A little rest and relaxation has typically gone a long way for LSU coach Les Miles and his teams.
With the epic showdown between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama less than a week away, the Tigers enjoyed some time off during the bye week. The team practiced three times last week, and had the weekend free from football.
Since his arrival at LSU in 2005, Miles holds a 5-2 record in games following a bye week and a 15-3 record in games in which he had at least two weeks to prepare. Miles has faced Alabama twice following a bye week during his tenure with the Tigers. LSU won both games — a 41-34 victory in 2007 and last year’s 24-21 upset of then-No. 5 Alabama.
As it did in 2010, Alabama will also meet LSU after a bye week. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has played LSU three times with the added week of preparation but holds a 1-2 record in those games.
“It’s just the way the schedule rotation goes,” Saban said in a teleconference about why LSU and Alabama frequently play each other after bye weeks. “We’ve played eight straight games each year since I’ve been here, and always [seem to] have a bye before this game.”
Saban — who holds a 3-2 record at Alabama in games following a bye week — takes a similar approach to the extra week of preparation as his Baton Rouge counterpart. He said he focuses on working with individual players to shore up any deficiencies on his team.
“Obviously after playing eight weeks in a row, it’s probably good to have a little break from a psychological standpoint as well as a physical standpoint,” Saban said. “That’s certainly what we’re trying to do with our team this week.”
LSU’s practices last week focused on individual and fundamental workouts, while players with minor injuries took the opportunity to recover. The bye week also allowed LSU coaches to spend more time analyzing their own team instead of focusing heavily on the game plan for Alabama.
“We play against LSU in this open week, more than we play against Alabama,” Miles said. “When we put something in for the game plan, obviously it’s gone through a good view, and we feel like we should be able to execute it. We’re moving slowly in the game plan, but we’re still working fast.”
Senior linebacker Ryan Baker said there was an added emphasis on tackling for the impending matchup with Alabama’s junior running back Trent Richardson, a Heisman Trophy candidate with 989 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.
“I can say the intensity has picked up a lot,” Baker said. “Nobody is going to ignore the fact that this is a big game. You can see it in the guys’ eyes and in the