The focus of the weekly Les Miles press conference was easily the announcement of true freshman Brandon Harris getting the start at quarterback in LSU’s first Southeastern Conference road game against No. 5 Auburn (4-0, 1-0 SEC) in Jordan-Hare Stadium this Saturday.
“[Sophomore quarterback] Anthony Jennings is a fine young man and busting his behind to prove himself and certainly is going to continue to compete,” Miles said.
In what would be his 100th win as Tigers’ head coach, Miles made the decision to start Harris over Jennings after Harris shined in the win over New Mexico State University.
“I have given virtually not a second’s thought on [the 100th win],” Miles said. “I think there have been lots of wonderful opportunities for me to have success here at LSU based on the quality of players and the assistant coaches, so I’ve given little thought to that. I really don’t want to talk about it any further.”
The LSU offense has found a majority of its success from true-freshmen like Harris and running back Leonard Fournette, but Miles acknowledged the effect of the hostile environment of Jordan-Hare Stadium on the young players.
“I think our guys understand how to play in big games,” Miles said. “I think it will be exciting for them. I think they’ll look around and enjoy the fact that this is a really great college venue, but they will realize they need to play big and this is a quality opponent.”
Questions concerning the Tigers’ defense also came up, citing New Mexico State’s lone 79-yard touchdown run and the LSU defense’s ability to stop a potent Auburn offense that can break big plays.
“It was a pretty effective call,” Miles said. “Just a mistake based on not getting the call or based on the player not understanding the call, but we felt like we made improvements in that on the week.”
Miles was also asked to comment on the game against Auburn being the first time this season that LSU has been considered an underdog against the No. 5 ranked Auburn Tigers.
“I’ve never felt the underdog role is something we’ve embraced,” Miles said. “We will look forward to competing and wearing our uniform proudly.”
Miles also praised the play of sophomore linebacker Kendell Beckwith, highlighted by a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“I certainly enjoyed his play Saturday night, and I would expect that he would play even a further role at Auburn,” Miles said. “I think the good news is that both [senior linebacker D.J.] Welter and he are playing better, and that is a quality environment for the Tigers to be able to put two quality guys on the field.”