Lindley, Warford out this weekend, how can UK win without them?

After a remarkable streak of durability to start his illustrious career as a Kentucky Wildcat, Trevard Lindley will fail to make his 44th consecutive start at cornerback on Saturday against South Carolina. The ankle injury he suffered against Alabama last weekend will force him out and, needless to say, UK will have a major void in the secondary in his absence.

Exacerbating the situation is the fact that starter at corner opposite Lindley, Paul Warford, will almost certainly miss the South Carolina as well.

So, that means UK is left to rely on some serious inexperience to step in. Sophomore Randall Burden has played a great deal already this season, spelling Lindley and Warford and also playing in nickel situations, but he will now be asked to line up against South Carolina’s top receiver, Moe Brown.

On the other side, UK will turn to Martavius Neloms, a true freshman who saw significant playing time for the first time in his career against Alabama, earning praise from Rich Brooks. Brooks had this to say about Neloms and the other corners, RS freshman Cartier Rice and sophomore Anthony Mosley, who will have to step up:

“Neloms came in and did a really good job against Alabama in his first extended action when he was being tested. I think this is a great opportunity for not only him, but for the other guys behind him that haven’t seen a lot of action. We’re going to check our depth out real quick here and find out what we’re made of.”

It goes without saying that UK will need big time performances from the backup corners, but for UK to pull the upset (they are double digit underdogs at last check), it’s going to take a big time effort from the defense as a whole.

Pass rush – UK was going to need a better effort from the defensive line regardless whether Lindley and Warford were able to go. DeQuin Evans has gotten it done most consistently and Corey Peters has demanded double teams. The team as a whole has only 8 sacks and the defensive line has only 6, 5 coming from Evans and Taylor Wyndham.

It’s one thing to leave an experienced lock down corner like Lindley out an island for 5 seconds in single coverage. It’s another thing to leave a true freshman in that situation with no pass rush. UK is going to have to get after Stephen Garcia.

Rich Brooks has also expressed a desire to use more blitz, so it’s going to be interesting to see if the secondary situation alters that.

Keep Garcia in the pocket – Garcia is not the kind of QB who is going to break huge runs and go for 150 yards on the ground, but he is the kind of QB who will move outside the pocket and keep plays alive. He did it last year against UK and it was trouble.

UK is faster at linebacker this season with Sam Maxwell and Danny Trevathan on the outside, those guys are going to have to temper that speed with discipline.

Safety play – Good safeties erase the mistakes of cornerbacks. Inexperienced corners make more mistakes. Winston Guy, Matt Lentz, and Calvin Harrison have shown flashes so far this year, especially Winston Guy. They are going to need to do more than show flashes for the ‘Cats to pull this one off.

BASKETBALL RECRUITING UPDATE – John Wall’s high school teammate CJ Leslie was scheduled to visit UK unofficially this past weekend, but a scheduling conflict caused it to be cancelled. However, Leslie still is scheduled to visit officially for Big Blue Madness next weekend.

UK has been thought to be firmly in contention, but word today from our friends at Bluegrass State Basketball says that UK will likely get a commitment from Leslie after Madness.  Clearly this would be good news if Leslie joins Stacey Poole in UK’s class of 2010.