 2024
After trading scores with Arizona on every possession, New Mexico (0-2) took its first lead of the game at 24-17 with 4:51 to go in the first half before Fifita threw a 78-yard touchdown pass to McMillan, and Tyler Loop hit a 46-yard field goal to give Arizona a 27-24 lead at the half.
A 51-yard rushing touchdown up the middle from Quali Conley on the opening drive of the third quarter stretched Arizona’s lead to 34-24, and a 40-yard touchdown pass on the next possession from Fifita to McMillan extended the lead to 41-24. Dampier scored a 7-yard rushing touchdown with 8:02 remaining in the third quarter to trim Arizona’s lead to 41-31, but it was the closest the Lobos would get.
Conley scored the next two touchdowns for Arizona — a 1-yard run and a 23-yard — to push its lead to 55-31. A 9-yard TD pass from Dampier to Caleb Medford and the two-point conversion that followed trimmed Arizona’s lead to 55-39 with under 5 minutes remaining before Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored a 36-yard rushing touchdown.
A bulk of Arizona’s 205 total rushing yards came in the second half, with only 28 yards coming on nine carries for the Wildcats in the first half.
Brennan said the coaches made adjustments at halftime, resulting in the run game having more success in the second half.
“It was awesome,” he said of the 177 second-half rushing yards. “I was excited about how those guys ran the ball and how they blocked up front.”
Arizona had nine penalties, including two personal fouls on Tacario Davis, who was ejected in the fourth quarter.
“We need to eliminate the selfish penalties because that extended two drives, maybe three. So, we’ve got some learning to do, and I think that’s good because this team wants to be good,” Brennan said. “They’ve worked their butts off so far. So, they’ll be serious about getting that fixed.”
Brennan on second half adjustments in running game and eliminating selfish penalties. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/M9jPaNhjnF
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) September 1, 2024
Treydan Stukes and Genesis Smith had interceptions for the Wildcats.
Croskey-Merritt had 106 yards on 13 carries and one touchdown.
Conley had 90 yards on 10 carries and three touchdowns.
Arizona plays Northern Arizona on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Arizona Stadium.
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