Brent Brennan Shares if Arizona's Star Wide Receiver Has Expressed Frustrations
If things are going to happen for Arizona this season, it needs to occur this weekend.
Since their upset against the 14th-ranked Utah Utes on Sept. 28, things have gone completely off the rails for the Wildcats with them entering Saturday as losers of three straight games where they have been shockingly outscored by a total of 103-48.
The offense has been putrid and the defense has gotten banged up, a recipe for disaster that is playing out exactly in that fashion.
Arizona looks like a completely different team than they were last year, something that is alarming with the roster largely having the same star players from last season when they won 10 games.
A notable change is the lack of production from their star quarterback and wide receiver duo, Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan.
Coming off a campaign where Fifita threw for 2,869 yards and 25 touchdowns, he's taken a huge step back with 1,774 passing yards, nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions through seven games that has dramatically hurt this team throughout the year.
Similarly, McMillan has seen his numbers dip.
Lined up opposite of current NFL player Jacob Cowing in 2023-24, the projected first-round pick caught 90 balls for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns.
McMillan was being discussed as someone who would leave Tucson as the Wildcats all-time leader in every reception category, and after his incredible opening performance where he had 10 receptions for 304 yards and four touchdowns, the superstar has caught only 37 balls for 476 yards without getting in the end zone a single time in the six games since.
That averages out to 6.2 receptions and 79.3 yards per contest, something that is dramatically lower than what it should be considering how poorly this Arizona offense has operated.
When asked if McMillan has expressed frustrations over the lack of usage he's recently had, head coach Brent Brennan shared some intersting information.
"T-Mac is not a complainer at all. That's not his nature. He is a team-first guy all the time," he said per Michael Lev of The Arizona Daily Star.
That comes on the heels of McMillan's body language on the sideline being critiqued during this tough stretch where critics have said he appears disengaged and checked out.
Brennan is saying the star wide receiver is not causing locker room issues by voicing frustration regarding his production, but one could also wonder if the Wildcats' coaching staff might need a bit of pushback from McMillan so they can make him the true focal point of the offense again.
After his 10-catch performance in the opener that was followed up by a dud against Northern Arizona where he was defensively schemed out of the game, Arizona made it a point of emphasis to get other targets involved.
While that certainly is smart in theory, they also can't ignore the fact that McMillan is the best player on this team and will help them win games the more he is a factor in their passing attack.
Hopefully things change this Saturday against West Virginia.
