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 Draft Scout College Football Player News: Arizona
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  WEEK 1 AP NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona,...McMillan, an AP first-team preseason All-American, set the school record with 304 yards receiving and tied another with four touchdown catches in the Wildcats' 61-39 win over New Mexico. It was the first 300-yard receiving game in the Bowl Subdivision since Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba amassed 347 against Utah in the 2022 Rose Bowl.

The 6-foot-5, 212-pound third-year player from Waimanalo, Hawaii, averaged 30.4 yards on his 10 catches and in the third quarter surpassed the previous school record of 283 yards by Jeremy McDaniel in 1996. McMillan matched Jacob Cowing's touchdown catches record set against Southern California last season. It was McMillan's fifth straight 100-yard receiving game and eighth of his career. He had touchdown catches of 69, 17 and 78 yards in the first half and a 40-yarder early in the third quarter. - AP College Football


Jr/2026 WR Tetairoa McMillanArizona
News Source: AP College Football
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  WEEK 1 BIG 12 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan's performance against New Mexico broke school records and made FBS history with 10 catches for 304 yards and four touchdowns. He became the first player in FBS history to have a game with 10-plus receptions, 300-plus receiving yards, 30-plus yards per reception and four-plus receiving touchdowns. His 304 receiving yards were the second most in Big 12 history and his quartet of touchdowns tied for the third most ever in the conference. - Big 12 Football

Jr/2026 WR Tetairoa McMillanArizona
News Source: Big 12 Football
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  New Mexico had a plan in place to slow Tetairoa McMillan, one that included multiple coverages against Arizona's All-American receiver. The Lobos lost track of McMillan on Arizona's opening drive, leading to a big play, and couldn't corral him no matter what they tried. McMillan had a school-record 304 yards receiving and matched another with four touchdown catches - all from Noah Fifita - and No. 21 Arizona opened coach Brent Brennan's first season with a 61-39 win over New Mexico on Saturday night. "We tried man, man with help, zone pressures," New Mexico coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "They did a very good job of moving him around and we didn't do a very good job stopping him." The Wildcats (1-0) put on an offensive show in their first game as a Big 12 member, with McMillan and Fifita headlining.

Arizona's stars connected on a 69-yard touchdown on the Wildcats' opening drive and kept gouging New Mexico's defense for big chunks. McMillan averaged 30.4 yards on 10 catches and broke the Arizona single-game record of 283 yards receiving set by Jeremy McDaniel in 1996. McMillan matched Jacob Cowing's touchdown catches record set against Southern California last season and fell 10 yards short of the Big 12 record set by Baylor's Terrance Williams in 2012. Fifita finished with 422 yards and four touchdowns on 19-of-31 passing with an interception. Quali Conley ran for 90 yards and three touchdowns to round out an Arizona offense that racked up 627 total yards. "I like the way we rallied in the second half and thought we played good team football," Brennan said. "That's the rhythm that we need, complementing each other as we play." The Lobos (0-2) opened Mendenhall's first season by blowing a 17-point lead in a 35-31 loss to Montana last week. - AP College Football


Jr/2026 WR Tetairoa McMillanArizona
News Source: AP College Football
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  2023 PAC-12 OFFENSIVE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Noah Fifita, Arizona,...Fifita becomes that 2nd Arizona player to lock in the Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year since the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award was split into the Offensive and Defensive awards prior to the 2009 season...RB J.J. Taylor split the award with Stanford OL Walker Little in 2017...Arizona WR Mike Thomas shared the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Award with Oregon State OG Jeremy Perry in 2005...LB Colin Schooler is the lone Wildcat to win Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year back in 2017...6-2 as the team's starting quarterback, leading the team on a 6-game win streak to end the regular season...It's the longest win streak for Arizona since 1998...Arizona is 9-3 this season, their most wins since going 10-4 in 2014.

4th in FBS with a 73.6 completion percentage this season, tops among freshmen QB nationally...Looking to become the 1st quarterback in school history to complete over 70% of their passes in a season (minimum 100 attempts)...The current Arizona record is 69.1% by Nick Foles in 2011 (387-of-560)...23 pass TD this season is tied for the most of any FBS freshman (USF's Byrum Brown)...It's tied for the 7th most in Arizona single-season history and 2nd most by a Wildcat freshman (Anu Solomon with 28 in 2014). - Pac-12 Football


rSo/2027 QB Noah FifitaArizona
News Source: Pac-12 Football
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  Former five-star linebacker Justin Flowe's career at Oregon was derailed by injuries. 'That's all in the past,' he says. 'All I can do now is focus on the future.' When Justin Flowe officially became a college football player in 2020, many thought by this point he'd be preparing for the NFL draft. Currently, the only thing connecting Flowe and the NFL is the league's shield logo tattooed on his right hand. But that could change if everything goes according to plan in the linebacker's new chapter with the Arizona Wildcats. Flowe's Plan A? The Upland, California, native, who played in Snoop Dogg's youth football league as a kid and developed the moniker "Baby Man," signed with the Oregon Ducks as a five-star prospect and top-ranked inside linebacker nationally.

