Arizona's wide receivers have a big opportunity after Gio Richardson injury

Brent Brennan and the Arizona Wildcats head into Week 3 with a 1-1 record, after a disappointing second half led to a 28-17 loss at the hands of BYU last Saturday.

Arizona will now turn its attention to this weekend, when it will host a Northern Illinois team that is 0-2 after losing to FCS Illinois State in Week 2. The game is set to kick off at 7:30 PM MT and will air on TNT.

The Wildcats will be heavy favorites even without sophomore wide receiver Gio Richardson, who exited in the second quarter against BYU with a lower-body injury. Brennan revealed that Richardson will be "out for a little bit" during his press conference on Monday, a brutal blow after the slot receiver led Arizona with 14 catches and 161 yards prior to his injury.

Brennan discussed the rest of Arizona's wide receiver group, whether Richardson's absence could clear more playing time for star freshman Caleb 'Jet' Smith, and gave updates on recently eligible seniors Ismail Mahdi and Max Harris during Monday's presser:

On the wide receiver room

“I love that group. That group is deep. There’s talent there. The balance of running the football and throwing it effectively, I think there’s some plays to be made for some of those guys. And I think when we look back at how it went on Saturday, we know that we want to get the ball in the hands of Tre Spivey and Chris Hunter. I thought Rodney (Gallagher) went in there and made some good plays and did some good stuff in the slot. And (Brandon) Phelps made some good plays in that game, and we feel good about the depth in that room. So I’m excited to see those guys attack practice tomorrow. I’m excited to see what they do on Saturday.”

On if Richardson's injury means more snaps for freshman Caleb Smith

“For those young players that come in highly recruited, there’s always these massive expectations that they’re going to show up and they’re going to be Jerry Rice on day one, or whoever. And he’s doing great. He did a great job back there returning punts. He had a nice kick return, and he’s going to keep building more reps into that thing. It is unfair, in my opinion, to throw a freshman out there and say ‘go do it.’ The game is moving fast. Now, Jet’s fast, so that helps. But the game moves fast, and there’s a lot more scheme, and there’s side adjusts and coverage variation and way more volume and all that stuff. And so I think Bobby (Wade) is doing a great job with this process of developing those young players and how their role is going to continue to grow.”

On having RB Ismail Mahdi and LB Max Harris back

“The best part about Max and Izzy coming back to this team is the human beings that they are, and how much the team loves them, and how much their energy, their practice habits, the juice they bring to this football team is like such high value to me, and so we’re glad they’re here. And obviously, their roles are going to increase as we go.”

On if Ismail Mahdi will play in Week 3

“We’re going to see how that plays out in practice this week. That group is deep, and we feel really good about Ked and Q and Wesley and Antwan. I know that we’re going to need all those guys. I know the physicality and the nature of that position, the amount of hits those guys take. And really with how involved Ked and Quincy are also in special teams and the impact they’re having there. So we’re going to need all those guys to play and how the rotation works out, we’ll develop that as we go this week.”

On the offensive line performance vs. BYU

“I think the first thing that I need to remind myself is that we were playing a good football team. The first half—I felt like that was a tale of two halves—which is our ability to effectively run the football. We ran for 100 yards in the first half, effectively really did a great job moving the football in the first half, and then there were some things that stalled drives in a second. Some of those penalties were timely and costly for us, and that put us really deep behind the chains and made some of that stuff a little bit different. But I got faith in that group. I got faith in Coach O(glesby). I believe that they’ll come back this weekend and attack the work, and I think we’re going to like how they look on Saturday evening.”

On the progress of the new look secondary

“You got to see Daylen (Austin) play a little bit the other night. I think we’ve gotten good reps from all those safeties back there. I think Malcolm (Hartzog) continues to show up with some physicality. I think Gavin (Hunter) did some really good stuff in that game. Jay’Vion Cole’s a good player, and (Dwight) Bootle played his tail off. He got beat on a couple plays, but with what we do, he’s on an island out there. That’s kind of how it’s built a little bit. But he played his tail off, and I know he’s disappointed about slipping one of those plays. But like I’m encouraged by all those guys."

Add us as a preferred source on Google