Arizona’s offense took a hit in Provo, and now the Wildcats are bracing for a stretch without the receiver who had become Noah Fifita’s favorite target.
Sophomore wideout Gio Richardson left early in the second quarter of Arizona’s 28-17 loss at BYU with what appeared to be a lower leg injury and never returned. On Monday, coach Brent Brennan offered a cautious update that made the outlook sound anything but short-term.
The 5-foot-10 receiver has a "lower extremity injury and is going to be out for a little bit," Brennan said at his weekly press conference.
That absence matters because Richardson had already become the breakout name in Arizona’s passing game. After finishing his freshman season strong in 2025, he entered the year as a popular candidate to take off and earned the starting slot role when the first depth chart came out in late August.
He backed that buzz in Week 1 against Northern Arizona, catching a team-high nine passes for 113 yards in Arizona’s 35-7 win. Against BYU, the challenge got much tougher, but Richardson still made himself central to the offense immediately, hauling in five catches in the early going and leaving with 48 receiving yards with more than 10 minutes left before halftime.
Once he was gone, Arizona’s offense lost a key outlet. The Wildcats did get a solid fill-in effort from Rodney Gallagher, who caught five passes for 26 yards, but the attack never found the same rhythm in the second half.
Gallagher figures to take on a bigger role while Richardson is sidelined, with Trey Spivey and tight end Cole Rusk also expected to absorb more of the workload. Still, there’s no way to minimize what Arizona is missing.
Even after sitting out most of the BYU game, Richardson still leads the team with 14 receptions and 161 receiving yards. No other Wildcat has more than seven catches or 61 yards.
Arizona has not put a firm timeline on Richardson’s return, but the expectation is he will miss Saturday’s home game against Northern Illinois and is unlikely to play at Washington State in Week 4.
Those are both games Arizona can still handle without him, but the schedule stiffens after that with Big 12 matchups against Cincinnati, West Virginia and Iowa State. The Wildcats will be hoping Richardson is back by the Halloween trip to Lubbock for a showdown with No. 13 Texas Tech, where his ability to attack soft spots in the Red Raiders’ defense could be important.
For now, the next man-up responsibility falls to Gallagher, Spivey and Rusk. Arizona hosts Northern Illinois on Saturday night at Casino Del Sol Stadium, with kickoff set for 7:30 PM MT on TNT.
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