Plan A was slowed down by a sequence of knee and foot injuries in Flowe's first two seasons at Oregon before he finished with a career-high 35 tackles in 2022, including four in Tucson against the UA. But Flowe clamored for a change of scenery and entered the transfer portal with hopes that Plan B could lead to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell saying Flowe's name at the draft podium. "I just see it as adversity," Flowe said. "Adversity happens to everybody, so (it's about) the way you get through it. I'm just planning now to thrive this year and be the best I can be. "That's all in the past. All I can do now is focus on the future." - Arizona Star News


rJr/2026 ILB Justin FloweArizona
News Source: Arizona Star News
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  In an alternate reality, Arizona tackle Jordan Morgan would be in Indianapolis right now, participating in the NFL scouting combine. Morgan, the freakishly athletic lineman from Marana High School, had a breakout season in 2022. He had an invitation to the Senior Bowl. That typically leads to an invite to the combine. But in this reality, it wasn't meant to be. Morgan tore the ACL in his right knee on Nov. 12 at UCLA. He had surgery 18 days later. The injury changed the course of his life. Or at least altered the schedule. So there Morgan was Friday afternoon, sitting on a couch in the media room at Arizona Stadium, still wearing the UA red and blue. Nearly four months removed from the injury, Morgan has accepted his fate and embraced the challenge that lies ahead: Getting back to - or even surpassing - the level of play he had reached previously.

If he does so, he'll be in Indy at this time next year. Wildcats coach Jedd Fisch said Morgan had a chance to be a first-round draft pick if he hadn't gotten hurt. That goal is still within his grasp. It's just delayed. "That's a dream of mine," Morgan said. "Staying another year, I know the process. I know what to do right. I know what's wrong. It'll be smoother sailing now." Which isn't to say any of it will be easy. The average recovery time from a torn ACL is about nine months. Arizona's season opener is Sept. 2 - nine months and two days from Morgan's surgery. "He's doing phenomenal in his rehab," said Fisch, whose team opens spring practice March 14. "Right now it looks like he's scheduled to, if everything goes right, be able to play opening day. Now, that would be everything going right. "If not, you're looking at one week at a time after that. But he's running. He's out of the water, onto land. So that's a great sign." - Arizona Star News


rSr/2024 OG Jordan MorganArizona
News Source: Arizona Star News
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  What might T-Mac 2.0 look like? "I feel like he's ready to take over college football this year," Jayden de Laura said. Whoa. That's a lot to put on a sophomore who's been out of high school a little over a year. Then again, there's reason to believe a Tetairoa McMillan Takeover might be coming. McMillan was good as a freshman for Arizona; check that, very good. He made multiple Freshman All-American teams. His 702 receiving yards were the most by any true freshman in the nation and the most ever by a Wildcat freshman. His eight touchdown receptions tied for second most in the Pac-12 - with Jordan Addison and Dalton Kincaid, who are about to be high NFL draft picks.

In short, McMillan lived up to the hype that made him a high four-star recruit - some had him as a five-star - coming out of Southern California's Servite High School. But what if I told you that McMillan has another gear? What if I told you that the 6-5 wide receiver is now among the fastest players on the UA roster? "When I first got here, I was running 18 miles per hour," McMillan said Friday during a media event to preview spring practice, which begins March 14. "Now I'm running 22." - Arizona Star News


Jr/2026 WR Tetairoa McMillanArizona
News Source: Arizona Star News
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  Prioritizing offense led Arizona to make a pretty substantial jump from the inaugural season of the Jedd Fisch era to this past season. The additions of quarterback Jayden de Laura, wide receiver Jacob Cowing and tight end Tanner McLachlan through the transfer portal - coupled with star receiver Tetairoa McMillan (the highest-rated high school signee in UA history) and offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea from the high school ranks - catapulted the Wildcats from the No. 71-ranked passing offense in FBS to the sixth best, averaging 318.4 yards per game.

