Three games, three wins.
Since LSU coach Les Miles arrived in Baton Rouge in 2005, the Tigers have clashed with the Crimson Tide after their off week three times. In those three games, LSU has come out with three victories.
In fact, Miles’ record at LSU following the bye is 5-2. One of those losses came not long after Hurricane Katrina shredded the school’s schedule and state, forcing Tennessee to arrive in Baton Rouge on a Monday to play in the Tigers’ second game of the season, which was eventually decided by three points in overtime.
The record shows Miles and LSU’s dominance after the break, and a look at the statistics confirms that. The Tigers’ offensive output is five yards more than even, but the defense allows far fewer yards in those games.
Why do they score a field goal less and give up an extra touchdown after they’ve had time to plan then? It’s because they’ve ended up playing some of their toughest games of the season returning from the bye, despite the better record. Their opponents were generally superior to the ones they played beforehand, other than in 2009 and 2010 when they lost to the eventual Sugar Bowl and BCS Championship winners, respectively.
Practicing three times this week and scaling back the media schedule, the break gives the players time to rest their battered bodies and step up their studies, but the coaches don’t get any extra sleep while analyzing and eliminating their own tendencies.
“We do a pretty extensive self-scout,” Miles said in his weekly teleconference Wednesday. “We kind of know what we’ve done, where we’re at, and it takes some work to correct.”
The Tigers defeated the eventual BCS champion after last year’s bye, but of course, they were in the BCS championship as well. If they’re not used to playing Alabama in this situation yet, they should be soon. LSU will take on Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 9 next season, two weeks after a home game against Furman. They also face Texas A&M at home two weeks after that.
