⚡ CFB Dashboard

Arizona defeated NAU in the season opener and although the Wildcats made mistakes, Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege believes the game also serves as a learning tool. "On some of the stuff that happened on Saturday, you don't want it to happen, but at the same time it's like going through fall camp," Doege said. "You don't want summer or fall camp to be perfect because if it's perfect, where do you grow? "There's some things that happened on Saturday that obviously bug me. I can't sleep because of it and it's stuff that we address every single day. But now you know why we address it so hard. Now you know why we demand it." Antwan Roberts and Gio Richardson both lost fumbles to NAU and those mistakes make it easier for Doege and the coaching staff to get their point across. "Sometimes a guy like Gio or Antwan where the ball security is a premium at that position, we talk about the back door when you're running with the football because Danny had these defensive coaches do such a good job now with the punch outs," Doege said. "It didn't used to be like that, so now the ball security with the back door and pressure points and all that stuff, why do we demand it so hard? For reasons like that. "I know Gio was hurt when he fumbled. I know Antwan was hurt when he fumbled. Gio didn't go into the game thinking he was going to fumble. He went into the game trying to make a play. "Now, when he was running with the football did it get loose and did he have the back door open? Absolutely. That's why we rep it. It affirms the drill you do every day and why I'm constantly on them. Sometimes they get tired of hearing me and it's almost boring, but it matters. It's probably the most important drill we do every day." Arizona's offense looked like it would cruise throughout Saturday's game, but it did not play very well in the second half. "I thought we played really efficient in the first half," Doege said. "We had four drives and if we don't fumble, we have 28 points. I thought we were doing a good job of staying balanced and getting those guys (running backs) reps and getting those guys opportunities. "In the second half we started slow and I am not quite sure why to be honest with you. I thought we had a couple guys wanting to do their own thing instead of being detailed and disciplined on those first couple of drives because we were calling plays that we're very, very good at and against our defense we're very efficient at. "We made mistakes I have never seen us make early in the game and maybe that's because it's game one. Game one jitters or 'I have to 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 an opportunity to run the football and catch the football." Sawyer Anderson saw the first action of his career and threw an interception on his first pass, but was able to settle in and finish the game well. "Welcome to playing quarterback," Doege said. "You have to 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 that the faces. "I was proud of Sawyer. Obviously it wasn't a play that he or I wanted him to make. It's a learning opportunity for him. What he did do a great job of is he got into a rhythm and started making some plays. He made a really, really nice third down throw to Isaiah Mizell that was tough because he had to climb in the pocket and deliver a tight ball. There was some stuff he did really well afterward, so I was excited to see him respond well. "Now it's just talking to him about being able to learn through those situations. Part of being a quarterback is being able to manage the expectations that everybody else has for you. Everybody is going to judge that one play as like his ceiling almost. The 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, but he learned from it. I liked the way he responded and that's. Valuable moment for him too as long as he handles it the right way."