Five Things to watch from Arizona Football this Weekend

HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 8: Khalil Tate #14 of the Arizona Wildcats pulls the ball back from Darrius Smith #20 of the Arizona Wildcats against the Houston Cougars in the third quarter at TDECU Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Houston, Texas. Houston won 45 to 18. (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images) /

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TUCSON, AZ – OCTOBER 15: Offensive lineman Nathan Eldridge /

No. 4 – Offensive Line Play

We knew coming into 2018, this is an area Arizona would struggle at, at least initially. The Wildcats are without Nathan Eldridge this season, and beyond that Layth Friekh had missed the first two games.

Luckily, Friekh comes back this week and that should help immensely. So far for 2018, the Wildcats have struggled in the rushing game. Running backs haven’t really had good lanes to run, and it’s made Arizona’s offense a little ineffective and imbalanced.

While we don’t expect this unit to suddenly become the most productive all of a sudden, I’m sure Friekh’s return will be more than welcomed. Just from an experience and leadership standpoint, he brings so much here that the Wildcats have been desperately needing.

This Saturday, keep an eye out for this group. Do they continue to struggle in run blocking? While it may be hard to gauge against an opponent that isn’t BYU or Houston, will they dominate the line of scrimmage against a team that they should?

Hopefully, this will be a game for the Wildcats to figure some things out and gel a bit more with Friekh’s return!

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