BATON ROUGE — On Tuesday, LSU head coach Les Miles spoke to the media prior to the Tigers trip to Little Rock to face Arkansas on Friday, Nov. 24. Watch streaming video of the press conference on-demand in the Geaux Zone now.
HEAD COACH LES MILES
Opening Statement…
“First of all, Happy Thanksgiving. This will be the last opportunity that I have to wish you all a very nice holiday weekend. I think we all have a lot to be thankful for. We live in a great state and represent a great school. I’ve got a family that is healthy and a wife that loves me. I’m thankful. So, I’m sure we can all look at our life and see that.”
“The Ole Miss win – a valuable lesson. You have a team that comes in and is going to play a peaked effort. Though you appear ready, talk ready and are prepared, there’s a fine line with the level of intensity you have to play to win and dominate opponents. I think we were less that, but we gained speed and played well and won at the finish. I think that’s the seventh time in the last two years that our football team trailing in the fourth quarter comes back and wins. If there’s a characteristic about a competitor it would be when the game’s on the line, whether it be overtime or with time ticking, and you have to perform that characteristic. Being able to do that is the greatest advantage.”
“The players of the game on offense, our wide receivers are continuously giving us big plays at key times. Both Early Doucet and Dwayne Bowe are our offensive players of the week. Dwayne Bowe sets, again, the career touchdown record and catches a game-tying touchdown pass, so he is that guy. On the defensive side, our corner Chevis Jackson is playing awfully big making, I think, four tackles and two pass breakups and is playing very aggressive against the pass, and we look forward to him playing that way the remainder of our schedule. A guy on (special) teams that really plays a lot of football on offense as well, but gives us a number of (special) teams snaps and really enjoys and thrives in special teams is Jacob Hester. On the fake punt, which was a roll away screen back to the left, it’s a simple responsibility to take that fullback out of the backfield. But it’s one of those things that when you do that, that gives the defense and the return team the ability to function. He makes a big play on that and stops Ole Miss from converting a fourth down.”
“Now we’re down to the season final, and it’s a very very fine Arkansas team – a team that is fifth-ranked in the country. I think that would be our fourth top-10 opponent that we’ve played on the road, and really we’re looking forward to it. They’re a quality rushing team. They have two quarterbacks – Casey Dick and Mitch Mustain – who both can throw it, and they use those guys at different times. They have a nice, big 6-4 receiver who is really a target for them on a deep ball, but by in large they make their hay rushing the football. Both tailbacks, (Darren) McPhadden is big, fast, terribly talented receiving threat as well as rushing threat, and Felix Jones from Tulsa, Okla. I can remember him from Booker T. High School in Tulsa and wish that maybe he’d have gone to Oklahoma or Oklahoma State now because he’s really turned out to be a tremendous back and is playing very well for Arkansas.”
“They have a big offensive line that runs the ball well. They don’t have many sacks because they are seldom in a poor yardage situation, so they are very very competent on the offensive side. On special teams, both those running backs are their kick return teams. They are the No. 1 team in the SEC in kick returns and No. 6 nationally. We liked our plan a year ago. Our plan a year ago really hemmed them up well except for one where we missed a responsible assignment and the ball breaks out. McPhadden is the kind of back that if he gets out in front then he can hit a home run. We’re going to make sure that we’re assignment conscious and we play with great aggression in that phase of (special) teams.”
“As you look at our team going into the season final, we’re playing for The Boot and we’re playing to improve our bowl standings. We’re looking to enjoy a rivalry with the team that has accomplished and taken the West title. It’s an important game for us. It’s a game that we play a very very good football team on the road, and we want to show how good we are. We like the match up. We bring the No. 1 defense in the conference in scoring and in total defense, and we bring the No. 1 offense in both yardage and scoring with us. It’s going to be a great Friday.”
On defending Darren McPhadden when he lines up at quarterback…
“It’s a very interesting combination. At times, it’s an unbalanced set. They have a speed sweep to one side, and McPhadden can disengage and run back to the boundary. He can hand it off and then it can be pitched back to the quarterback and the quarterback can throw. There’s number of options that they have there. It’s more than a gimmick. It’s a well-conceived piece and something that’s not foreign to us but something that will take some work.”
On defending a team that runs the football as much as Arkansas…
“When they run the football well, they run a diverse attack. It’s not just a small series of plays. They really run the football from wide from left to right and inside from left to right. So, you have to make sure that you’re gap sound and that you’re ready for that attack. That really makes it hard, in my opinion, to defend the pass as well. They still have the ability to throw and catch. First thing’s first, they rush the football so we’ll stop it, but we’re going to have to take a mindful eye of their ability to throw and catch as well.”