| Current Poll |
Should members of the LSU Board of Supervisors disclose who receives their scholarships?
View Results
|
|
Story Archives: Miles' weekly press conference
- 2013 - 801 articles
- 2012 - 1954 articles
- 2011 - 2029 articles
- 2010 - 2139 articles
- 2009 - 2066 articles
- December 2009 - 163 articles
- November 2009 - 166 articles
- October 2009 - 231 articles
- October 30th, 2009 (Friday) - 1 articles
- October 29th, 2009 (Thursday) - 39 articles
- October 27th, 2009 (Tuesday) - 2 articles
- October 25th, 2009 (Sunday) - 1 articles
- October 23rd, 2009 (Friday) - 2 articles
- October 22nd, 2009 (Thursday) - 37 articles
- October 21st, 2009 (Wednesday) - 1 articles
- October 17th, 2009 (Saturday) - 2 articles
- October 16th, 2009 (Friday) - 1 articles
- October 15th, 2009 (Thursday) - 35 articles
- October 14th, 2009 (Wednesday) - 1 articles
- October 13th, 2009 (Tuesday) - 1 articles
- October 12th, 2009 (Monday) - 1 articles
- October 11th, 2009 (Sunday) - 4 articles
- October 9th, 2009 (Friday) - 4 articles
- October 8th, 2009 (Thursday) - 44 articles
- October 7th, 2009 (Wednesday) - 1 articles
- October 6th, 2009 (Tuesday) - 1 articles
- October 5th, 2009 (Monday) - 4 articles
- October 3rd, 2009 (Saturday) - 3 articles
- October 1st, 2009 (Thursday) - 46 articles
- September 2009 - 161 articles
- August 2009 - 136 articles
- July 2009 - 153 articles
- June 2009 - 126 articles
- May 2009 - 164 articles
- April 2009 - 242 articles
- March 2009 - 204 articles
- February 2009 - 163 articles
- January 2009 - 157 articles
- 2008 - 1757 articles
|
Miles' weekly press conference
LSU HEAD COACH LES MILES
Opening statement...
"I enjoy the position that we're in. We work hard and improve and end the week with victory. I think our guys are getting better. I think they understand the process, and I like the feel of the team. For the Georgia game, again, the team goes on the road, has poise, understands how to play in tight quarters and finds a way to win. That's our first victory there in Athens since 1987. I told my team that. They enjoy those opportunities.
"Charles Scott, who has really worked hard and is having a great year, was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week. He had a very strong game with and without the ball. When the game is on the line, you can put the ball in his hands. He runs with passion and certainly refused to go down on the last play. Offensively, we moved the football. We were aggressive. We rushed it. We threw it. We just didn't score in the red zone, and we need to be better there. We need to be not so ambitious in our first trip down the field. We need to get to another call and throw it to the check down and not turn it over. We go for it on fourth down here, and we will, and we need to pick some of those things up. If we do that, the opportunity to score a couple more times in the red zone certainly makes this game a little bit less exciting, hopefully.
"Our quarterback (Jordan Jefferson) continues to improve. He understands more about the game and the operations of (the game). He's a team player. I can tell you that he's a leader. Our guys enjoy him. He has a great feel about him on the field. The offensive line, in my opinion, came to work this past week and played well. It's really interesting. For some reason, they got sick and didn't finish the game. There were a couple of guys who were vomiting, and it was really interesting to see those guys play through some difficult times and situations in that game. I enjoyed Will Blackwell and Alex Hurst stepping in there and playing. I think Will got called for a holding penalty but by and large, played very competitively and really enjoyed his participation as did his team.
"I thought special teams played a key role in this game in the fact that with the game on the line late, they were asked to make two plays. One received the ball and put their offense in great field position, and the other kicked one off, covered and eliminated the opportunity for the opponent to win. Defensively, that first half was maybe the best defensive half I've been around. I think they played an inspired game. When you limit a team to 274 yards of offense and only 45 yards rushing, it just tells you that the defense was sticky all afternoon. Again, all and all, I thought it was a very good effort. The most significant characteristic of this football team is they find a way to win. It didn't make any difference what group was on the field. That was happening, and they showed great hustle, effort and toughness, and that's just what we want.
Now, No.1 Florida comes to Tiger Stadium. They are a tremendous team. They have a very talented offense, defense and special teams – all three phases. Coach (Urban) Meyer has done a great job. He prepares his team week-in and week-out to do all the things that gives them a chance to win. Certainly, we're saddened that (QB) Tim Tebow was injured. It's the worst thing about college football; you don't want injury. You don't want it for your opponent. You don't want it for yourself. I'm certain that they'll do the right things for him, and they'll have a great quarterback playing for Florida anyway. We'll prepare for that position to be a very good one, and (backup QB) John Brantley is currently 22-of-30 for 232 yards and leads the conference in passing efficiency. We recognize that they're going to be talented there, and we'll play that quarterback whomever takes that snap.
