Arizona confident fill-in receivers will be 'just as productive' as injured starters

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Arizona will be shorthanded once again this week. 

When the Wildcats take on West Virginia Saturday morning, Arizona will be without four offensive starters — wide receivers Tre Spivey, Chris Hunter and Giovanni Richardson and tight end Cole Rusk — who are all out for injuries. 

One of them is done for the rest of the season. Arizona leading receiver Tre Spivey suffered a season-ending foot injury in the final seconds of the first half of Arizona's 34-7 win over Cincinnati. 

“We love Tre and he’s been an awesome addition since coming over here a couple of years ago,” said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. “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. It's an injury that requires surgery. 

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

The 6-4, 215-pound Spivey, who has a year of eligibility remaining after this season, 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, Richardson and Hunter were all injured in the first half against Cincinnati. Richardson, Hunter and Rusk are all expected to return at some point this season. The Wildcats enter a bye week next week.  

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

The entire offseason, Brennan and wide receivers coach Bobby Wade said the Wildcats have “eight to 10” reliable receivers that can play at any given moment. Well, that depth is

Arizona's depth at wide receiver “is going to be super, super critical now as we move forward,” Brennan said.

“Those young players are ready to play,” Brennan said. “The next part of our process is tailoring the scheme to what they do best.”

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

Even though Phelps, Mizell, Smith, Mosley and Gallagher, among others, are expected to have elevated roles this week, Doege said he's not shaking up the offensive game plan too much despite not having four starters — all pass catchers — available. 

“I didn't stay up here all night thinking, ‘Oh, we can't do this, we can't do that,’ ” Doege said. “I'm going to let those guys prove that they can do it, because I have full faith and I believe in them. We have some real skill on the outside and some real speed. Letting those guys play and play free and understand that our quarterback, our unit and our coaches believe in those guys. Next-man-up mentality.” 

Doege is “confident in the guys that can play,” he said. 

Mizell, who has 13 catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns, “has put a lot on tape so far and has made some big-time plays,” Doege said. Mizell, an Orlando native, has the third-most receiving yards at Arizona this season behind Spivey and Richardson. 

Phelps “is playing at a high level” and breaking out as a big-body slot receiver and outside threat, “so he'll continue that role,” Doege said. The 6-3, 207-pound Phelps has eight catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns this season. 

“Something we talked about throughout the week is being prepared and knowing the plays,” Phelps said after the Cincinnati game. 

Mosley, Arizona's highest-rated signee for 2026, “had a great camp and keeps getting better and better,” Doege said. The 6-3, 197-pound Mosley high-pointed several passes, “Mossed” defenders and made multiple acrobatic catches in training camp. 

“He's a big ol' dude and he's fast,” Doege said of Mosley. “He'll be hard to cover as well. We have a talented unit and somebody will step up and fill the void.”

Mosley and Smith, who's a slot receiver and one of the top punt returners in the Big 12, give Arizona a promising tandem at receiver for the next few years. 

Fortunately for Arizona, West Virginia has the seventh-worst defense in college football and just allowed 577 yards of total offense to Iowa State, which is second-to-last in the Big 12 in total yards of offense. The Mountaineers are surrendering an average of 456.6 yards per game this season; Arizona's offense is posting just over 451 yards per contest. 

Earlier this week, West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley said, “I think we’re the worst defense in college football, so it’s pretty simple to say it ain’t (expletive) worked.”

Replacing three starters at wide receiver will be a tall task this week, but Arizona's coaches and quarterback Noah Fifita have faith they'll pick up the slack.  

“Those kids believe in what we're doing around here and they believe in their ability,” Doege said. “The other thing is our quarterback believes in them. Last year, we had a couple of injuries early and I don't know if Noah truly believed in some of those young guys who had to play early — and quite frankly, I didn't think they were ready to play.

“We have a bunch of guys who are ready to play; they just haven't had their opportunity. ... Some of those guys will have opportunities to showcase their skills. We have full faith that they'll be just as productive.”