Arizona scored the most points of any Big 12 program in its first game representing the conference, largely behind the Noah Fifita-Tetairoa McMillan connection that has staked an early claim as one of the best in the nation.
Arizona’s 61-39 victory over New Mexico in Brent Brennan’s first game as head coach on Saturday at Arizona Stadium includes at least 15 performances that topped all others in the Big 12 after the first week.
The 61 points are the most for an Arizona coach in his first game, topping the 57 points scored in Warren Woodson’s debut in 1952 in a 57-7 win over Hawaii at home. The next highest was 40 points in a 40-7 win for Bob Winslow in his first game in 1949.
Some of the most notable among Arizona’s performances that topped others in the Big 12 are the two interceptions recorded by Treydan Stukes and Genesis Smith, 304 receiving yards and four touchdowns by McMillan, three rushing touchdowns by Quali Conley and the longest field goal made of 54 yards by Tyler Loop.
A couple of dubious marks: Most penalty yards of 100 (tied with TCU in its game with Stanford) and highest average rushing yards per attempt by an opponent of 5.5 yards by New Mexico.
“In terms of the film versus New Mexico, that’s put to bed; we’re all about NAU now,” Brennan said, referring to the Wildcats’ game with NAU on Saturday at Arizona Stadium at 7 p.m. “We can fix those errors. We had some correction work in practice. Now it’s all about the next opponent. We don’t have time to look backwards. You have to look forward.”
ARIZONA TOP STATISTICAL PERFORMANCES COMPARED TO OTHER BIG 12 SCHOOLS
POINTS: 61 vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
TOUCHDOWNS: 8 vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS/PLAY: 11.0 vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
PASSING YARDS/ATTEMPT: 13.6 vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
YARDS PER CATCH: 22.2 vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
LONGEST FIELD GOAL: 54 (Tyler Loop) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
INTERCEPTIONS: 2 Arizona (Treydan Stukes & Genesis Smith) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024), tied with Arizona State vs Wyoming (08/31/2024) and UCF vs New Hampshire (08/29/2024)
PENALTIES YARDS: 100 vs New Mexico (08/31/2024), tied with TCU at Stanford (08/30/2024)
OPPONENT YARDS PER RUSH: 5.5 vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
POINTS SCORED
24 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
18 Quali Conley (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
18 Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma St.) vs South Dakota St. (08/31/2024)
18 Brant Kuithe (Utah) vs Southern Utah (08/29/2024)
18 Travis Hunter (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
TOUCHDOWNS
4 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
3 Quali Conley (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
3 Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma St.) vs South Dakota St. (08/31/2024)
3 Brant Kuithe (Utah) vs Southern Utah (08/29/2024)
3 Travis Hunter (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
TOTAL OFFENSIVE YARDS
462 Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024) [17r,445p]
432 Noah Fifita (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024) [10r,422p]
RUSHING TDs
3 Quali Conley (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
3 Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma St.) vs South Dakota St. (08/31/2024)
PASSING YARDS
445 Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
422 Noah Fifita (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
Brennan’s favorite play involving McMillan in the game with New Mexico: “I thought the one where he ran away, came across the field and ran from the whole secondary. It’s great to see him kind of explode and accelerate and finish that way. That’s hard to get to those kind of plays in practice, just like simulating a game. That’s what I like the most. I like when they score.”
