Rather than focusing on the upcoming game against No. 22 Mississippi State, LSU coach Les Miles was forced to spend most of his media luncheon answering questions about the No. 9 Tigers’ 21-17 loss to No. 1 Alabama on Saturday.
Miles said his team played well despite the media portraying an Alabama victory as a “foregone conclusion.”
“I’m awfully proud of this team,” Miles said. “It’s an interesting thing when you pick up the newspaper and watch TV and nobody gives you a chance.”
Miles focused on some of the game’s positives.
“I thought the offense had a very productive night versus a very, very capable defense,” Miles said. “It was maybe [the offense’s] most complete game of the season.”
Several of the questions focused on Miles’ play-calling against Alabama.
On fourth-and-12 from the Alabama 30, Miles called a fake field goal, but the Alabama defense was ready, and the play was stopped for a loss of two yards.
“We saw something we liked, and I wanted to go after it,” Miles said. “Maybe it was a little too aggressive.”
On the next drive, Miles sent out senior kicker Drew Alleman to attempt a 54-yard field goal on fourth-and-4. Alleman’s kick fell short of the goal post, one of the kicker’s two misses of the day.
Alleman is just 13-for-20 kicking field goals this season, but Miles insisted that he isn’t planning to change kickers.
“I like Drew Alleman,” Miles said. “He’s my kicker. I’ll take him. We’ll win a lot of games with him and we have won a lot of games with him.”
Miles said if given another opportunity, he and defensive coordinator John Chavis would not change the defensive play calls on Alabama’s final drive, when the Tide went 72 yards in 43 seconds for the game-winning touchdown.
Miles acknowledged that the touchdown, a 28-yard pass from junior quarterback A.J. McCarron to freshman running back T.J. Yeldon, was the result of a blown coverage.
LSU currently sits at No. 7 in the BCS standings. If the Tigers can win out, they have a good chance of making a BCS bowl.
Losses by one-loss teams like Georgia and Florida would help the Tigers’ chances.
“Let’s just see how this thing goes,” Miles said. “Can we end up in a BCS bowl? It certainly seems like a possibility.”
With the hopes of returning to the BCS National Championship game all but gone, Miles said his team needs to move past the loss and focus on playing Mississippi State on Saturday.
“Today, we will watch that film again and then beyond that, we are done,” Miles said. “You’re forgetting it. We’re taking the positive and moving on and looking forward to playing a very capable team.”
