BOULDER — A third of Colorado is covered by forest. The rest is covered by Travis Hunter.
So you can imagine the shock last November when Folsom Field got to see Arizona wideout Tetairoa McMillan up close for the first time. It was as if King Ghidorah turned right at Mt. Kurodake and decided to take a Flatirons vacation.
The Wildcats’ junior receiver reportedly runs a 4.5-second 40-yard dash with a 6-foot-5, 212-pound frame. Basically, covering McMillian is like trying to cover a harrier jet in mid-flight.
“We don’t want to give away the game plan, but we’re going to try our best,” Buffs coach Deion Sanders said of McMillan, whose Wildcats host CU on Saturday afternoon at Arizona Stadium. “I mean, a lot of people have tried their best, but the kid is phenomenal. He’s exceptional.”
He’s tall. Really, really, really tall. Which adds another layer of intrigue to the first Big 12 tussle between the Buffs and ‘Cats this weekend. Because McMillan’s also one of the few collegiate wideouts who’s ever given Hunter a lick of trouble.
The big receiver and his QB Noah Fifita unearthed in last year’s CU-UA tilt this teeny, tiny weakness in Hunter’s coverage at cornerback, one that hadn’t been exploited before, and hasn’t really been much of a factor since — height.
One of the joys of watching Hunter smother half the field is that he presumes that any ball in the air is his by right, and 99.8% of the time, he’s correct. That goes on offense (which is designed) and, more impressively, on defense (which isn’t).
At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, the Buffs’ Heisman Trophy contender is almost impossible to beat low. Or to his left. Or to his right. Or over his shoulder. Or much of anywhere.
But getting posted up next to a guy four inches taller and 30 pounds heavier is asking a lot, even for a lead-pipe-cinch top-five pick in the NFL draft.
Recognizing that, Fifita and McMillan worked up a new tactic to throw at Hunter last fall: the jump ball.
It didn’t always work. But one of the times it did happened about three minutes into the second half, with the Buffs clinging to a 24-17 lead.
On first-and-goal from the CU 2, Fifita took a shotgun snap, backpedaled into space, set himself and lofted a rainbow to the far, back left corner of the end zone. McMillan was drifting into the area, jostling with Hunter one-on-one.
The Arizona wideout used his left arm for separation, then jumped and stretched out his long right arm. In one smooth motion, McMillan cradled the ball at its highest point with his palm and curled it back into his body, securing possession before he could stumble out of bounds.
No writer in the Folsom press box had seen anybody make a catch like that in the end zone in front of Hunter before. And, to be fair, nobody’s really made one like it since. You better believe NFL scouts are going to be taking very careful, very detailed notes during the rematch.
Like Coach Prime said, McMillan is one of the best in the country at what he does, a matchup nightmare. The Wildcats wideout finished with 107 yards on nine grabs against CU that day, the first of four straight games in which he topped the century mark to close out the season.
“That’s why he’s one of the best in the country,” Sanders continued. “And has a quarterback (who’s) one of his best friends that’s going to find a way to get him that ball. It’s kind of like what Shedeur (Sanders) and Travis (do). So it’s going to be a task, man. But I’m pretty sure our guys will be up for it. The kid is exceptional.”
For all his natural gifts, Hunter is also a proud, studious technician with a crazy-high football IQ. It’s awfully hard to beat those guys the same way twice. Not that McMillan won’t try.
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