The Arizona Wildcats will not have the services of starting left tackle Layth Friekh for the first two games of 2018. That includes a Week 2 visit to Houston, whose defensive line features Ed Oliver, the possible No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft.
Friekh isn’t injured. He didn’t do anything wrong.
But in order to gain a fifth year of eligibility, Friekh had to make an appeal to the NCAA, which cut him a deal: Since Friekh appeared in one game in 2014, the cost in ’18 would be two games.
Since the NCAA could have determined that Friekh couldn’t come back at all, everyone was more or less pleased with the outcome.