BATON ROUGE — LSU head coach Les Miles addressed the media after the Tigers’ 34-6 victory over Vanderbilt in Nashville on Sunday. Coach Miles will hold his weekly press conference live in the Geaux Zone on Monday at noon.
COMMENTS FROM LSU COACH LES MILES AT SUNDAY BRIEFING
On what he saw after watching the film of the Vanderbilt game…
“I watched the game and I recognized that Vanderbilt is a pretty good football team. They have a couple SEC wins and they are pretty talented. I thought that our defense stymied them all day, and really played extremely well. I thought that there were a couple of penalties that we would have like to have back on the offensive side. We must defeat these turnovers. Turnovers have to leave us.
On the play of the offense…
“I thought they played so hard. I think there were some mistakes made by shuffling the lineups and guys in the offensive line that may have been dueling at the offensive line positions that may have created some mistakes. The reality is they came back in a position where they had dug themselves a hole in terms of keeping their opponent in the game, and then eventually did what they needed to do to put the game out of reach.
On how to correct the fumble issue…
“You teach it and you talk about it, and it has to be an awareness that is driven on a daily basis. There were two instances yesterday when there was a route that was poorly run and a ball that was pretty well thrown, and then there was a mistake by the tackle with JaMarcus. Those two things really don’t have to do with carrying the ball. (Tight end) David Jones has to put the stinker away, and it is too important to our team that he didn’t put that ball away. He really has to become aware that when he is receiving that ball, that it is a ball security issue. There were some of those pieces combined with some penalties at the wrong times on plays that were really big plays that slowed the offense. If we shed light on it, do the right things and team responds then the offense can be awfully good.
On how to correct the penalties…
“You show them what they did. The one thing that you can not sustain is a penalty that is an on purpose penalty. In two instances, both big plays, we have a receiver who comes down and gives a great effort and slams the heck out of the guy, and the guy gets turned laterally in his block surface, and his right hand stays to the outside. Certainly it was a good call and certainly it needs to be looked at so our guy understands where that hand has to be. I certainly wouldn’t want to change the effort, maybe just the focus of his hand placement. We have a tackle that is blocking a guy down the field, just smashing a guy down the field in a dominant, dominant block. I think at times the officials instinctively see that that is holding, and we have to refocus our hands and make sure we stay to the inside. I guess what I am saying is that I want that exact block with a little different technique. As long as our guys understand those things, and making a popular adjustment will do the right things. What you do is you show it. You show it on film, you talk about it, you take them to the field and you correct the thought process, because the thought process for 90 percent of it is good. It is great effort, it is busting your tail, its great contact, it is completing your block driving and it is hand placement.
On letting Vanderbilt stay in the game…
“I certainly enjoy the fact that in any regard the finish is there. In every game there has to be a finish and you have to compete to win, and that more than any is what I am most enjoying about the last two weeks. Is there work that has to be done, absolutely, are there things we have to correct, you bet. Can we be a good offense and a really good football team, absolutely. They key then becomes what adjustments have to be made. I would like to think that we started pretty fast on defense, and I would like to think that we started pretty fast in teams. I would like to think that offense went right down the field and got seven points on the first drive. So the start may not have been as significant as more as maintained a consistent edge and competitive edge in that game. We just have to point at those things that are slowing us and get rid of them.
On the injury situation with backup center Ryan Miller and wide receiver Craig Davis…
“He (Ryan Miller) would have played the whole game. Other than that he is significantly slowed, I wouldn’t expect him for next week. Buster (Craig Davis) is kind of a day to day deal. I don’t know how exactly to look at Buster. Buster played awfully hard and awfully well and got dinged late in that game. We will have to see.”
On Florida…
“They are a very talented and very capable team. I look forward to the match up. We did summer study on Utah, but it is more significant to the players and the personnel that they have now. They have a very dangerous offense. I liked their intensity (against Mississippi State). They came out and got after them from start to finish.”
On finally playing a Saturday game in Tiger Stadium…
“I can tell you that we are all looking forward to it. We haven’t had a normal week at home and we are certainly looking forward to it.”