LSU junior quarterback Brandon Harris takes a first-and-10 snap in his opponent’s territory with less than a minute remaining on the game clock. The pocket collapses, he evades pursuing defenders and rolls to his left.
The second-year starter squares his body and delivers a strike to junior wide receiver, Malachi Dupre, for a touchdown, LSU coach Les Miles recalls during his weekly “Lunch with Les” press conference.
Much to LSU’s chagrin, that’s not how the same play panned out on Saturday, when the Tigers fell to Wisconsin, 16-14.
The result at Lambeau Field: an interception by Wisconsin junior safety D’Cota Dixon after Harris failed to set his feet and subsequently underthrew the ball directly into Dixon’s waiting hands, sealing the Badger victory.
“[Harris] heroically gets out of the grasp of the defender,” Miles said. “It was going to be a good play, except he did not square his body up, so he could not make the throw.”
On Tuesday, Miles said the Tigers replayed the situation at practice on Monday, and Harris made the correct adjustments, found the open man and scored what would have been a go-ahead touchdown versus the Badgers.
After saying Harris was “errant” at times in LSU’s season-opener, Miles added that his 12-for-21, 131-yard performance with one touchdown and two interceptions would look considerably better if not for several dropped passes, one of which resulted in an interception at the end of the first half.
Miles said he’s still rolling with Harris as the starter but he not ruled out the possibility of turning to junior quarterback Danny Etling.
“I recognize that he’s got to still come, we all do, and he doesn’t have a lifetime to do it,” Miles said. “There are other quarterbacks to go to … Hopefully it will not have to be done for the necessity of victory … But that evaluation is honorable.”
Fournette injury update:
Junior running back Leonard Fournette did not practice Monday, Miles said.
Fournette, who became the fastest player in LSU history to surpass 3,000 career rushing yards in 26 games on Saturday, suffered a lower leg injury on a 15-yard rush during the Tigers’ last-minute drive.
He limped off the field but appeared available to return for the next play. However, Harris threw an interception, and Fournette (who rushed for 138 yards on 23 carries and added another 38 yards via three receptions) didn’t have a chance to return.
Miles said he expects Fournette to play against Jacksonville State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
“[Fournette’s] not terribly swollen,” Miles said. “He got a contusion, a nice bruise … He did not practice yesterday. We took that time to get him some ice and some rest.”
“Hearing ‘things’ that are being said”
Following Saturday’s loss to an unranked team, many sentiments regarding the security of Miles’ job manifested again for the first time since the debacle last November when his job security hung in the balance following three consecutive losses against Southeastern Conference foes.
Miles candidly said he is aware of the opinions and statements being passed around.
However, he holds a starkly contrasting view about the fortune of his team, which “finished second” to a “very good team” that had one of the top defenses in the nation last season.
Miles told his team their “goals” have not evaporated because of the loss.
“Yesterday I said to the team that there’s nothing off the table,” Miles said.
Miles likened his team to Ohio State’s 2014 squad that fell out of favor following a week-two defeat against an unranked team and used the loss as fuel for a subsequent 13-game winning streak.
“Several years ago, there was an Ohio State team that lost to Virginia Tech and decided that was the last time they were going to lose,” Miles said. “[Ohio State] ended up winning the national title.
“Our team is capable.”
 Christian Boutwell contributed to this report.