Ten months ago, LSU coach Les Miles found out what it was like to “ride an elephant.”
Then-senior Vadal Alexander and senior defensive tackle Christian LaCouture picked Miles up off of his “hot seat” and carried him to the locker room after a 19-7 win against Texas A&M on Nov. 28.
Miles is now under scrutiny just like in late November, when the Tigers dropped three straight games — except this time LSU has 11 games left.
“I recognize that there’s some things going on out there,” Miles said. “And I’ll address them at the right time.”
But LSU alumni Marcus Spears and Anthony “Booger” McFarland want to see a different man in charge.
The failed coup to get rid of Miles was thought to serve as a wake up call to him, but to Spears, there hasn’t been much change in the LSU offense.
“The issue for LSU is … the ending of last season and how tumultuous that was,” Spears said on the Paul Finebaum show Monday. “And then you go into an offseason and all the talk being about what are you going to do offensively to showcase these guys on the field, and nothing changed in the first game of the season.”
Moments after Athletics Director Joe Alleva announced Miles would remain LSU’s coach, Miles said he made a “commitment” to Alleva to fix the Tigers’ offense.
“The issue is we have to find the recipe that allows that to happen because we have talent,” Miles said about the offense. “I promise you this: We’ve recruited well, and there’s some really, really good kids here and good people.”
But Saturday’s 16-14 loss to then-unranked, now-No. 10 Wisconsin showed otherwise.
LSU’s offense was stagnant, mustering only 257 yards of total offense, part of a trend for the Tigers. LSU has lost four of its five last regular season games, and the passing game was the root of criticism.
The Tigers’ passing offense only averaged 214 passing yards in their four losses with four touchdowns thrown compared to six interceptions.
Quarterback production has also lacked. In the past five seasons, LSU’s passing offense has ranked 108th, 109th, 43rd, 90th and 100th in the NCAA.
However, the offensive attack looked to be trending in the right direction in the Tigers’ 56-27 Texas Bowl win against Texas Tech in December, when offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was moved from the press box to the field.
Junior quarterback Brandon Harris felt a bit more comfortable with Cameron on the sidelines. But after a failed experiment, Miles is sending his third-year coordinator back upstairs because Miles did not get as “much information” as he would’ve liked.
“If we had five more passes, I think if a couple of those runs were [turned] into touchdowns, I think that you would look at us and look at the Texas Tech fix and say, ‘Hmm, a lot of similarities,’” Miles said.
A change at quarterback isn’t off the table for the 12th-year coach, but he doesn’t want to make the move because of Harris’ struggles.
Miles had a simple message to Harris: “Calm down.”
“It was about the first two passes that he threw, he threw out of bounds,” Miles said. “It was at least early in the game, and I said, ‘OK, now relax and just realize it’s the same throw that you’ve been making. Just calm down.’”
LSU’s season isn’t over. The Tigers’ championship goals are still attainable. Miles said he reminded the Tigers of Ohio State’s 2014 season when the team ran the table after losing to Virginia Tech in the beginning of the season.
“Our team is capable and talented,” Miles said. “I recognize that they did not play as well as they’re capable. I think there’s a lot of factors that go into that.”