“I want to make it very clear that Les Miles is our football coach, and he’ll continue to be our football coach”, athletic director Joe Alleva said after Saturday’s 19-7 win over Texas A&M.
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On a night in which coach Les Miles was carried off the field by his players and saluted the LSU student section in Tiger Stadium, the biggest surprise occurred in his post-game press conference.
Les Miles looked to his right, beyond a crowd of reporters to where his wife, Kathy, and their four children had been waiting anxiously for the 62-year-old coach to emerge from LSU’s locker room. He smiled and gave them a reassuring wink.
Les Miles celebrated several victories Saturday night, then revealed a few of his emotions as rumors swirled about his future at LSU. “I think we’ve got a mobile quarterback, I think we’ve got a guy that can throw it and I still think we’re going to have balance, but I don’t think there’s any question that offense needs to be adapted”.
Running back Leonard Fournette had 159 yards on 32 carries and one touchdown run with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter to clinch the Tigers’ win. I have talked with coach Miles about our program. Coach Miles is our football coach and will continue to be our football coach.
Fournette, who was one of Miles’ prized 2014 recruits, finished the game owning LSU’s single-season rushing record at 1,741 yards, surpassing the mark of 1,686 yards set by Charles Alexander in 1977.
When asked whether or not tonight’s victory affected Les Miles’ job status, Alleva immediately denied any presumption that tonight’s outcome had any affect on the future status of the current head coach.
LSU’s ensuing possession stalled at its 30-yard line, but a roughing-the-punter penalty against the Aggies allowed the Tigers to keep the football. As a team, we prayed together, trying to find answers, why it happened like that.
This being the same Joe Alleva who was booed and jeered at by the LSU fanbase at Tiger stadium.
As the Tigers had the game wrapped up, Miles was saluted by the crowd, which started chanting his name.
Peveto, in the second season of his second run as a Miles assistant, leads a dysfunctional special teams unit.
LSU’s frustrations on offense were encapsulated by the opening possession of the second half, which began on the A&M 25 after Derrius Guice’s long kickoff return in which he broke more than a half-dozen tackles before finally getting pushed out of bounds. That’s what you have to do if you want to be good in this league. He coached most of the Tigers’ defensive starters a year ago. Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron is likely out and should be replaced after the bowl game.
It didn’t help that kicker Trent Domingue, who’d missed only one field goal all season coming in, missed three against the Aggies.
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Under Miles, LSU has lost five straight to Alabama and coach Nick Saban, starting with the Crimson Tide’s lopsided triumph in the 2011-12 national title game.