"Florida also has a very talented defense. They are a defense that is really allowing 212 yards a game and 7.2 points per game. They have great speed. Their total offense is No. 1 in the conference as is their defensive efficiency. On special teams, Brandon James is a tremendous return man and a guy who is very dangerous. We're going to have to play him well. He's returned several kicks in his career – punts and kickoffs for touchdowns.
"It's going to be a great week. This is why you come to LSU, to play in games like this. Certainly, when No. 1 Florida comes to town, we'll prepare well, and it'll be a great game. I want Tiger Stadium to be as loud and as enjoyable and as noteworthy as any venue at any time that Tiger Stadium has got it cranked. I look forward to Saturday night."
On preparing for Florida's quarterback situation...
"I'm told that Brantley has good feet and can move it and run the football as well. Their offense has great, strategic definition, and I suspect that they'll do similar things. They'll speak to the talents of the guys that they have, but we're going to prepare for the Florida offense and adjust that feel based on who's the quarterback."
On Charles Scott and the rush offense being more effective on Saturday...
"I think he (Scott) runs the plays that we ask him to run extremely well, whether we are in the gun or the I-formation. He has that ability."
On if he's ever had a team like this...
"There's a great feel here in how they prepare and how they work, who our leadership is and how they come to games. There is a lot of significance and a lot of similarities with other very successful teams we've had."
On Brandon James and Florida's special teams unit...
"He's (James) extremely elusive, has great speed and has the anticipation for making big plays. They set up the return extremely well. They pressure the punter. Again, they set up the kick off return extremely well, so it's going to be a challenge to our special teams. It's offense, defense and special teams, and the matchup here is going to be really exciting. Our guys are looking forward to competing and will like that matchup."
On his opinion of the excessive celebration penalties Saturday...
"The point that I made to our guys is that we've been there before. We understand big plays. We make big plays. We need to find a way to turn back to our teammates and make sure that we're celebrating in a timely fashion, not excessively. Certainly we don't want to kick the ball off from the 15-yard line. I talked to the head of the officials for the league, and I agree with him. It's our responsibility to get our team back, and I think there is a point in time when there is a legitimate celebration with our teammates, and I'm going to teach it again, teach it better and hope we don't have that penalty happen to us again."
On the clock management before halftime and Russell Shepard's game management skills...
"The responsibility of the quarterback to handle clock management certainly is a key piece. We have to make sure that when he goes onto the field, he understands exactly what we expect from him, and we're coming to that. He's a young player and certainly needs to grow in that field. In the backend of the half, I would have liked to have taken a shot down the field, maybe a throw, but we were out of communications. There was an issue that we could not get communications done effectively at that point. That happened."
On what was most responsible for the improved running game...
"I think our guys wanted to rush the football and certainly prepared last week to do so. I think it's hard work. I think it's attitude. I think it's something that this team pointed at and achieved."
On using the offset I-formation more this week...
"We choose to do that depending on the week. It's something that we don't want necessarily becoming a tendency. Sometimes we do it; sometimes we don't. There are some angles to the opportunity, and it also gives you some other plays with the offset that hopefully we'll get a chance to use in the future."
On if the high number of sacks was attributed to pass protection or Jordan Jefferson holding the ball too long...
"It was some of both. There were some times that there were some open guys that we needed to get to. There were some times where there was pressure, and he had to move his feet. We can be better there certainly. To start the second half, there were some miscommunications on a play, and we went three and out. That's not a way to start a second half in a big game."
On if he's concerned the defense hasn't racked up more sacks...
"I can tell you that if the defense plays like they did last week, I'll accept the inability to get to the passer. I think it is a week-in and week-out feel and need. Maybe we needed coverage, and it appeared to me that the defense played well enough to win."
On how LSU handles head injuries...
"There is a battery of tests that every one of our players takes prior to the season. There is a recipe that says return the function, and it's one that you ask them a series of questions, and then, they have to respond. There's data on each player on how that response is timed, and there is a back loss of symptoms, and there is an amount of time it takes after you are no longer symptomatic. Then, there's a certain amount of days that you have to take before you return to the field, and we feel pretty confident that we're doing the right things that way."
On generating confidence for Charles Scott and the offensive line...
"I think our offense has confidence in Charles Scott. I think our offense has confidence in the ability to run the football. We just needed to do it and put it together. I think that's a piece that we can't lose. We can't lose sight of it, and it must continue to grow, but I don't know that Charles needed that. I can tell you that his team needed him to have that day."
On the 2007 LSU-Florida game...
