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TUCSON — For a half Saturday, it appeared Arizona wasn’t quite ready for the Big 12 Conference as the Wildcats struggled against New Mexico in the debut of coach Brent Brennan.
Before the night was over, however, the Wildcats demonstrated that the offensive firepower of sophomore quarterback Noah Fifita and junior wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan would be all that the team’s new conference could handle as the Wildcats gave Brennan his first victory at the helm.
With a handful of NFL scouts in attendance, McMillan — affectionately known to his teammates and UA football fans as “T-Mac” – hauled in 10 passes for a school-record 304 yards, scoring four touchdowns as the Wildcats trounced the Lobos, 61-39.
The performance earned McMillan Big-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors in the school’s first game as a part of the conference. He also was named Associated Press national player of the week.
Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) of the Arizona Wildcats runs during the second half against the New Mexico Lobos at Arizona Stadium on Aug. 31, 2024, in Tucson.
There was reason to believe that Arizona might enter the Big 12 without its two star players after coach Jedd Fisch’s exit to Washington after last season.
Instead, Fifita and McMillan decided to stay after Brennan came over from San Jose State, and the Wildcats were ranked fifth in the Big 12 preseason media poll. Utah, another former Pac-12 team, was ranked first in the poll.
UA’s students and fans came out in numbers with 44,748 in attendance to celebrate the move to the Big 12.
“I thought our fans were great, the ZonaZoo was rocking. They stayed for almost the whole game,” Brennan said. “We need the city of Tucson to rally for this team so that we can counter the home-field advantages that we’re gonna play when we get into the Big 12.”
After…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arizona-wildcats-national-player-week-022344259.html
Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic
Publish date : 2024-09-05 02:23:44
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