MORGANTOWN — Neal Brown said he’s faced a lot of wide receivers as West Virginia University’s football coach — a lot of good ones, too.
Yet the challenge the Mountaineers face Saturday in Arizona junior wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is something completely different
“We’ve played good receivers,” Brown said this week. “This is in no means a negative toward anybody we’ve played. We haven’t played anybody like him.“
McMillan’s combination of size, speed and skill will give a struggling WVU secondary all it can handle when the Mountaineers (3-4, 2-2 Big 12) visit the Wildcats (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) at 7 p.m. (FS1).
McMillan hasn’t been able to hide from anybody this season, and only part of that has to do with his 6-foot-5 frame. His accolade list is just as long. He finished last season as an All-Pac 12 second-teamer and on multiple All-American lists as a second- and third-teamer. He entered this season as a preseason first-team All-American for Phil Steele, Walter Camp, Athlon Sports and the Associated Press.
He has started the season strong, ranking sixth in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 780 receiving yards. In the Wildcat’s season opener against New Mexico, he established career bests in yards (304) and touchdowns (four) in a game. It’s just that, since that game, he has yet to return to the end zone.
Arizona struggled to find him in the passing game in last week’s loss to Colorado, where he caught five passes for just 38 yards. Wildcats coach Brent Brennan told reporters this week that Arizona’s offense has to reestablish McMillan as a prime target.
“I think, number one, we have to find a way to get him the football better,” he said. “The other part of that is he was getting doubled a lot the whole game, so that’s complicated when they’re going to do that to him. We have to be creative with our scheme that way in terms of how do we give him a chance to get away from that double.”
If Arizona was hoping to see fewer double-teams Saturday against WVU, Brown essentially dashed those hopes earlier this week.
“I think we’d be foolish if we tried to play him exactly like we’ve played everyone else,” Brown said. “We’re not just going to line up and play one-on-one.”
WVU’s defense can’t afford to employ that strategy, based on its statistics so far this season. The Mountaineers rank 110th in the FBS in passing yards allowed per game (254.3). They rank 126th nationally in pass efficiency defense (127.62). Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson finished with a career-high 298 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in KSU’s win over WVU last week.
WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said it’s not just the major attributes that stand out for McMillan. His nuances in the role are excellent as well.
“I think that he plays the position of receiver at an elite level,” Lesley said. “It’s all the little things. It’s route running, it’s coming back to the ball, it’s catching the ball, it’s body control. It’s using his body depending on the route.
“He’s as good as anybody in the country,” he added, “as good as anybody we’ll see.”
The last thing WVU wants to be is the team that allows McMillan — considered a first-round pick on many major mock draft boards — to rekindle his scoring ability. The Mountaineers also figure the junior will see plenty of targets Saturday. He has finished with double-digit catches in two of Arizona’s seven games and finished with eight catches in another.
West Virginia is hopeful that starting corner Ayden Garnes will return this week after sitting out the Kansas State game with an injury. Lesley figures McMillan’s name will be called plenty Saturday. He just doesn’t want to hear it too much for the Mountaineers to handle.
“You’re not just going to take one guy like that out of the game,” Lesley said. “You do the best you can.”
— Story by Derek Redd
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