Lunch with Les: Recapping Bama

Written by Richard Fischer

Monday, 07 November 2011 16:28

Was it a press conference or an open mic night at Les Miles’ weekly press luncheon Monday? The seventh-year coach who is set to turn 58 Thursday reverted back to his happy-go-lucky-self, cracking jokes about Brad Wing battling sharks and crocodiles in Australia and playfully lamenting about the airline industry’s lack of frequent trips to American Samoa in very Jerry Seinfeld-like fashion. The coach even joked that the Vikings and Packers had received invitations to the SEC on the heels of Missouri making its inclusion official - as long as the pro teams are admitted to the East. Clearly, it’s not Alabama week anymore, and after picking up quite possibly the biggest regular season win in school history, the headman should be allowed to take several liberties in his public appearances. But beneath the surface of Miles’ humorous attitude was a coach who just witnessed his team win a classic football game in the most resilient of ways - a 9-6 overtime nail-biter over the Tide. “Certainly it’s a very important win,” Miles said. “It gives us the lead in the West. It just makes the rest of these games much more important. There was nothing settled it any way with victory last Saturday. We still have to earn our way.” LSU will get its next chance to “earn its way” toward the BCS National Championship Game with Sun Belt foe Western Kentucky in town this weekend. With all due respect to the Hilltoppers, most of the questions Monday centered around the Tigers’ win over Bama, and with good reason. Miles called the win “going off script” after LSU had won its previous eight games by no fewer than 13 points. “When your team is not up by 10 points or two touchdowns and it’s just the way it is, you turn to those players that want to be champions to make those plays, and I think there’s a significant group of men on that team that want to achieve significantly,” Miles said. The coach mentioned Eric Reid and Mo Claiborne with huge interceptions, Sam Montgomery with his drive-changing sacks, Michael Ford with his late-game running, and Jordan Jefferson steering the offense to mistake free-football as just a few of the players LSU relied on to make big time plays against the Tide. Jefferson played the entire second half except for one snap as starting quarterback Jarrett Lee suffered through his worst game of the season, completing just three-of-seven passes with a pair of interceptions. The coach would not comment on who would start moving forward nor did he say that the quarterback situation will remain the same as he is apt to say quite often. “We have two quarterbacks that have contributed significantly to the success of this season. I think that that will continue,” Miles said. “I haven’t really given a lot of thought to it. Again, I think we will need two and I think we will going forward. Not making any real determinations at this point.” The coach didn’t attribute Lee’s set of back-to-back poor decisions as anything more than just “a couple of bad throws,” and he isn’t worried about the senior losing any confidence. “We need to get him going again,” Miles said. “I think his contribution to this season has been so significant. He is a very capable quarterback, and we need him to be that guy.” Due to LSU’s win, the Tigers knocked the Tide down to third in the BCS, which opened the door for Miles’ former school, Oklahoma State, to jump up to No. 2 - setting up a potential reunion of sorts for Miles and the Pokes if both squads continue winning. “To me the significance of the [BCS Championship Game] would certainly override any personal feelings I might have for a place I coached, a place I went to school or a school within this conference that I have great respect for,” Miles said “…What Mike Gundy has done is taken that team to a whole different level… That is not a program that has done anything but continued to climb for some time. I’m certainly proud to have been a part.” Of course there’s a lot of football to be played between now and Dec. 4 when schools around the nation find out their bowl fate. Between now and then, the Tigers will have several roadblocks along the way, and don’t tell Les Miles that Saturday Night in Death Valley versus Western Kentucky isn’t a very significant one. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. and the contest will be televised by ESPNU.