BATON ROUGE — The LSU Tigers went through their first major scrimmage of the spring practice session Saturday in Tiger Stadium.
The situational scrimmage last approximately two hours after the normal stretching and individual drills to open the practice. The teams were put in several first down situations at various points on the field as well as third down, goal line and late-game situations as well.
For first-year Tiger Coach Les Miles, the scrimmage marked his first major event in Tiger Stadium since becoming the LSU coach. The Tigers final scrimmage that concludes the spring practice season is set for April 16 at 11:30 a.m. in Tiger Stadium. Advance tickets are $5 for general admission and $3 for LSU students. They are on sale at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and online at www.LSUsports.net. Tickets will be $10 on the day of the scrimmage.
No stats were released from the scrimmage. Coach Miles offered the following observations on the practice:
“It was a good scrimmage. Our guys played hard,” said Miles. “We are still a little sloppy in certain areas, not quite where we will be when we tee it up in the fall. I think we are a pretty physical offense. I think we run the ball pretty well. We threw the ball efficiently at times. I think we are going to be fine on offense. We still need to pursue long yardage situations more effectively. In short yardage situations, we were good and in long yardage we were pretty mediocre.
On the defense, Miles said, “The defense pressured us and used defensive strategy to handle a couple of situations. They made big plays in two minute (situations) to win the game and had some positive things. I think in (Saturday’s) scrimmage the offense was a little ahead on first and ten. I think that the defense was very competitive. I liked the way the two interceptions came in timely fashions.
Miles said about the Tigers’ and their running game: “If you can’t run the football (the defense) will employ whatever strategy they need to get after you and if you think you can protect, you can’t protect. They can just bring extra guys. With a physical running game and the ability to throw the ball to some talented receivers the balance that you have really challenges the defense.”
Miles said the quarterbacks “made some real positive steps and made a couple mistakes, which we kind of expected. I think they functioned the offense. I think they made some good checks. They threw the ball where they were supposed to most of the time.”
The Tigers are off Sunday and Monday and return to practice on Tuesday afternoon.