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LSU Football Head Coach Les Miles
Sept. 19, 2005
Opening Statement…
“I watched the (Tennessee and Florida) game on television. They are two solid football teams. Tennessee certainly played well on defense, allowing 16 points to the Florida offense in the swap. What a great job. Certainly we will be tested by a very fine football team, and we look forward to playing our home-opener at this stadium.”
On being able to watch the Tennessee-Florida game at home without distractions…
“It was a lot of fun. I didn’t miss a snap, and I enjoyed the company.”
On Tennessee’s failed fake punt play versus Florida…
“The key to that is execution and the ability to throw. I watched their Ole Miss game from a year ago where Ole Miss led the gunner uncovered, and they executed with an extremely good pass. If you let the gunner go and bate the throw, and the throw is caught and the tackle is missed, it may be 90 yards. It may be a touchdown. So there is a real threat to the opponent that says ‘Go ahead and throw it’, because if you break for it and Ronnie Prude at Arizona State shakes a guy, he may not touch him. So there’s a real swing obviously. The downside is that if you don’t execute the pass and catch, it’s a problem.”
On the advantage of Tennessee playing Erik Ainge at quarterback over Rick Clausen…
“Not knowing their talent and watching them practice and who they are, it would be inappropriate for me to comment. I can tell you that if there are advantages to playing two quarterbacks, you play two quarterbacks. Only the coach knows that.”
On how LSU is preparing for Tennessee’s two quarterbacks…
“We expect to see both of them. Both have the ability to throw the football, and it seems they put the ball in the right place. I think they’re both quality quarterbacks, and we’ll prepare for both of them.”
On injury status of the team…
“We expect that everyone other than Alley Broussard and E.J. Kuale will be ready to play.”
On if the defense has made improvements since the Arizona State game…
“I think our defense is going to be fine. Certainly they are preparing to play a much better game and look forward to playing Tennessee.”
On who he thinks is best fit for the pass-rush…
“I think our front four are certainly capable of pass-rushing, Claude Wroten, certainly Kyle Williams and Melvin Oliver, and I like Chase Pittman. I think those four guys will down in and down out give you pressure without calling extra guys into the rush.”
On if there were any players on Tennessee’s roster he became close to through recruiting…
“(Robert) Meachem I knew of, but I didn’t necessarily get close to him. I don’t think he gave much of opportunity to in-state schools. I think he was leaving the state from the get-go.”
On if he has ever to fly in the day of a game like Tennessee has to do this weekend…
“I did that in the NFL. I think that happens occasionally in there NFL where you play a late game on Sunday and don’t necessarily want to get there early. I don’t think it’s optimal, but I don’t think it’s going to hurt them in any way.”
On if the team will be playing with a theme because of the recent events in the state…
“I think our team is going to operate as usual, just us. We’ll talk about what’s going to be the team’s pull. We’ve already talked about team goals, and it’s no secret that this football team feels drawn to play for the state of Louisiana, if not every year then certainly this year.”
On if there will be any personnel changes in the secondary…
“I think there’s an opportunity for a number of guys to see snaps there. I don’t think changes are necessarily the word. I think we’re going to play some different guys periodically.”
On what his biggest concern was with the defense at Arizona State…
“We would like to have had a better pass-rush, and certainly we need to cover the pass. We need to execute the things that we prepare prior to the game. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”
On if it was surprising how well Arizona State moved the football…
“Any time an offense moves the football, it’s alarming. We spent some extra time on it not only as a staff, but in preparation.”
On if Ali Highsmith has a chance to start at Will linebacker…
“I think you can look for him to play a lot of football whether he’s a starter or not.”
On if he will continue to switch out Bret Helms and Will Arnold at left guard…
“I think they will. I think it works out pretty well for both guys.”
On scoring two touchdowns on special teams against Arizona State in less than a minute…
“We planned on it only taking 38 seconds. Skip Bertman said it the other day. The idea that those plays could happen back-to-back in two special teams situations is the same game, it will probably never happen again–until Saturday.”
On if he’s anxious to see how his team will deal with the hype surrounding the first home game of the season with College Gameday on campus…
“I think we’ve handled a lot of outer stuff. The outer stuff isn’t going to be the issue. It’s just going to be prepared to play and looking at our opponent.”
On what he expects from the Tennessee defense…
“I think they have a nice scheme. I think they mix man and zone very well. Their players are very good players. They have a very strong defense, and there are just not many weaknesses. I think they’re averaging 60 yards on the ground, and they just have a nice scheme and make good adjustments, and certainly their players are good players.”
On why there was a lack of execution with his defense against Arizona State…
“I just think there are certain situations where there are opportunities for guys to lose sight of what they’re doing, and I think occasionally that happens. I think it happens in every game. It happened in a time and a place for us where they were throwing the football every down.”
On the difference in preparing for Tennessee than Arizona State…
“I think Tennessee’s a much more physical football team. I think we’ll see a different characteristic in that sense. Arizona State was certainly physical as well, just not the same style of a team in that way.”
On Early Doucet and his talents…
“Early Doucet is going to be a really fine football player here for the rest of his time here. He played quarterback in high school and is extremely dangerous with the ball in his hands. He has the natural ability to catch it. He’s a big, strong, physical wide receiver who has really fine speed. I expect that the best football from Early Doucet you’re about to see. I think he’ll play extremely well from here on out.”
On Doucet’s touchdown catch versus Arizona State…
“We had a first-down opportunity. He was a come open late across the field and just extended that route based on the scramble. JaMarcus knew he was going to be in that area. He did have leverage on the guys who were defending him following him. So JaMarcus made a great throw to him, and on that play Early made a great catch. It was a very difficult catch, and he catches it with his hands in an awkward way and at high speed comes down with the foot in bounds. That was a big-time play.”
