‘Tough-ass kid’ Gio Richardson shakes off fumble for breakout performance

Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege said in the summer, “Gio is kind of a prick and I love that about him.”

That was in reference to a moment in training camp when Doege yelled at Richardson to catch a ball.

Richardson reminded Doege that they’re aware they need to catch the ball and Arizona’s receivers don’t chirp at their offensive play-caller to call a play if a play blows up.

So, when Richardson fumbled on Arizona’s second drive of the season, in the Wildcats’ season-opening win over Northern Arizona on Saturday, he didn’t need a reminder of his mistake.

“Just take accountability for it,” Richardson said. “I fumbled it, it is what it is, so I just gotta brush it off and go play the game i know. Have fun and play football.”

NAU cornerback Jahaad Fort, who punched out the ball and recovered it at the NAU 10-yard line, was out of bounds before he punched the football. Richardson isn’t using Fort being out of bounds as an excuse.

“Had the ball out a little bit, gave him an opportunity to do it,” Richardson said. “It is what it is. I fumbled it. Can’t go back and change it. Just keep moving forward and play football.”

Ball security and vicing the ball is an essential component to Arizona’s offense, because “these defensive coaches do a good job with the punch-outs,” Doege said.

“Even in the NFL, they’re elite at it,” he added. “It didn’t used to be like that. Ball security with the backdoor and the pressure points- why do we demand it so hard? For those reasons. I know Gio was hurt when he fumbled. I know (running back Antwan Roberts) was hurt when he fumbled. Gio didn’t go into the game thinking, ‘I’m going to fumble.’ He went into the game to try and make a play.

“As he’s running with the football, did he get loose and did he have the backdoor open? Absolutely. That’s why we rep it. It affirms the drills you do every day. … Sometimes they get tired of hearing me and it’s boring, everyday drill. But it’s probably the most important drill we do every day.”

Doege also gave the second-year receiver some grace, “because if it’s perfect, where do you grow?” As often said with Arizona’s “redline” mantra: own it, fix it.

“There were some things that happened on Saturday that bugged me and I can’t sleep because of it,” Doege said. “It’s stuff we address every single day. But now you know why we address it so hard. Now you know why we demand it.”

Richardson bounced back from the fumble and finished the night with eight receptions on eight targets with 96 yards — 81 yards after catch. When Richardson has the ball in his hands, he’s got tunnel vision for six points.

“Get to the end zone,” Richardson said. “Catch the ball and get to the end zone.”

Just before Roberts’ 14-yard rushing touchdown, Richardson caught three straight passes for 36 yards.

“‘You like when we feed you like that?’” Brennan told Richardson, according to the UA receiver. “I could hardly breathe, to be honest. I shook my head and got some water.”

Brennan called Richardson “a stud” and a “tough-ass kid,” so the ability to mentally shake the turnover and lead the Wildcats in receiving “doesn’t surprise me at all.”

“I think that was a really good lesson for him,” Brennan added. “The ball got knocked out from behind on a play that broke wide open and that’s something he’s got to be aware of. It’s not the one you can see, it’s the one you can’t. That’s what happened on that play. It’s a great lesson for him as a young player. For him to come back and attack it the way he did and play at the level he’s capable of playing at — I just expect that thing to accelerate for Gio. He’s going to be a great player.”

Over the last three-plus seasons, Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita’s top receiver has worn the No. 4 jersey, worn by Tetairoa McMillan and Kris Hutson. In training camp and the early stages of this season, Fifita’s top pass catcher dons the No. 5 jersey. But don’t tell Jayden Daniels’ representation.

The connection between Fifita and Richardson, a second-year receiver and Chandler Basha product, “just started growing over time,” especially towards the second half of the 2025 season, when Richardson played more meaningful snaps as a first-year receiver. Richardson was on the receiving end of Fifita’s touchdown pass against Cincinnati, which put him ahead of quarterback Nick Foles for most career passing touchdowns by a Wildcat.

“Me playing more towards the end, him finding me started to pick up,” Richardson said. “It took off from there. I’ll say we’re on the same page. If I mess something up or if he messes something up, we come back and say the exact same thing to each other. It’s just a great relationship we have on and off the field.”

As the Wildcats turn their attention to the highly anticipated matchup with 15th-ranked BYU, ball security is a point of emphasis this week. Arizona averaged one turnover last season. The Wildcats had three against NAU.

“We put the ball on the ground too much,” Doege said. “I want to see us clean that up. To me, that’s a choice, too. We can rep it. We can do a million ball-security drills every single day, but we also have to have the mentality and the belief and the choice to take care of the football. That’s going to be a big deal this week, that we choose to play the game the right way and take care of the football the right way.”

‘Welcome to playing quarterback’

One of Arizona’s turnovers against NAU was a pick-six thrown by backup quarterback Sawyer Anderson, who won the QB2 battle in training camp.

Anderson’s first-ever pass attempt as a college quarterback was a lobbed screen attempt that was intercepted by NAU safety Noble Young-Blackgoat, who returned it for a 36-yard touchdown, the only points scored by the Lumberjacks.

The second-year quarterback from Dallas completed 5 of 8 passes for 52 yards and had 16 rushing yards. Anderson’s slithery pocket mobility, which gave him the edge in the backup quarterback battle in training camp, was on display in his first time playing for the Wildcats. Anderson “climbed in the pocket and delivered a tight ball” for 17 yards to wide receiver Isaiah Mizell on third-and-11.

A pick-six as the first attempt would spook a lot of people. Not Anderson.

“Welcome to playing quarterback,” Doege said. “You gotta be able to respond quickly if you want to play at a high level. I think that’s one thing Noah does really well, he responds quickly through any type of adversity he faces. I’m proud of Sawyer. It wasn’t a play he or I wanted him to make, but it’s a learning opportunity for him. But what he did do a great job of was getting into a rhythm and started making some plays.”

Added Doege: “This dude has put in a ton of work, he’s really tough and he’s a really good football player. He made a poor decision and he learned from it. … That’s a valuable moment for him, too, as long as he handles it the right way.”

Extra points

— Doege, on Arizona’s two three-and-out drives at the start of the third quarter: “I thought we had a couple of guys want to do their own thing instead of being detailed and disciplined in those first couple of drives (in the second half). … We made mistakes I never seen us make. Maybe it’s because it’s Game. Game 1 jitters, Game 1 ‘I gotta do something special, because I need the ball.’ That kind of thing. I thought we did a great job of getting everybody a touch and getting them an opportunity to run the football and catch the football.”

— Doege, on BYU’s defense: “They’re really good. They’re big, they’re fast, they’re strong and they have a lot of experience coming back. … I’m really impressed by their linebacker corps. That transfer from Cal (Cade Uluave) is a ball-playing dude and plays the game the right way. … Across the board, they’re just solid. They play the game the right way. … They play with relentless pursuit and they play the game the right way and that’s why they have one of the better defenses in the country. They’re really good at what they do. It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re excited about playing them.”

— Arizona received the 29th-most votes (33) in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for Week 2. After the last-second clock debacle in Michigan’s controversial 13-12 win over Western Michigan, the Wolverines dropped from No. 16 to out of the AP Top 25 and had the 28th-most votes (69). Four teams from the Big 12 ranked this week: No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 15 BYU, No. 20 Utah and No. 22 Houston.