Ask the Expert: Breaking down the USM offensive line
What kind of offensive line will Southern Miss bring to Commonwealth Stadium on Sept. 3?
That's a big question for Kentucky's defense. The Cats' defensive line has been the subject of a lot of scrutiny heading into the 2016 season and there are lots of new faces and relatively inexperienced players on Kentucky's front seven as a whole.
Much like Kentucky, the Golden Eagles' offensive line is strongest on the inside, at center and the two guard spots. There's more of an unknown on the edges where most of the pass rush will be coming from.
Cats Illustrated enlisted the help of Southern Miss expert Lanny Mixon, the editor of BigGoldNation.com on the Rivals.com/Yahoo! Sports network. He helps break down the Eagles' big uglies that will stand between UK's defenders and Preseason C-USA Player of the Year Nick Mullens, USM's quarterback.
Cats Illustrated: What's the forecast for the Southern Miss offensive line heading into the Eagles' trip to Commonwealth?
Lanny Mixon, BigGoldNation.com: Well, they return a lot of experience on the interior of the line. If you look at the three starters on the interior, the center and two guards, they have about 33 starts between them. They're extremely talented and they've got a lot of experience.
Cameron Tom, the center, is probably the best lineman in Conference USA. He's got a lot of experience on both sides of him.
Link: Cats competing with Irish, Spartans for one of Ohio's top juniors.
At tackle they're replacing two guys that are in the NFL right now. I think the right side's pretty solid with Ty Pollard. His two final schools were Kentucky and Southern Miss. He's a redshirt freshman but he's got all the potential in the world. He's a big kid -- 6'6-plus, 305 pounds. He's got long arms and he's really good.
On the other side (left tackle) they've got a converted defensive tackle, Will Freeman. He's going to be your starter at left tackle. He's 6'7, 295 and has long arms. He's your prototypical NFL frame for a left tackle. He's got a ton of experience playing college football. He's a fifth year senior but it's his first year since high school playing on the offensive line. He's pretty capable but he's going to be new there.