BATON ROUGE — Rained forced LSU indoors for its final scrimmage of the preseason here Tuesday as Les Miles put the Tigers through a 100-play workout inside at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.
The third and final scrimmage of the preseason had the Tigers working on all phases of the game, which also included 25 plays of special teams. Some of the focus during the scrimmage had the Tigers working on the 2-minute drill, redzone offense and third-down situations.
“We got a lot of situation looks and saw a lot of special teams,” Miles said after the workout. “It was a nice rehearsal. The effort was extremely good. Was it perfect? No. We made some mistakes. We did some things we have to get corrected. We understand that. We are about 10 days away from the game. We turn (our focus) to a small number of mental errors that we have to get fixed. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”
Miles said that despite being indoors, the Tigers still accomplished what they set out to do on Tuesday.
“I would like to have been in the stadium,” Miles said. “That’s the only thing that I would like to have differently. We ran exactly what we wanted to run. This was the exact schedule. We are blessed to have an indoor facility to come in and get to work. I would like to have been in the stadium only for the use of the clock and the comfort of the surroundings.”
Quarterbacks Andrew Hatch and Jordan Jefferson combined to complete 16 of 30 passes for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns during the workout.
“(Jordan Jefferson and Andrew Hatch) both played well,” Miles said. “They completed about 50 percent of their passes and they threw for right at 100 yards. It was a productive day for those guys.
I like the freshman quarterback (Jefferson). He continues to get better and compete, and that is very important as you go forward. As he continues that progress, he is a guy that we can look to play at times. I am pleased to a point, but there is a lot of work to get accomplished. We have to improve, but I like our effort and where we are.”
Quarterback Jarrett Lee was held out of the scrimmage after having back spasms on Monday.
“We kept Jarrett Lee out,” Miles said. “He wanted to go, but we wanted to make sure he was fresh when we started preparation for Appalachian State so we kept him out.”
Miles praised the play of the Tiger receivers even though there wasn’t a great deal of focus on the passing game on Tuesday.
“The receivers had a good day,” Miles said. “It wasn’t a big throwing day, but they caught the ball well. They made plays. I think they are coming.”
Defensively, Ricky Jean-Francois paced the Tigers with seven tackles, including a pair of sacks, while Drake Nevis had four tackles, three of which went for losses. Tyson Jackson, Lazarius Levingston, and Danny McCray added one sack each for the defense.
“The defense is playing very well,” Miles said. “That defensive front is doing well. I like Drake Nevis. He just kept showing up today. He is in great shape, runs hard and pursues that ball. I like the front. Ricky Jean-Francois, Tyson Jackson, Tremaine Johnson and Rahim Alem are having great camps.”
As the Tigers head into a day off on Wednesday, Miles said he likes where his team is going into game preparations for the season-opener against Appalachian State.
“I am pleased to a point, but there is a lot of work to get accomplished,’ Miles said. “We have to improve, but I like our effort and where we are.
“I saw overall improvement (from the previous scrimmage). I saw it in the defense, offense and special teams. This was a must and how it came off was very positive.”
After Wednesday’s day off, the Tigers will return to the practice field on Thursday afternoon as they begin to prepare for Appalachian State.