Nevada will be without three defensive starters for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl after the Mountain West Conference suspended them for their roles in an ugly brawl at the end of their overtime loss to rival UNLV in the regular-season finale.
MWC officials suspended junior defensive back Austin Arnold for two games and senior defensive back Daniel Brown and senior defensive tackle Hausia Sekona for one game each, essentially ending their college careers.
A fourth defensive starter, senior linebacker Gabriel Sewell, can't play in the first half against Ohio in the bowl game in Boise, Idaho, on Jan. 3 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
The MWC also suspended Arnold from playing in the 2020 opener against FCS program UC Davis as well, according to the release.
MWC officials said the league is "engaged in a detailed investigation regarding this incident and prioritized adjudicating the Nevada section of the review due to the Wolf Pack's postseason participation. UNLV's segment is still being processed and is expected to be completed later this week."
Arnold, Brown and Sewell are among the team's top six tacklers this season.
The brawl broke out after UNLV's Kenyon Oblad threw the winning 19-yard touchdown to freshman Steve Jenkins to beat the Wolf Pack 33-30 in overtime on Nov. 30 in Reno, Nevada.
TV replays showed Jenkins run toward Nevada's sideline after catching the winning touchdown, and Arnold hit Oblad with a blindside punch, which sparked a bench-clearing melee. Several players pushed and shoved each other in the end zone, and some Nevada fans threw snowballs and bottles at UNLV players and staff.
"It's a gnarly rivalry," Tony Sanchez told reporters after his final game as UNLV's coach. "Any time you go into that end of the end zone, there's a chance something bad will happen. It's really unfortunate."