RECEIVING YARDS
304 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024) MOST IN THE NATION
198 Jimmy Horn Jr. (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
RECEPTIONS
11 Savion Williams (TCU) at Stanford (08/30/2024)
10 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
10 Josh Kelly (Texas Tech) vs Abilene Christian (08/31/2024)
YARDS PER CATCH
176 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024) [10-304]
110 Dijon Stanley (Utah) vs Southern Utah (08/29/2024) [3-150]
RECEIVING TDS
4 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024) MOST IN THE NATION
3 Brant Kuithe (Utah) vs Southern Utah (08/29/2024)
3 Travis Hunter (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
LONGEST RECEPTION
79 Dijon Stanley (Utah) vs Southern Utah (08/29/2024)
78 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
FIELD GOALS MADE
3 Logan Ward (Oklahoma St.) vs South Dakota St. (08/31/2024)
2 Tyler Loop (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
2 Ian Hershey (Arizona St.) vs Wyoming (08/31/2024)
2 Gino Garcia (Texas Tech) vs Abilene Christian (08/31/2024)
2 Chris Tennant (Kansas St.) vs UT Martin (08/31/2024)
2 Will Ferrin (BYU) vs Southern Ill. (08/31/2024)
2 Michael Hayes II (West Virginia) vs Penn St. (08/31/2024)
2 Kyle Lemmermann (TCU) at Stanford (08/30/2024)
2 Colton Boomer (UCF) vs New Hampshire (08/29/2024)
LONGEST FIELD GOAL
54 Tyler Loop (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
52 Logan Ward (Oklahoma St.) vs South Dakota St. (08/31/2024)
KICK RETURN YARDS
165 Drae McCray (Texas Tech) vs Abilene Christian (08/31/2024)
104 Jeremiah Patterson (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
INTERCEPTIONS
1 Treydan Stukes (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
1 Genesis Smith (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
1 Zyrus Fiaseu (Arizona St.) vs Wyoming (08/31/2024)
1 Keyshaun Elliott (Arizona St.) vs Wyoming (08/31/2024)
1 Keaton Thomas (Baylor) vs Tarleton St. (08/31/2024)
1 A.J. Haulcy (Houston) vs UNLV (08/31/2024)
1 Jakob Robinson (BYU) vs Southern Ill. (08/31/2024)
1 Beau Freyler (Iowa St.) vs North Dakota (08/31/2024)
1 Korie Black (Oklahoma St.) vs South Dakota St. (08/31/2024)
1 Tymon Mitchell (TCU) at Stanford (08/30/2024)
1 Mello Dotson (Kansas) vs Lindenwood (08/29/2024)
1 Deshawn Pace (UCF) vs New Hampshire (08/29/2024)
1 Antione Jackson (UCF) vs New Hampshire (08/29/2024)
1 Elijah Davis (Utah) vs Southern Utah (08/29/2024)
ALL-PURPOSE YARDS
304 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
198 Jimmy Horn Jr. (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
100-YARD RUSHING PERFORMANCES
153 Tahj Brooks (Texas Tech) vs Abilene Christian (08/31/2024)
142 RJ Harvey (UCF) vs New Hampshire (08/29/2024)
126 Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma St.) vs South Dakota St. (08/31/2024)
124 DJ Giddens (Kansas St.) vs UT Martin (08/31/2024)
112 Devin Neal (Kansas) vs Lindenwood (08/29/2024)
106 Jacory Croskey-Merritt (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
105 Evan Pryor (Cincinnati) vs Towson (08/31/2024)
400-YARD PASSING PERFORMANCES
445 Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
422 Noah Fifita (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
300-YARD PASSING PERFORMANCES
445 Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
422 Noah Fifita (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
383 Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati) vs Towson (08/31/2024)
378 Behren Morton (Texas Tech) vs Abilene Christian (08/31/2024)
353 Josh Hoover (TCU) at Stanford (08/30/2024)
348 Jake Retzlaff (BYU) vs Southern Ill. (08/31/2024)
NUMBER OF 300-YARD PASSING PERFORMANCES
1 Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
1 Noah Fifita, Arizona
1 Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati
1 Behren Morton, Texas Tech
1 Josh Hoover, TCU
1 Jake Retzlaff, BYU
200-YARD RECEIVING PERFORMANCES
304 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
100-YARD RECEIVING PERFORMANCES
304 Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) vs New Mexico (08/31/2024)
198 Jimmy Horn Jr. (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
156 Josh Kelly (Texas Tech) vs Abilene Christian (08/31/2024)
150 Dijon Stanley (Utah) vs Southern Utah (08/29/2024)
139 Jack Bech (TCU) at Stanford (08/30/2024)
135 Jaylin Noel (Iowa St.) vs North Dakota (08/31/2024)
132 Travis Hunter (Colorado) vs North Dakota St. (08/29/2024)
111 Luke Grimm (Kansas) vs Lindenwood (08/29/2024)
108 Chase Roberts (BYU) vs Southern Ill. (08/31/2024)
107 JP Richardson (TCU) at Stanford (08/30/2024)
101 Xzavier Henderson (Cincinnati) vs Towson (08/31/2024)
NUMBER OF 100-YARD RECEIVING PERFORMANCES
1 Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona
1 Jimmy Horn Jr., Colorado
1 Josh Kelly, Texas Tech
1 Dijon Stanley, Utah
1 Jack Bech, TCU
1 Jaylin Noel, Iowa St.
1 Travis Hunter, Colorado
1 Luke Grimm, Kansas
1 Chase Roberts, BYU
1 JP Richardson, TCU
1 Xzavier Henderson, Cincinnati
Recommended for you
