Les Miles held his weekly news conference on Monday afternoon in Baton Rouge. His Tigers will be traveling to Tuscaloosa to take on the seventh ranked Crimson Tide on Saturday night. The game will have big implications on the SEC West and could end up picking the who will represent the conference in the College Football Playoff on New Year’s Eve.
LES MILES: “Good afternoon, all. Nice to see you. I can only tell you that this week came in at the right time. Kind of took an eight straight weeks of play and made it into a good, comfortable week. We had three very nice practices preparing for our opponent, and give them some time off and get them to relax, get off their feet and enjoy time. I can always tell you that this is a special week for us. We look forward to playing Alabama. They’re a very talented team, very capable team, and we look forward to playing in big games, and so many times it’s difficult to muster the emotion and the passion when you lineup against a team that does not necessarily have the same name recognition as a very quality opponent in Alabama.
“When you look at our teams as they compare, offensively, we’ve had success; we’ve moved the football. Averaging 466 total yards. The SEC, we have the leader in rushing with 309 yards per game. Fournette leads the conference in rushing. Brandon Harris is No. 2 in passing efficiency with 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns. Our defense is second in the conference, allowing 93 yards per game in the rush, but getting better every week. The special teams, I kind of focused on that a little bit more this last week and kind of feel like we’re tightening things up, and I like our plan. But we look forward to a primetime event and big-time game, and our guys will practice it and review it in their minds for this week before we play.
“Alabama now scoring 35 points per game, putting 421 yards per game on an opponent a very, very quality back in Derrick Henry, 1,000 yards, 14 touchdowns. Quarterback Jake Coker has thrown for 1,600, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Alabama defense, first in the conference, allowing 275 yards per game and only 78 yards rushing. Good special teams. They got a great punter in J.K. Scott, averaging 43 yards. Kenyan Drake and Cyrus Jones for the return men, very quality. But I like my team. I like the character. I think they will respond and play well in big games and play hard and have fun and look forward to playing this one.”
Now he ran through a bunch of stats and could’ve been reading off of a sheet but the Mad Hatter was right about one thing: this is a special week. Here are a few other topics that Miles touched on before ending his press conference on Monday.
- He said that he does not think there will be a “Kevin Steele effect” in stopping Alabama’s offense. Miles does not think it makes a difference where his coaches were in the past.
- Miles said that he wants his team to look forward to playing in the big game. He said that’s why “you came to LSU, to play in this game.”
- Coach Miles said the he believes the Alabama pass-rush scheme is very good but it’s more of putting “very talented men in the right position.”
- Miles called Derrick Henry a very good back. He said his defense will have to focus and make sure there are a lot of helmets around the junior running back.
The final question was about if he used past losses as motivation and if his team was mentally ready to be able to go and win in Tuscaloosa.
MILES: “Yeah, I think that this is a unique team. I think this is a team with pretty special players and guys that understand that games like this are won with character and hard work and really months ago. And I think that they’ll find their path, and it’s unique to this team, and I think it’s what we want.”
Caleb Turrentine is a contributor at Touchdown Alabama Magazine. Follow him on Twitter, @CalebTurrentine.
