There was probably some uneasiness at halftime when Arizona fans looked up to the scoreboard Saturday night to see the No. 21-ranked Wildcats only ahead of New Mexico by three points.

UA went into the game as a heavy four-touchdown favorite but the results left something to be desired as Brent Brennan made his debut as the new head coach in Tucson.

The Arizona defense struggled to find ways to stop Devon Dampier and the UNM offensive attack, and the deep running back group seemed to be underutilized.

About the only thing going right at the time was the play of star receiver Tetairoa McMillan. The junior had six catches for 208 yards receiving and three touchdowns by the end of the first 30 minutes helping the Wildcats head to the locker room with a slim lead.

That was part of what ended up as a record-breaking performance for the UA star as he eventually finished the game with 10 catches and four touchdowns plus a new single-game school record with 304 yards receiving.

"T-Mac is obviously special, man. He's just something else. ... Those big explosives were just incredible," Brennan said when asked what stood out about the performance from McMillan, who had 176 yards after the catch in Saturday's win. "Outran the whole secondary on the big one down the sideline. He’s an awesome competitor, and he’s also not satisfied. We can play better. It’s what you hope for.”

Back to the original conversation, however. Arizona is going to need more than just record-breaking performances from McMillan to accomplish its goals this season. The Wildcats' ground game was slow to start in Saturday's opener.

There wasn't much dedication to the running game from offensive coordinator Dino Babers with only nine attempts and 28 yards in the first half. That's simply too few carries for a group that includes some explosive playmakers.

Adjustments were made at halftime, and it didn't take long for the Wildcats to begin to see just what the offense could look like at full tilt.