Anthony Miller (3) slips a tackle against USF on Saturday. Miller broke Super Bowl champion Isaac Bruce’s single-season receiving record of 1,054 yards against the Bulls. After his 10-catch, 153-yard performance on Saturday, Miller now has 1,077 yards through 10 games, and he only needs eight catches over the next three games (which includes a bowl game) to break Bruce’s single-season receptions record of 74.
Although the University of Memphis was unable to rally and defeat the visiting USF Bulls over the weekend, Tigers’ star receiver Anthony Miller had a special night.
The junior from Memphis, who has 67 catches for 1,077 yards and eight touchdowns so far this year, broke NFL Super Bowl champion and possible future Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce’s record for single-season receiving yards and became only the second player in program history to ever record 1,000 receiving yards in one season.
What is more impressive is that Miller broke the record in only 10 games. Miller, who caught 10 passes for a game-high 153 yards and one touchdown, broke the record via a 57-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Riley Ferguson. Miller now has four consecutive games with 100-plus yards and three games with 10-plus receptions.
The fascinating thing about Miller, who was recently named to the Biletnikoff Award shortlist – given annually to the nation’s top wide receiver, is where the star receiver came from. Miller was not a ranked recruit on any of the national recruiting sites and was picked up from Christian Brothers High School as a football and track and field star.
While at CBHS, Miller finished his prep career as the school’s all-time leading receiver with 1,779 yards and 14 career touchdowns. He was selected as a two-time Commercial Appeal Best of Preps, and also holds school records in the long jump, triple jump, 300m hurdles and 110m hurdles.
When he arrived at the U of M in 2013, he redshirted his freshman year and was selected as the Glenn Jones Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year Award. A preseason injury in 2014 prevented him from seeing game action.
During his redshirt sophomore campaign, Miller saw action everywhere on the field, finishing second on the team with 881 all-purpose yards and tied for third on the team in scoring with 42 points. His breakout game was in a home win over Cincinnati after he hauled in five catches for a season-high 156 yards and an 82-yard touchdown catch, his first collegiate score.
His second 100-yard receiving game was his 10 catch, 132-yard performance in the upset win againsttop-25 ranked Ole Miss. Miller finished the 2015 season as the squad’s third-leading receiver with 47 receptions and second in yards with 694. He also grabbed a team-high five touchdown passes and scored two rushing touchdowns. Coming into his junior year, Miller was widely considered Memphis’ top playmaker on the offensive side of the ball.
He kicked off the 2016 campaign with a nine catch, 103-yard effort in the home opener against Southeast Missouri State. Since then, he’s had six 100-yard games, including 12 receptions, 250 yards and two touchdowns in the 59-30 loss to Tulsa, and is averaging 16.1 yards per catch.
The star receiver has also added 10 carries for 76 yards and one touchdown. The U of M has fielded some great receivers in recent history, such as Bruce and Duke Calhoun.
While it is unclear if Miller will choose to go pro after this year, if he chooses to stay for his senior year, he has the chance to go down as, arguably, the greatest receiver in program history.
