Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMilan has been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for his performance this past weekend against Colorado.
McMillan caught five passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. He also threw an 11-yard pass to Jayden de Laura on a trick play early in the game. Statistically, it was the best game in the former five-star recruit's first college season, and he now has 16 catches for 290 yards receiving and three receiving touchdowns.
"T-Mac is improving every week," Jedd Fisch said. "I expect a better game out of him this week than last week. When it comes to being a true freshman and starting and playing 65 plays in a game, you have to start building up that callus and being able to just get better and get stronger and getting tougher. He's doing all of those three things."
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His previous career highs came in the loss to Mississippi State earlier this season. McMillan caught four passes for 69 yards in that matchup. He is currently averaging 18.1 yards per catch and 58 yards receiving per game.
The 6-foot-5 pass catcher was part of a wide receiver trio alongside Jacob Cowing and Dorian Singer that combined for 433 yards receiving on 26 receptions with a touchdown each against the Buffaloes.
Grant Gunnell was the last Arizona player to win this award when he won it for his performance against UCLA in 2019.
Fisch also touched on McMillan's improvement as a blocker.
"We used them on a critical third-and-3 where we ran a quarterback sweep play where he blocked the defensive end and did a really nice job," Fisch said. "I think you saw some blocking downfield still needs to get better with his run blocking and pass blocking."
McMillan is now the fourth Arizona player to win a weekly award from the Pac-12 this season joining quarterback Jayden de Laura (offensive) and edge rushers Jalen Harris (defensive line) and Hunter Echols (defensive line) who each earned honors earlier in the season.
The Wildcats are going to need McMillan and the whole offense to continue to step up as they begin the toughest stretch of the season. Arizona has five straight games against the five currently-ranked teams in the Pac-12 beginning with No. 12 Oregon this Saturday at Arizona Stadium.
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