Arizona receiver Tre Spivey to miss rest of season with broken foot

Arizona senior receiver Tre Spivey suffered a broken foot on the Wildcats' final possession of the first half in Saturday's 34-7 win over Cincinnati. 

Spivey, who watched the final two quarters of Arizona's win over Cincinnati in a walking boot and crutch, is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Arizona head coach Brent Brennan confirmed Spivey’s season-ending injury on Monday.

“We love Tre and he’s been an awesome addition since coming over here a couple of years ago,” Brennan said. “He’s obviously an important part to what we do offensively. We want to support him every way we can. It’s really that simple. He’s one of us, he’s our brother. How can we support him on this new journey and help him get everything he needs in his process, because those things are hard?”

Brennan said it’s the same foot injury former Arizona star receiver Tetairoa McMillan suffered in the spring of 2024, which sidelined him for the entire summer.

“We have some history with it,” Brennan said.

The 6-4, 215-pound Spivey leads the Wildcats with 22 catches for 314 yards and four touchdowns this season. The fourth-year receiver had a career-high 129 yards on seven catches and two touchdowns last week against Washington State. 

Spivey wasn't the only injury at wide receiver for Arizona on Saturday. The entire starting trio exited with leg injuries. 

Chris Hunter exited the game with an undisclosed leg injury, but wore a sleeve on his left knee. Giovanni Richardson, who missed the last two games with a leg injury, returned to the starting lineup on Saturday, but left after the Wildcats’ opening drive. The severity of Hunter and Richardson’s injuries is unknown.

The injuries are "one of those things you can’t plan for,” said Brennan. 

“I feel for those young men that got banged up tonight, because they’re such big parts of our team,” Brennan said. “But we also know that all season, we’ve been talking about the depth in our receiver room and that’s going to be super, super critical now as we move forward. Those young players are ready to play. … The next part of our process is tailoring the scheme to what they do best.”

Arizona’s starting receiving trio in the second half was third-year receiver Brandon Phelps, freshman R.J. Mosley and sophomore Isaiah Mizell, who had four catches for a career-high 67 yards. 

Arizona played nine receivers on Saturday: Spivey, Hunter, Richardson, Phelps, Mizell, Mosley, Caleb "Jet" Smith, Rodney Gallagher III and DJ Jordan. 

“Something we talked about throughout the week is being prepared and knowing the plays,” said Phelps, who had a 24-yard touchdown against Cincinnati. “There wasn’t any shock. (Arizona wide receivers coach Bobby Wade) came in and said, ‘We’re going to do exactly what we’re going to do and there’s going to be no humps.’

"We went out there and scored right at the (start of the) second half. We’re all prepared and ready to go and it’s a next-man-up mentality.”

The Wildcats (4-1) turn to their second Big 12 road game of the season against West Virginia (3-2) in Morgantown Saturday at 9 a.m. on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max.