All of the aforementioned players, along with other standouts such as left tackle Jordan Morgan - whom Fisch dubbed a "first-round draft pick" during his National Signing Day news conference - and running back Michael Wiley, are all returning for the 2023 season with hopes of leading the Wildcats to a bowl game for the first time in six years. - Arizona Star News


rSr/2024 OG Jordan MorganArizona
News Source: Arizona Star News
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  The post-playoff exodus continues at Michigan, where a second edge rusher has signaled plans to transfer today. Defensive end Taylor Upshaw entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal on Tuesday, a team spokesman confirmed to MLive on Tuesday. Upshaw, who appeared in 36 games over five seasons, is a graduate student with a year of eligibility remaining. Upshaw has not yet announced the move, but it's not totally unexpected given his backup role in 2022. He has two career starts (none this year) and never seemed to crack a starting spot in Michigan's revamped defense the past two seasons.

This year, with Michigan going 13-1 and winning its second straight Big Ten title, the 6-foot-4, 255-pound Upshaw tallied 12 tackles (4 1/2 for a loss), two sacks and an interception as a backup edge rusher. His highlight of the season came Nov. 26 against Ohio State, when he notched his first career interception in the win over the Buckeyes. Upshaw follows fellow edge rusher Julius Welschof, who entered the portal earlier Tuesday. He is the eighth Michigan player total to enter the portal since the end of the regular season, allowing him the opportunity to get a jump-start on finding a new place to play in 2023. - Ann Arbor News


rSr/2024 DE Taylor UpshawArizona
News Source: Ann Arbor News
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  Tackle Jordan Morgan, one of the top offensive linemen in the Pac-12, is expected to return to Arizona next season. Morgan seemed destined to enter the 2023 NFL draft amid a stellar '22 campaign before suffering a season-ending knee injury at UCLA on Nov. 12. Morgan elected to go the latter route. Assuming his injury was a torn ACL, he faces a lengthy rehab. But if he's able to recover in time for the season, he'll solidify Arizona's line as quarterback Jayden de Laura's blind-side protector. - Arizona Star News

rSr/2024 OG Jordan MorganArizona
News Source: Arizona Star News
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  Arizona's leading touchdown scorer is coming back for another season. Tailback Michael Wiley, who has led the Wildcats in TDs each of the past two seasons, announced via Instagram on Friday that he's returning in 2023. Wiley rushed for a career-and team-high 771 yards this season while also catching 36 passes for 349 yards. His 1,120 yards from scrimmage rank fifth in the Pac-12 entering bowl season. Wiley scored a team-high 11 touchdowns (eight rushing, three receiving), giving him 17 over the past two years.

Wiley finished this past season with a career-best 214 rushing yards and three touchdowns against Arizona State, earning MVP honors in Arizona's Territorial Cup victory. Wiley has appeared in 39 games for the Wildcats over four seasons. He has rushed for 1,401 yards and 13 touchdowns while catching 95 passes for 844 yards and seven scores. - Tucson.com


rSr/2024 RB Michael WileyArizona
News Source: Tucson.com
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  2022 ALL-PAC-12 CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION: WR Jacob Cowing, Jr.,...Cowing was second on the team with 1,034 receiving yards, marking the seventh-most in a single season in Arizona history. He was second on the team and in the Pac-12 with seven receiving touchdowns. In just his first season, he led the Pac-12 in receptions (85), was fourth in receiving yards (1,034), and fifth in yards per game (86.2) in the conference. - Arizona Football

rSr/2024 WR Jacob CowingArizona
News Source: Arizona Football
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  2022 ALL-PAC-12 CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION: RB Michael Wiley, Jr.,...Wiley earned his first All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention honor after rushing for a career-high 771 yards on a career-high 113 carries for a career-high eight touchdowns. He rushed for the second-most yards in the Territorial Cup (214) and tied for the most rushing touchdowns with three in the game. Wiley became the first Arizona running back to rush for over 700 yards since JJ Taylor (721) in 2019. - Arizona Football

rSr/2024 RB Michael WileyArizona
News Source: Arizona Football
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  2022 ALL-PAC-12 CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION: OL Jonah Savaiinaea, Fr.,...Savaiinaea led all freshman in blocking on the offensive line. Started all 12 games and posted the second-best rating on the team (63.4) following 741 snaps. In just his first season, he created time for the offense to lead the nation in explosive play percentage. - Arizona Football

Jr/2026 OG Jonah SavaiinaeaArizona
News Source: Arizona Football
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  2022 ALL-PAC-12 CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION: OL Jordan Morgan, Jr.,...Morgan helped guide an offensive line that set the tone for the 22nd nationally-ranked offense, averaging 461.9 yards per game and 30.8 points per game. Arizona's passing offense was one of the most prolific in the nation, sitting 8th in the country while passing for 318.4 yards per matchup. Morgan was the top-rated blocker on the Wildcats with an 82.8 offensive rating per Pro Football Focus. He played in 10 games and appeared on 670 total snaps while allowing one sack. - Arizona Football

rSr/2024 OG Jordan MorganArizona
News Source: Arizona Football
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