Monday, normally a casual day for LSU coach Les Miles at his “Lunch With Les” weekly news conference, featured one of the more pressurized days in his LSU coaching career.
After the University of Arkansas’ 31-14 victory against then-No. 9 LSU, a game Arkansas coach Bret Bielema called a “whooping,” Miles felt the media’s heat as he faced questions regarding his coaching ability.
After LSU’s second-straight loss this season, Miles took the blame for his team‘s underprepared play in its matchup against Arkansas, putting the season as it stands in “crisis” mode.
“It’s a time where as a coach, you just bury your head and you go to work, and you coach like there’s no tomorrow and it’s time to step up,” Miles said.
Miles said he’s focusing on coaching like there is no tomorrow, but there is a tomorrow.
And tomorrow looks like a stack of three monster-truck tires with a connecting rope on the field of LSU’s indoor practice facility, stapled with paper posters labeled “toughness”, “Ole Miss” and “togetherness.”
“Our guys understand that,” Miles said. “They understand crisis.”
Miles said the fault of LSU’s blowout loss in a home night game lies on his shoulders.
“I wanted to send them on to the field better,” Miles said. “I just — there had to be some piece there, a string I’m not yanking on.”
“So those things that could well have been positive, didn’t occur. And I don’t know how that — I don’t know that there’s anybody else to take the credit or discredit than the coach.”
To recap the Arkansas game, Miles noted a few instances where LSU (7-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) failed on the field, which cost the Tigers their second loss of the season and second in a row. The second loss of the season cost the Tigers an opportunity to compete in the College Football Playoff.
Miles said his quarterback, sophomore Brandon Harris, struggled to move the ball down the field Saturday.
“Our quarterback certainly can play better, but there were times where he was brilliant,” Miles said. “He was 14 for 16 at one stretch. And then that’s the kind of quarterback that we need to have every day.”
He also said LSU lost the game against Arkansas on three defensive plays.
“Defensively, here is an interesting statistic, and it just makes you sad because 53 plays, they gave up 239 yards,” Miles said. “And on three plays they gave up 201 yards. So the point is, for 53 plays, that looked like LSU’s defense. For three plays, it cost you the game.”
Eventually, after a barrage of how and why questions for LSU losing so abruptly against Arkansas, Miles moved onto LSU’s upcoming matchup against the University of Mississippi.
Junior tight end DeSean Smith, who did not dress out against Arkansas, underwent an MRI during the weekend, Miles said. And, junior left tackle Jerald Hawkins injured his ankle against Arkansas and missed Monday’s practice.
“We did an MRI and checked him out,” Miles said. “It does not appear to be serious at this point. So we would expect him to get back as soon as he can.
“Hawk probably will not practice today. We are hopeful to get him back for Tuesday’s practice.”
Sophomore left tackle K.J. Malone replaced Hawkins against Arkansas, but LSU may be open to new options at left tackle against Ole Miss if Hawkins cannot play.
“Certainly K.J. is a quality player,” Miles said, “but we’ll have to look around and see what we’re going to do there. Maybe, you just never can tell, you might move a tackle around.”
Miles finished with a statement about LSU’s team captains carrying out the French flag before the game against Arkansas.
It was a symbol Miles and senior safety Jalen Mills found to be important to portray.
Mills said the situation in France was “bigger than football.”
“It was decided very late in the pre-game,” Miles said. “The wisdom of connecting with people that are disadvantaged and suffered the terrible tragedy and terrorism, which is not only a national but an international issue, I felt like it was the right thing. They had to talk me into it, I just want you to know. I had to hear the specifics and once I did, it was the right thing.”