Inside the Preview Magazines: Lindy's Sports 2011 College Football Preview
By Paul Jordan
Lindy’s calls themselves “America’s Leading Football Authority” and they have taken a bold stand by saying that there will not be a SEC National Champion this year, but it seems hard to keep the SEC out of the title game as Alabama is ranked #2 overall and LSU #4. But this is the year of the Sooners, so says Lindy.
HOW WILL THE WILDCATS FARE?
Lindy’s picks Kentucky in the familiar 5th place in the SEC West and 11th in the SEC overall. Not a lot of respect shown the Cats in this guide. They run a “Good News, Bad News, and Our Call” when rating the teams in the SEC, so let’s see what they say about the Wildcats:
GOOD NEWS: LB Danny Trevathan is a stud, QB Morgan NEwton had a solid spring.
BAD NEWS: Lost versatile Randall Cobb and RB Derrick Locke; defense appears average
OUR CALL: Offense will miss Cobb and the defense will struggle. A sixth straight bowl bid is in question.
While not as detailed as the previous magazine, Lindy’s had the following comments about the Wildcats.
OFFENSE – said the biggest priority is to sharpen the passing game and noted Newton’s 256 yard – 3 TD Spring performance. Mentioned Brian Adams potential as a playmaker at WR and also mentioned Joker will give five freshmen “a long look”. Lindy’s also says the RB job is Raymond Sander’s to lose, but also Marcus Caffey and Josh Clemons could “factor in right away”.
DEFENSE – Mentions Winston Guy and Ridge Wilson as “x-factors” in Rick Minter’s new defensive scheme and said that Collins Ukwu and Taylor Wyndham as wildcards who could see time up front. And the prescense of Danny Trevathan is duly noted.
SPECIAL TEAMS – Kentucky is solid with Tydlacka and McIntosh but the big question will be who will replace Randall Cobb on returns.
OVERVIEW – Joker has his work cut out to get to Kentucky’s sixth straight bowl.
It is worth nothing that Lindy’s has Kentucky listed as the 63rd best team in the country. Where do the opponents rank? The rating would seem to indicate wins over WKU #117, Central Michigan #101, Louisville #71, Jacksonville State (NR), and Vanderbilt #84. On the other hand, Lindy’s predicts losses to Florida #20, LSU #4, South Carolina #11, Mississippi State #21, Georgia #16, and Tennessee #52. Ole Miss, listed at #62 is a virtual tie and you would think that the home field advantage would swing that to Kentucky, so according to Lindy’s, it looks like a 6-6 year.
INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Lindy’s only lists two All America Teams and unfortunately Kentucky is shut out of those prognostications. It appears the Warford barely missed making the cut as he was listed as the third best Guard in the nation in a different rating section. Likewise Trevathan is the thid best outside linebacker. Larry Warford does make the First Team SEC as a OL while Danny Trevathan is listed as a First Team LB. Once again, ths guide only goes two teams deep, so the rest of the Wildcats got shut out of the preseason honors. It is interesting to note that QB Maxwell Smith was listed as Kentucky’s “Top Newcomer” for the year.
David Letterman would like the Lindy’s guide as it is filled with Top 10 lists for virtually every category you can think of and it spends a large amount of time on recruiting, which seems kind of dated in a preseason magazine. It’s not quite the Bible for the state guru, but Lindy’s is king of breviry and will give you a little to know about every team.
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