Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan started his highly anticipated junior season with a record-setting night.

The player, who was named an All-American in the preseason and is expected to be selected in the first round of the draft, set a new school record with 304 receiving yards and four touchdowns on ten catches in the No. 21 Wildcats’ 61-39 victory over visiting New Mexico.

The 6’5″, 215-pound wide receiver became the first college receiver to reach 300 yards since Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 347 receiving yards against Utah in the 2022 Rose Bowl. Only five other FBS receivers have managed more than 300 yards in the last decade.

In Arizona’s first game as a member of the Big 12, McMillan recorded the second-most receiving yards in a game in conference history. His previous career high was a 266-yard game against rival Arizona State last season.

McMillan scored on plays of 69, 17, 78 and 40 yards and nearly caught a fifth touchdown, but was tackled at the 1-yard line. More than half of his receiving yards (176) came after the catch.

“T-Mac is obviously special, man,” said Arizona’s new coach Brent Brennan. “He’s just special.”

McMillan missed some time during the offseason while recovering from a lower leg injury sustained in spring training and said it was a “great” feeling to be back in action.

“I’ve been working hard for the last four months and I was ready to get back on the field,” he said. “To be able to play with my brothers again is just a real blessing. Regardless of the records, I’m just happy to be back on the field with my brothers.”

New Mexico kept up with the Wildcats throughout the first half and took a 24-17 lead late in the second quarter. Three plays later, McMillan outran the Lobos with a 78-yard catch and ran down the sideline to tie the score.

“Those big explosives were just unbelievable,” Brennan said. “He outran the whole secondary on that big shot down the sideline. He’s great. He’s a great competitor, and he’s not satisfied. He said, ‘We can play better.’ That’s what you hope for.”

Arizona totaled 627 yards on offense and averaged 11 yards per play, with quarterback Noah Fifita throwing for 422 yards and transfer running backs Jacory Croskey-Merritt (New Mexico) and Quali Conley (San Jose State) combining for 196 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

McMillan developed into one of the most dominant playmakers in college football in 2023 with 90 catches for 1,402 yards (fifth-most in the FBS) and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore on a Wildcats team that won 10 games and the Alamo Bowl.

After Jedd Fisch and his coaching staff moved to Washington in January, Fifita and McMillan decided to bypass the transfer and stay in Arizona. The former teammates at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, wanted to continue playing together and help Brennan build a contender.

“Everyone in this building, the brotherhood that we already had, the culture that we had established here, we just didn’t want to leave this building,” McMillan said. “The legacy that we already had started here, we wanted to continue that legacy. Ultimately, we came to Tucson to be program changers. Hopefully, Tucson, you can all be proud of our play.”