LSU football coach Les Miles came to his post-scrimmage press conference Thursday with a raspy voice but said it was not because anybody made him angry. “It is a cold,” Miles said. “I shook hands with the wrong guy.” Miles said the team looked “sloppy” during the Tigers’ first full scrimmage of the spring, but he also said he was not surprised. “That is kind of significant of the eighth practice [of the spring],” Miles said. Both quarterbacks finished with roughly the same performance, splitting time with the first-team offense. Redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee finished 10-of-13 for more than 100 yards, while junior Andrew Hatch completed 8-of-12 passes. Miles said he tried to challenge both quarterbacks, even calling plays from the sideline. “There were some missed signals,” he said. Miles said the first-team defense is ahead of the first-team offense in terms of execution. He also said the defensive line outplayed the offensive line during the scrimmage. Sophomore Richard Murphy shined among running backs with a 40-yard run against the first-team defense. The offenses combined for 150 yards rushing. The defense scored two touchdowns as a result of interceptions which Miles said were “errors” by the third-team offense. The first pick came from freshman cornerback Ron Brooks, and the second came from sophomore linebacker Kelvin Sheppard. The first-team offense played 14 plays against the first-team defense. The first and second team units each played 48 live snaps. There were no injuries during the scrimmage. The only player who did not participate was freshman defensive end Will Blackwell, who sat out because of a concussion. Sophomore Josh Jasper impressed in the starting punter battle with several punts more than 40 yards. Senior Colt David finished 3-for-3 on field-goal attempts, which were held after the scrimmage was completed. Miles told the team after the scrimmage to take everything “in moderation” during spring break. “[They need to] watch TV, lay on the couch, eat mama’s food and go to church,” Miles said. The team will meet Monday to review film of the scrimmage then have 13 days off before its next practice. During the break the Tigers must complete four mandatory unsupervised workouts. “I’ve done this several times at another place that I coached,” Miles said. “I found that when they came back that they were really in step. We’re going to come back fresher.” When asked for a prediction for the 2008 season, Miles had a simple response. “That we’ll finish spring,” Miles said. “It’s way too early for predictions.”
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