BATON ROUGE — Les Miles liked what he saw out of his seventh-ranked Tigers on the practice field on Wednesday as LSU continued to prepare for Saturday’s non-conference tilt against North Texas with a two-hour session in shorts and shoulder pads.
Kickoff between the Tigers and the Mean Green is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Tiger Stadium. Tickets are still available for the contest and they can be purchased at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office or over the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
LSU, winners of four straight, brings a 5-1 overall mark into the North Texas contest. The Mean Green, the four-time defending Sun Belt Conference Champions, stands at 2-4 overall.
“We had a good practice,” Miles said following Wednesday’s workout. “The tempo was fast-paced, the intensity level was high and we had a quality day on the practice field.”
Miles said all three quarterbacks, including starter JaMarcus Russell, “threw the ball very well” in practice on Wednesday.
Miles also said that senior linebacker E.J. Kuale has practiced this week and could see action against the Mean Green on Saturday. Kuale has been sidelined since mid-August with an ankle injury.
“E.J. looked good today,” Miles said. “I hope he’s able to get some snaps on Saturday. We would really like for him to get a couple games under his belt as we head into the final month of the regular season.”
With games against North Texas and Appalachian State in consecutive weeks, the Tigers are stepping out of conference in back-to-back games this late in the season for the first time since 1994. That year, LSU dropped a 20-18 decision to Southern Miss on Nov. 12, followed by a 49-25 win over Tulane on Nov. 19.
However, Miles is quick to warn that even though these are non-conference games over the next two weeks, LSU is still taking the same approach in preparing for North Texas and Appalachian State as it would in getting ready for an SEC opponent.
“We certainly want to use this time and these two games as an opportunity to get better and that’s the same approach we have each week,” Miles said. “With each game we want to make progress and improve in all three phases of the game. That’s what we are working towards this week and I’ve been pleased with the progress we’ve made on the practice field up to this point.”
The Tigers will practice again on Thursday followed by a walk-through on Friday afternoon.