Arizona vs. Nevada: Suspended Wildcats to return against Wolf Pack

The trio of suspended players are coming back.

Prior to the Arizona Wildcats opener against the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners, it was announced that Samajie Grant, Tellas Jones, and Anthony Fotu were suspended for the game due to a violation of team rules.

Well, all three of those guys will be back this week when the team travels to Reno to take on the Nevada Wolf Pack.

"They'll be playing this weekend," Rich Rodriguez said on Monday.

In Grant's absence, Johnny Jackson flourished, catching eight balls for 101 yards and a touchdown. Nate Phillips tacked on three catches for 28 yards and a score of his own.

"Samajie brings a certain energy," coach said of his receiver. "He's so competitive, and it was hurting him to sit out, but that was the idea. But I think having him come back and having another guy that can play all four positions...and give us another playmaker out there."

It was not a recent event that is the reason Samajie did not play on Thursday night.

"It goes back a little ways," coach explained. "Last year, last spring. And we weren't being coy with it, but there's no need to expound on it. They paid a price, and lesson learned for those guys, and hopefully they won't have to deal with that again."

Fotu will add some depth on the defensive line more than anything else. And Tellas Jones will hopefully bring in a safety that has better tackling ability and that can get across the field and get to the ball quicker than what happened on Thursday.

"He's another guy we can roll in there," Rodriguez said of Fotu. "He's not a starter, but he's a guy that's got some ability, and we're doing so much situational stuff defensively that we need more guys to roll in there. Same with Tellas Jones. That gives us another guy where in certain situations it gives us the right guys on the field."

With all three back, especially Samajie and Tellas, I'd expect Arizona's offense and defense to look better than it did against UTSA, as both of those guys are going to be playmakers moving forward.

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