On if Russell had to ad lib any plays other than the late touchdown and if he was pleased with his decisions…
“He had to ad lib one other time. I was happy both times. I was happy first and foremost at how he operated the offense. He, within the scheme of the offense, did what he was supposed to do and threw where he was supposed to throw. It appears to me that he sees the field extremely well, so he’s really improving. The ad libs, or self-interpretations if you will, turned out pretty good.”
On how concerned he is with protecting the quarterback this weekend…
“I think they have a dominant front rush, and I think our offensive line matches up well against them. But it’s certainly a big concern.”
On how the offensive line looked after watching tape…
“They played really well. Some were better than others, but as a group the offensive line played well at Arizona State.”
On how his team is differently defensively than Saban’s…
“Maybe they played a little more man than was played in the first game, but that’s not to say that won’t be played a little more extensively in the second game. It really depends on who we’re playing.”
On if he has invited a lot of people to come watch his first home game…
“I have invited a lot of people, but they haven’t been able to get any hotel rooms. My house is a good size house, but I can’t fit them all in there. But there are still a number of them coming. First of all, my mom is going to be there, and I invited my old line coach (from high school) who will be there as well.”
On if the fact that this is his first home game is anti-climactic now with all the other outside circumstances…
“The idea that our time gets to play at home I don’t think is ever going to be anti-climactic. We’re as excited as we can be. We look forward to being in the new stadium and look forward to being at home in front of our friends and family. I can’t imagine that will ever be ‘just a game’ for me.”
On if he’s done any work on his headset…
“I have personally done very little engineering on that headset. I shove it in my ear and forget about it most of the time.”
On how he makes the decision on which defensive scheme to use…
“I think it’s a match-up issue. It’s how do our players match up against their players and how does a man scheme with a quick release passing opportunity for them give or take away opportunities. I understand 1-2-3 let it rip, put the ball in the air, and then it’s their player versus your player when it’s man-to-man. Certainly you can see that working to our benefit, but you can also see that working against us. So I think it’s the mix. It’s the ability to let the corner know he has some help, and then again when we choose, putting out there man-to-man, saying let’s go play and come after him.”
On if Arizona State’s Keller was better than most people expected…
“I think he’s a very, very good college football player and a great quarterback. I think that football team will be a great football team through the remainder of the year. I think you’ll see that they’ll play well.”
On the Tennessee running game and in particular Gerald Riggs…
“He is big, strong and physical. You have to tackle him with your whole body because he’ll run through some arm tackles. We expect to be up to that challenge.”
On Kirston Pittman‘s status…
“Kirston had a procedure on his ankle, and we don’t expect him back in the short term. He may well be (done for the year).”
On how the come-from behind win at Arizona State affected the team’s confidence…
“I don’t think that there’s ever been the feel that they can get out of any hole. I think the key is that we go an execute to the best of our ability and certainly we want to play from in front as well as win them from behind. I think our team has confidence and they understand that if they put us in a position where we can win, we will. That’s a good feeling.”
On if having a bye week last weekend was good or bad for his team…
“When we arrived at 5 a.m. from the west coast time slot, it was very good that we had an off week. Come Tuesday, we were wishing we had a game on Saturday. This will work our and we look forward to Saturday.”
On how this weekend will be different with all of the hype surrounding this game…
“I think game week will be the same for our players. I look forward to the only difference being that we’re playing a game at home as opposed to on the road.”
On if he plans on doing anything special with the student section…
“We’re anticipating upon successful completion of the game going over to sing the alma mater with the student section.”
On the extra games at Tiger Stadium…
“I know that these are extraordinary times and that our administration is reaching out to the state trying to accommodate as many as they can all take in. So that’s the case with those extra games being played at Tiger Stadium.”
On the team’s focus…
“I think with school starting, I think football on a game week, knowing when the practices are, getting into a routine will benefit us. I think this is and does feel like a return to routine for us.”
On walking into Tiger Stadium for his first time…
“I’m looking forward to that. I think it’s going to be a wonderful time, both for me and our team. This is the start of the home season. After all that has transpired, I think it will be very special, something everyone will remember.””I’m looking forward to that. I think it’s going to be a wonderful time, both for me and our team. This is the start of the home season. After all that has transpired, I think it will be very special, something everyone will remember.”
On playing in Tiger Stadium again…
“It’s always good to play in Tiger Stadium. We haven’t played there in a while. We prepared all week thinking we were going to play here and then ended up going to Arizona State. It’s a good opportunity for the fans to come in here and cheer us on.”
On using the off week for corrections…
“Everybody needs corrections. There’s always room for improvement. Sometimes when you give players time off the performance drops off, but I think it’s given us time to be better prepared.”
On the effects of the hurricane on the team…
“We have so many players from New Orleans. It’s always in the back of our minds. There are always certain times when you think about it.”
On how the New Orleans players have handled the situation…
“I think they’ve handled it well. You almost wouldn’t even know anything had happened. They’ve been the same way on the field.”
On Tennessee’s defensive front…
“They’re really going to be a great challenge for us and they’ll really tell us where we’re at in the SEC and across the country. They have a big physical defense and probably one of the bigger and tougher defenses we’ll face.”
On what he’s seen of Tennessee…
“I’ve seen them on tape and watched them play Florida. They did a real good job in both games. I seems like they hardly give up any rushing yards. The only offense Florida had sometimes was Leak scrambling. They’re definitely going to be tough challenge for us.”
On playing for the people of Louisiana…
“I think it is going to be something special for sure. I think it’s something this team is ready for. It’s something I can’t wait to experience and something I think all of the people of Louisiana can’t wait to experience. We’re going to prepare and we’re going to be ready to put on a show.”