"I don't know that I have ever been in Tiger Stadium where it was as loud and as fluid and exciting as that night. Tiger Stadium definitely had an impact on that game. That's come up in the past. When the score was announced that USC had lost to Stanford, as the coach on the sideline, I thought that was really just a piece of information. It really wasn't that exciting. We were a ways away from winning that game and behind at the time, but that stadium came unglued. It was a great experience."
On what he knows about Florida's backup QB John Brantley...
"He's a very talented passer. He's a guy who has quick feet. He'll fit right in there and understand that offense very well. He executes it like the starter."
On the mystique of Saturday night in Death Valley...
"I can tell you that there is no finer stadium to play in. I can tell you that the traditions that they place in that stadium like when they announce that it's Saturday night in Death Valley, when that band plays, when that crowd stands and cheers for the Tigers, I don't know if there is any place like it in America. Now, that certainly enhances the home-team advantage, and our guys play to the passion of that stadium and become very competitive in that environment. There are (many memories) and probably too numerous to name and would take a little bit of the magic away if you tried to identify them too fully."
On the other teams in the SEC West...
"I think this division is as competitive as it has ever been, but I'm really focusing on our next opponent. That next opponent is pretty talented, so I might save a week to talk about the Western Division."
On no sacks by the defense in the last three weeks...
"I would like to get some production in the sack area. I like, again, the position that our defense puts our team in and the opportunity to win a game on the road at Georgia. For me to say I need more sacks, I like the pressure that was put on. I like the opportunity to get turnovers. I like the opportunity to stop the rushing game. I thought our defense played well. Yes, I would like to have some more sacks but not at the cost of overall production."
On how much the running game's improvement was based on the offensive line's play...
"I thought that in games prior to this, we were really just a player or a mistake away from being a very good running team. I think the adjustments and the changes were really not visible to the naked eye. It was just that one guy who made a mistake, whether it was a back or a tight end or an offensive linemen or the check of the call. We were just a little bit more efficient across the board."
On Jordan Jefferson running the option...
"I think he can run it. I don't know that he is a spectacular option quarterback. I don't know if that's the need that we have for them. I thought he ran it well there. We're not trying to ask him to do too much in that part of the game. We enjoy the fact that he can throw it."
On if he allows himself to get caught up in the emotion...
"I think just prior to taking the field in every game, the game plan is put away. You know where you are going. You know the calls that are going to be made. I enjoy that three minutes before we tee it up as much as anybody. I enjoy being at Georgia and playing between the hedges. I enjoy the crowd. I think our players enjoy the crowd. I take three minutes to enjoy that, and after I get to the sideline, I want to make sure that I have the right personnel in the game. I'm working, and then it kind of fades."
On if it is some of the best tackling he's seen from LSU in awhile...
"There was an overrun in pursuit that I recall, but there were not missed tackles. There were some better angles that we could have taken, and certainly there are some ways that we can improve, but we tackled very cleanly."
On the hype of the game...
"Hype is not the issue. I think the excitement of a big game will take place in our building and with our team irrespective of the outward view and those people who are watching. We are looking forward to competing against a very quality opponent. It's fun to prepare for big games, and this will have that. I'm certain that the media and the press will enjoy the matchups and the conversations and the opinions. That's the way it ought to be, but I think as a competitor you look forward to playing your best versus the best."
On if he wants Tim Tebow to play in the game...
"I want them to do whatever they need to do for them. Tim Tebow is great for football. He's great for Florida. If he's healthy and capable, we'd love to compete against him."
On WR Reuben Randle making some big catches down the stretch...
"I like that he came of age on the road at Georgia. He'll get more opportunities. I think that as we go forward in his career, the key is that when called upon and irrespective of what team we're playing, he makes those plays. That's all."
On OG Lyle Hitt's status and any other guys who were not available at the end of the last game...
"We're pretty healthy. I would expect that Hitt will return. He's going to practice today. Chancey Aghayere is in this week, it would appear. It looks like a pretty healthy group."
On focusing on the game after the Florida game...
"There is a game after this? The only thing that I'm focused on is this very next opponent. It's a very consuming task, and we're not looking to the bye week and those teams that we play thereafter. It's all about this Saturday, and we're looking forward to it."
On what the LSU-Florida rivalry has become...
"It's generally two very talented teams and a team that will play a very significant role in determining the national champion. I certainly understand CBS picking the game, and I know that it will be a very competitive, very contested game."
On the state of Louisiana really enjoying football right now with LSU and the New Orleans Saints undefeated...
"This is the greatest football state in America. It's a place where the women understand what it means and how to play it. The boys grow up wanting to play junior high school youth football, high school football and then play college football for the Tigers. With the Saints winning and the college team doing right, it's a great fall in Louisiana."
(Report courtesy of lsusports.net) |
|
|
E-mail Story
Print Story
