BATON ROUGE — LSU took advantage of some nice December weather here Monday as the Tigers went outside for practice for the first time since prior to the Arkansas game with a two-hour session at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.
The Tigers will workout again on Tuesday before breaking for Christmas. The players will return home after Tuesday’s 11 a.m. workout. LSU is scheduled to arrive in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl by noon on Dec. 28.
Since returning to practice on last Thursday, the Tigers had spent all of their time inside at the Indoor Practice Facility. LSU also spent the entire week leading up the SEC Championship game practicing indoors. LSU’s last practice outdoors came the week of the Arkansas game in late November.
“Everything is going fairly well at practice,” LSU coach Nick Saban said after Monday’s workout. “I’m pleased with the progress that the team has made and what we have been able to accomplish in the practices. We went outside today because I just felt like this is one of the nicer days that we’ve had, and practicing five times in four days on the turf can get a little bit hard on the legs.
“It was such a nice day today so we took advantage of it by going outside. It was kind of a nice change of pace for everybody and I was pleased with the way we practiced.”
Saban also reported that running back Shyrone Carey and deep snapper Steve Damen have both been declared ineligible for the bowl game for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
“It’s unfortunate for those particular players,” Saban said. “They’ve been a part of the team all year long. I’m sure that each one of those guys wants to play very badly. The consequences of not doing the right things, people have to understand that sometimes there are consequences when you don’t do what’s right.”
Carey, a junior from New Orleans, played in eight games for the Tigers and ranked fourth on the team with 338 yards rushing to go with six touchdowns. Damen, a sophomore from Baton Rouge, had served as LSU’s deep snapper in all 13 games this year. Saban said he expects either Ben Wilkerson or Gant Petty to snap in Damen’s place.
As the Tigers continue to prepare for Oklahoma, Saban said he’s been pleased with the speed in which his team has practiced over the last four days.
“The thing that you always get concerned about in a bowl game is getting everybody to play fast again, getting back on pace to what they need to do, to tackle well in the game,” Saban said. “You’ve got to play fast to be able to tackle well in the game, and to cover good people and run good routes. The speed of the game is something that, when you don’t play, it’s tough to always get that picture in practice. Those are the kinds of things that we are trying to get our players to get done in practice, and I’m pleased and happy by what we’ve been able to accomplish.”