After 30+ days of preparation, LSU coach Les Miles is down to his final 30+ hours of preparation before his Tigers take on Alabama on Jan. 9 for the national championship.
While the hype and excitement of the rematch has New Orleans on the verge of implosion, the Mad Hatter was his typical calm, suave self in his final press conference Sunday before the big game.
With weeks of film study, practice and game-planning under their belts, Miles said the team is using the final days before kickoff for some down time.
“I want them to relax and get off their feet,” Miles said. “You can’t play the game until you play the game. When we take the field, we’ll have been an emotional, fired‑up football team. They’ll play well once they get there.”
But the free time isn’t undeserved. Miles called the team’s preparations “very good,” saying he is confident they will be ready to perform come game time.
“The number of reps that they get at the things that we’re going to ask them to do in the game benefits them,” Miles said. “I would expect that we would execute and be able to play well.”
This isn’t unfamiliar territory for Miles, who led LSU to its second national title in 2007.
But the seven-year coach said this year’s season brings a new vibe different than that of his last championship squad.
“Each team has its own personality and its own feel,” Miles said. “And I think this is a completely different feel. And in the same vein, there are tremendous similarities — certainly the place that we’re playing, the city, and the idea that there’s a game of significance that’s about to be played.”
“Different” may be too kind of a word to describe the way this season unfolded.
Despite the vast number of suspensions that plagued the Tigers this year, the offensive-coordinator coaching carousel that took place in fall camp and the quarterback controversy that caught headlines all season, LSU has also been uncharacteristically blowing out nearly every opponent it faces, with an average margin of victory of nearly 28 points.
“Anytime you’re a team that’s achieved and worked as hard as this team has worked, it’s full of real quality people,” Miles said. “Our football team really expected this path, saw this path, and I take no credit for the managing. I think it’s something that’s a byproduct of a quality group of men.”
As the final minutes begin ticking away until the high anticipated rematch begins, Miles said he expects a fully prepared squad to take the field Monday night.
“The lights come on and they want it,” he said. “I think every guy is looking forward to playing at a very high level and making the plays that they come to make.”
 
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