Conventional wisdom says Saturday’s matchup between LSU and Alabama would have revenge on the mind of the Tigers and coach Les Miles.
But as the last seven years have shown, Miles and his players are anything but conventional.
Brushing aside the Jan. 9 shellacking in the BCS National Championship Game, Miles insisted this season’s squad isn’t out for revenge against the defending national champions.
“Honestly, I’m not motivated that way. That’s now how this thing works,” Miles said. “This is about what we do, how we play.”
Though sophomore offensive guard La’el Collins said outsiders and players still bring up last season’s defeat, he and his teammates try to downplay the enormity of Saturday’s showdown.
“Every game is big, so we prepare like that,” Collins said. “Just coming out, preparing and focusing is the key.”
Playing only sparingly in last season’s contest, Collins didn’t deny the Tigers are seeking to rectify the wrongs from that night in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
“We left some unfinished business out there,” Collins said. “We just want to come out and play to the best of our ability.”
Sophomore defensive tackle Anthony Johnson also denied that any sort of revenge had crossed his mind in this week’s preparation.
Only a true freshman last season, Johnson said the game is already in his rearview mirror, which is something he deemed essential to the sport itself.
“It’s behind me,” Johnson said. “It’s football — you win some and you lose some, but you have to go out there and just play.”
Junior safety Craig Loston said his attention has been focused away from the aspect of revenge, trying not to buy in to the national hype surrounding the matchup.
“We try to stay within ourselves and not get too hyped or too caught up in the moment,” Loston said. “This game could determine the future, so we don’t want it to be too much in the big moment.”
Heeding the advice from players who played integral roles in the BCS loss, Johnson said he told those underclassmen not to stray from any sense of normalcy and warned them about getting too invested in the name on the opponent’s jersey.
“We just motivate them to go out there and work hard every play they get and come out Saturday and play their hearts out,” Johnson said.
Miles said his team recognizes the mistakes it made Jan. 9, but pointed to the difference a season makes, claiming his team still hasn’t played its best.
Never short on motivation, Miles was sure to leave one aspect out of the message to his team.
“There’s a lot of things that motivate men differently,” Miles said. “I don’t choose nor will I ever choose revenge.”
