LSU football coach Les Miles said he is on board with the cancellation of the team’s annual series with Tulane, which was announced Wednesday.The Tigers and Green Wave had six years remaining on a 10-year deal signed in 2005. The teams are scheduled to play Oct. 31 in Tiger Stadium and one more game on a date to be determined.”I understand the athletic director’s thoughts there,” Miles said. “When we do schedule them, I look forward to playing them.”Miles said he sees playing in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against North Carolina in Atlanta to start next season as an opportunity to showcase the LSU football program to fans and potential recruits.”There are spots like Atlanta where recruiting is an advantage for us,” Miles said. “We’d like to play in those early games as often as we can.”The LSU running game took a hit with the loss of Richard Murphy to a season-ending knee injury during the team’s game against Vanderbilt. Miles said he is leaning toward giving freshman running back Michael Ford a redshirt for this season. “Right now we’re thinking about redshirting Michael Ford, but you never say never,” Miles said. “The opportunity for a talented young back to play in his freshman year certainly is there. Right now it’s not cause at this time to look at seriously.” Miles said freshman wide receiver Rueben Randle must get a better grasp on the playbook before he gets on the field in games.”Randle is progressing in practice, but he’s not quite understanding exactly what we want,” Miles said. “He’s working to accomplish what he can do. We want to get him catches.”Miles said freshman defensive back Craig Loston, who joined the team Aug. 24, has been taking snaps with the second team in practice and is “developing.”Miles said senior running back Trindon Holliday and sophomore fullback Stevan Ridley will fit into the running game along with seniors Charles Scott and Keiland Williams. Ridley suffered a knee injury during spring practice.”Ridley will play. He’s rehabilitated that leg pretty well,” Miles said. “He was ahead going into camp, and he’s gotten nothing but better … Hopefully we’ll get some repeated calls to [Holliday], and he’ll be more comfortable with the calls we make.”Miles fielded questions this week about his willingness to take shots downfield with sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson. He said “the calls were there” against Vanderbilt, and he likes the dual threat Jefferson presents through the air and on the ground.”The first throw of the game was from our own end zone, and we threw it incomplete to about the 30-yard line,” Miles said. “You have to recognize when you do throw it downfield, not every pass will be complete … When something doesn’t make sense, [Jefferson] doesn’t just throw it … I like big plays. I like throwing downfield.”—-Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]