For Rich Rodriguez and the Arizona Wildcats, desperate times call for (they hope) explosive measures.

Enter Samajie Grant, the career wide receiver who, after dabbling at running back, will be the focal point of Arizona’s rushing attack Saturday when the Wildcats host Stanford.

“He’ll be the starter on Saturday,” Rodriguez said. “He’s one of our most explosive players. He’s a veteran so he knows the offense.”

Rodriguez said Grant has been working as a full-time running back for the past two weeks after injury and off-field issues whittled the Arizona backfield beyond its third and fourth options.

Samajie Grant's familiarity with Arizona's offense made the senior a solid candidate to move from wide receiver to shore up the Wildcats' offensive backfield. Carlos Herrera/Icon Sportswire

Despite its 2-5 record, Arizona still has one of the most potent ground games in the conference, ranking third in rushing offense with 223.1 yards per game. The problem is that a large chunk of that production has come from quarterback Brandon Dawkins (team-high 484 yards, eight touchdowns), who has been in and out of games with injuries. He’s followed by Nick Wilson (320-3) who is injured and out. Next is J.J. Taylor (261-2) who is out for the season. And Taylor's followed by third-string quarterback Khalil Tate.

Expect Grant to share carries with Zach Green and Matt Morin.

Coming off a bye week, the Wildcats expect to have Dawkins and original starter Anu Solomon available at quarterback. Neither appeared on the team’s injury report this week for the first time in a while.

“The open week certainly helped with those guys,” Rodriguez said. “They both practiced fully. Having them back practicing is a huge thing for us because we can simply run more of our offense.”

And Grant expects to play a big role. The team had experimented with him previously in practice during spring and in fall camp. But until now he’d stayed at his receiver spot, where he’s caught 19 balls for 251 yards and three touchdowns, which is tied for the team high.

This isn’t completely unfamiliar territory for Grant. As a high school senior, he rushed for 1,495 yards and 24 touchdowns on 112 carries. But how he adjusts to playing there in the college game -- specifically in pass protection -- is something to keep an eye on against a pressure-heavy Stanford defense that is tied for second in the conference with 23 sacks.

“That’s a big part of it,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a pretty strong guy. An upperclassman. He’s been good at protection in practice so we don’t think that’ll be an issue. ... We needed that with the injuries we’ve had and he’s wanted to do it. It’ll be a little adjustment for him. But he’s done well in practice.”

For the second consecutive season, the Wildcats are dealing with an outbreak of injuries, with the epicenter at one or two specific position groups. In 2015, it was the middle-linebacker spot. This year, the offensive backfield -- quarterbacks and running backs -- is suffering the bulk of the injuries.

Rodriguez said he can only chalk it up misfortune. He noted that the training regimen hasn’t changed since he’s been at Arizona and he can’t offer any rhyme or reason.

“Eventually you feel this isn’t going to happen every year and it’s a freak-of-nature type of thing,” he said. “You try to recruit versatile players that can play multiple positions. It’s kind of strange. It’s never happened to us and then last year it was the middle linebacker and this year it’s the quarterbacks and running backs.

“It’s bad luck. It’s just one of those things.”