Today I picked up Lindsey's Southeastern preseason magazine....(yeah, I know.......I can't help it!
).
They are a BIT more positive about USC.......ranking us 53rd and taking a "talented, but young" approach to the analysis of our season. We are really looked down upon offensively.......ranked dead last at the QB position in the SEC (hard to argue......stats from last year's offensive rankings have us in the bottom 10 of the entire nation!! Owwwcchhh!).
But the key, according to Lindsey, is our young talent.....which they tended to look upon more favorably than either Athlon or Sporting News. They are very high on Summers, Strophshire, Newton......and especially Mitchell. Mitchell is the only Gamecock recruit listed among "difference makers" in the SEC among all freshman. Interesting. They rank us 10th in the nation in recruiting, our highest ranking ever by Lindsey. We were 13th last season, and that was the previous high.
Like the other mags, they stress this year is critical for Lou and the future transition to Skip. Getting back to ANY bowl game is a reasonable goal, according to Lindsey. I didn't get that impression from SN.....and certainly not Athlon.
I'm not exactly whistlin' a happy tune about the upcoming season........but at least it appears we have some raw talent.