One of West Virginia's main issues this season has been its lack of success in defending the pass.
This weekend, they will have a new type of challenge when they face Tetairoa McMillan. So far this season, he has 47 catches for 780 yards and four touchdowns after totaling 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns on 90 receptions last season.
"They’ve got a big-time receiver as talented as anybody we’ve played all year we have to have a plan for him," West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said.
Currently, West Virginia ranks second-to-last in pass defense among Big 12 teams, allowing over 250 yards per game through the air.
"Teams are paying a lot of attention to 4 (McMillian). And you have to, he’s probably going to be a top-10 pick at worst. He’s really, really talented," Brown said.
WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley says the 6-foot-5 frame on McMillian is not what makes him special but rather the little things he does within the game.
"Size, speed, the thing that sticks out to me is playing the position of receiver. Everybody thinks size and speed when you think about an elite receiver," Lesley said.
The little things such as how he uses his body, his awareness on the field as well as how he gets off the line of scrimmage is what makes him elite, according to Lesley.
"You watch it, body control, how they use their body, the route running when the route breaks down or the pocket breaks down, coming back, helping his quarterback. Those are things that elite receivers do. And the rest of those things, some of them have size, some of them don't, some of them have elite speed, some of them don't. But actually playing the position, just the fundamentals of playing receiver, I think he does as good as anybody I've seen in a while," Lesley said.
Brown said they are going to have to switch some things up on how they guard McMillian, and it will be different from how they've lined up against other offenses this season.
"We’d be foolish to try to play him like we have everybody else. Just because we’ve played good receivers, but this is in no means anybody like him. It’s been a while since we’ve played anybody like him. The kid at TCU, he was a first-round draft pick that was two years ago. Oklahoma had Mims, who was a good player. That’s the one off the top of my head, we have to for sure we’re not just going to line up and play one-on-one," Brown said.
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